The state Supreme Court will determine whether a man who sent an e-mail to five Great Diamond Island residents mocking one of the residents, his wife, and his dead dog, will have to reveal his actual identity.
The e-mailer's attorney argued that his cable Internet service provider cannot be forced to give up his identity unless a criminal case was involved, while the attorney for a public interest group involved in the case countered that the e-mail in question has First Amendment protection.
But Thomas Connolly, the attorney for Ronald Fitch, the subject of the mocking e-mail, told the Maine Supremes the e-mailer was actually guilty of identity theft – because, allegedly, the e-mailer opened a Hotmail account in Fitch's name to send the message, which included a cartoon making fun of Fitch, his wife, and the couple's dead St. Bernard, according to published reports.
"Anonymous is non-attributed," Connolly was quoted as telling the justices. "Fraud, though, is falsely attributed." His client reportedly traced the e-mail to a Time Warner Cable Internet account and sued "John or Jane Doe," seeking compensation for privacy violation, identity theft, fraud, and infliction of emotional distress, according to court documents.
The e-mailer already has a lower court ruling against him, in which Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren ordered his identity to be revealed, but the e-mailer's side appealed that ruling.
The e-mail was apparently sent at the end of 2003, in the middle of a battle among Great Diamond Island residents over using golf carts on the island, which is located two miles by ferry off the Portland waterfront. In addition to the mocking cartoon, the anonymous e-mailer disguised as Fitch included text saying, "One and all, Thank you for all the continued good work, Ron," with the cartoon showing Fitch and his wife under a sign welcoming viewers to "Paradise."
The Public Citizen's Litigation Group argued before the Maine Supremes that the issue is anonymous free speech and not identity theft. The PCLG, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Maine Civil Liberties Union, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed amicus briefs in the case.
