Online defamation is a long-standing Internet problem. It is particularly difficult to prosecute when the libeller hides behind anonymous accounts and fake addresses. Fortunately, Internet Forensics can often trace the culprit no matter how well they hide.
The problem
In a well publicised case, our client was libelled on an activist web-site. While it was publicly known that the site was associated with a particular protest group, no formal link could be established. The protest group refused to remove the libel on the ground that they had no formal connection to the web-site on which it was displayed. The site itself was hosted on servers in the United States. The domain name was registered in Russia. We were asked if there was any way we could trace the site to its real owners.
The solution
Every web-site domain on the internet has a registration record, normally held by one of the many internet registrars. Included in any such record is an administrative contact e-mail address, used by the registrar to contact the domain’s owner in the event of technical difficulties. Because it was not possible to identify the person who owned the site, the Court allowed us to serve legal papers in electronic form to this e-mail address. We understood that although this e-mail address appeared to be linked to a small internet provider in the US, messages sent to this address would probably be read by the domain’s real owner, in whatever country they were based.
We attached a “web-beacon” to one of the legal documents sent to the e-mail address. This simple tool forces the computer on which the e-mail is finally opened to identify itself to the sender. In this case the computer was traced to a small internet service provider (ISP) in Ireland. When advised that we had traced the owner of the libellous web-site to Ireland, the Court issued a warrant requiring the ISP to identify the user of the internet address found by the web-beacon. This they promptly did. It was found that the site was owned by a senior member of the protest group.
The individual in question was immediately joined to the case, and was ordered by the Court to remove the libellous material immediately. This was done. Our client is now considering seeking damages against the individual concerned.