University goes after bloggers
May 18th, 2005This from Inside Higher Ed…
Officials at St. Lawrence University are trying to obtain the names of individuals responsible for a blog that includes content the university finds inappropriate. Included in the blog, whose stated goal is to fight a "right-wing assault" on the university, are pictures of and harshly derogatory comments about students and faculty whom the blog's contributors see as conservative. Other blog posts criticize university policies and administrators, but Macreena Doyle, a spokesperson for St. Lawrence, said the institution is most concerned about the anonymous attacks on students. "If these were posters attacking students on
campus," said Doyle, "we would take action." The university has filed "John Doe" court actions with Time Warner Cable, whose service was used to make postings to the blog, demanding information that would identify the blog's contributors. Google disclosed IP addresses from which blog postings came after being ordered to do so by the courts, but it is not clear whether Time Warner will do the same.
