By DAVID MERCER
Associated Press
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Comcast Cable Communications has given a northern Illinois politician the identity of an Internet service subscriber whose account was used to post an anonymous comment online suggesting the politician molests children.
Comcast turned over the name of the subscriber on Aug. 14, attorney Andrew Smith said Thursday, almost two months after the Illinois Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings that Internet service providers have no obligation to withhold the identity of a commenter if their comments could be considered defamatory.
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"Hadley is a Sandusky waiting to be exposed. Check out the view he has of Empire (Elementary School) from his front door," the commenter wrote. The comment was a reference to former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted of numerous counts of child sex abuse in 2012.
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"I know him, and I'm very disappointed," Hadley said, estimating that he's spent $36,000 so far trying to learn Cook's identity. "This has been a nightmare for me."
Smith said he now intends to name Cook as the defendant in Hadley's lawsuit and continue to pursue a civil defamation case against a man Smith claims has "been hiding in the shadows for three and a half years."
More here:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_ANONYMOUS_COMMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-08-21-07-19-44
