Thursday, October 1, 2009

You’ve Been Served … A Court Order, Via Twitter

 October 1st, 2009 | by Adam Ostrow13 Comments and 1175 Reactions



The issue of “Twitter jacking” someone’s identity has been a hot topic this year.
Perhaps the most visible incident was St Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa taking Twitter to court over someone else using his identity on the microblogging service. Kanye has also had issues with Twitter imposters, but, what doesn’t he have issues with?
In any event, a new case involves a slightly lesser known figure – a political blogger named Donal Blaney – also falling victim to an impersonator, but features a new way of serving a court order: via Twitter itself.

Since the Blaney impersonator is anonymous and is yet to be tracked down, a court in the UK is allowing a law firm to serve an injunction via Twitter. According to the BBC, “the injunction – known as the Blaney’s Blarney Order – is due to be served at 1930BST and will include a link to the text of the full court order.”
The BBC adds that in the UK, injunctions can already be served by email, so it’s not completely out of left field for the court order via TwitterTwitterTwitter to be allowed. Nonetheless, it’s an innovative move by the court, and one we could see in the future as public figures look to protect their identity and brand on the social web.

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