'A case brought in a US district court by a Utah man threatens to undermine the First Amendment right to speak anonymously on issues of public concern. In Merkey v Yahoo SCOX et al, the plaintiff requested an expedited process for serving subpoenas that would unmask anonymous "John Doe" critics who participated in a discussion of another court case, in which Utah-based technology company Santa Cruz Operation ('SCO') is suing IBM.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation ('EFF'), along with the American Civil Liberties Union ('ACLU') of Utah, has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, arguing that a court must review the merits of a litigant's claims before legal process can expose the true names of online Does.

The case arose out of several anonymous postings that appeared in a Yahoo group, as well as the weblogs Groklaw and IP-Wars.net.

Originally by EFF: Breaking News, 9:36 PM

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