An anonymous blogger whose identity identity was initially unknown has recently been revealed by a court order after she called Vogue Australia cover girl Liskula Cohen a psychotic, whoring, lying … skank. The blogger a 29-year-old New York fashion student by the name of Rosemary Port now plans to sue Google for $US15 million for breaching her privacy.

Judge Joan Madden, in ordering Google to reveal Port’s identity, rejected claims by Port’s lawyer that the comments were mere opinion or trash talk, and that only factual assertions could be considered libelous. Surely if assertions had a basis in fact they are fair game. This is clearly a warning shot by courts putting bloggers on notice that freedom of speech or anonymity no longer exists online.

Whats more surprising is that Google once known for its catchphrase do no evil and one of the biggest companies in the world can bow down to some cheap arse tart (allegedly haha) and breach someones privacy. Would it not have been more appropriate to just suspend the blog or requested the removal of the offending post at the outset? It doesn’t augur well for bloggers.