GaneshaFish.com » anonymous speech

Anonymous Hooker Blogger Outed

jfischer1975 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:23:07 +0000

If you’re a fan of Showtime‘s adult series “Secret Diary of a Call Girl” (or even if you aren’t), you may be interested to know that the real-life anonymous author of the blog and book that inspired the series went public earlier this week. (Source)

Dr. Brooke Magnanti, Ph.D. in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science, in an interview with The Times, talks candidly about how she got into the biz of having sex for money.

Dr. Brooke Magnanti
(a.k.a. Belle du Jour)

I was finishing my writing — I was getting ready to submit my thesis. I saved up a bit of money. I thought, I’ll just move to London, because that’s where the jobs are, and I’ll see what happens. So I did. I submitted the thesis but I was still preparing for the viva — there was quite a lot of writing and studying still to do.

I couldn’t find a professional job in my chosen field because I didn’t have my PhD yet. I didn’t have a lot of spare time on my hands because I was still making corrections and preparing for the viva; and I got through my savings a lot faster than I thought I would. The difference between living in the Highlands and living in London is massive. I hadn’t really thought that one through.

I have a pathological aversion to being in debt. My mother’s family are Jewish; there’s this hoarding thing, saving, being prepared — if you’re in debt somebody could come and knock at your door and take it all away tomorrow. It got to the point where I didn’t have quite enough money for my rent. I asked my best friend if I could borrow some money and he posted me a cheque.

I was looking at this cheque. It wasn’t even the total of my rent; it was a quarter of it or something, some stupidly low amount like £120. I thought, ‘But once I deposit this cheque, I’ll still need money for next month.’ And I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t borrow this money knowing that I couldn’t pay it back and that I’d need more pretty much straightaway. And that was when I started to think: what can I do that I can start doing straightaway, that doesn’t require a great deal of training or investment to get started, that’s cash in hand and that leaves me spare time to do my work in? (Source)

The Times article, while a little on the long side, is still worth the read. It discusses, in some detail, how Belle du Jour has *disproved* some of the time-honored preconceptions about the world’s oldest profession. One of the reasons that she gives for coming forward is that so many doubt her story, claiming that it must be fiction. How could a prostitute actually feel empowered by her career choice? Even claim to enjoy the work?

When asked about whether she thought being a prostitute hurt her emotionally, Dr. Magnanti answers “I’ve felt worse about my writing than I ever have about sex for money.” Somewhere, Andrea Dworkin is screaming in anguish, rolling over in her grave.

H/T Odie

Tennessee Court Upholds the Right to Remain Anonymous

jfischer1975 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:09:05 +0000

Defamatory material, like obscenity, is not protected by the First Amendment. But just like obscenity, a particular message cannot be considered defamatory until it has been adjudged to be so by a court of competent jurisdiction. A Tennessee court, recognizing this principle, allowed a blogger who is accused of publishing defamatory comments to remain anonymous, absent a prima facie showing that the plaintiffs have in fact been defamed. (source)

This story was originally published on The Legal Satyricon.

Remember: If you don’t have anything nice to say, you should just say it on teh Internets

jfischer1975 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:00:47 +0000

Google was in court this week over allegedly defamatory comments made on an anonymous blog that the search giant hosts. Chris Thompson’s post describes the gory details, including references to two of our favorite cases: Hot Chicks With Douchebags and AutoAdmit.

Update: If you want to start an anonymous blog, here are some guidelines.

This story was originally published on The Legal Satyricon.

James Madison – 18th Century Spammer?

jfischer1975 — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 15:17:01 +0000

Virginia’s Attorney General is trying to override a ruling of that state’s highest court, which struck down an anti-spam law as violating the First Amendment. The law, as written, did not limit potential violations to the sending of purely commercial spam emails. Since the legislation made it possible to prosecute senders of, for example, bulk political emails, Virginia’s Supreme Court held that it was no good.

“[I]f the Federalist Papers were written today and disseminated by e-mail, the sender would be guilty of a felony under Virginia’s anti-spam statute.” (source)

What about that Algerian prince who keeps contacting me? Are his emails “political” speech, like the Federalist Papers?

Personally, I have a hard time accepting that the Framers intended that stuffing my Inbox with unsolicited communications, whether containing commercial speech, political speech, or otherwise, should be a fundamental right. The concept of Free Speech, as I understand it, is meant to protect one’s ability to express their own viewpoint and opinion, without fear of persecution. If someone doesn’t like my particular viewpoint, they should be able to ignore it by refusing to purchase the newspaper that features my editorial, or changing the channel, or simply not listening. The analogy to bulk email is imperfect; I cannot “ignore” or “refuse to accept” an unsolicited communication from a spam emailer. Unless I had “opted in” to receive The Federalist Papers as an email, I would not have wanted Madison and Hamilton sending me their political message.

I guess Harbin and I won’t agree on this one.

This story was originally published on The Legal Satyricon.