Anonymity on the Internet? Think again.

[chanel]

A Chicago woman says cosmetic surgery left her breasts disfigured, but she's not suing for malpractice. Instead, the doctor who performed the allegedly botched procedure is suing her, because she posted bad reviews of his work online.

Dr. Jay Pensler, unhappy about negative reviews his former patients posted on Yelp and Citysearch, is suing at least three of them for defamation. In court papers, Pensler, who calls himself a "well respected plastic surgeon," says the women have "embarked on a malicious campaign to undermine and destroy" his personal reputation.

According to Fox Chicago News, Pensler subpoenaed Yelp and Citysearch for the IP numbers of the postings, which ultimately led him to discover the identity of some of the authors. Under federal law, the companies cannot be held liable for the postings of their users. Pensler did not immediately return a call for comment today.

Plastic Surgeon Jay Pensler Sues Patients for Bad Online Reviews

Wow. I may have to cancel my trip advisor account.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Which is one reason I wonder why people think anonymous blogs are not valid. If you post content that is defaming to anyone you can be sued, so the only real defense is to tell the truth.

 

[martybegan]

actually not really. Dammit.

 

[FA_Q2]

Insane what you can sue for these days. Though this is meaningless until an actual judgment comes out of it. Hopefully it will be laughed right out of court as it should be and the surgeon will be left not only with bad reviews but bad reviews with a lot of media attention and the bad rep of actually suing your own damn customers. Ask the RIAA and the MPAA how that is working out for them.

 

[ConHog]

I want to be on the jury and decide if said breasts are hideous.

 

[FA_Q2]

That may require a touch test and through investigation of the evidence in the deliberation room!!!

 

[PoliticalChic]

This is a bit disturbing since I post on Yelp every now and then. I don't think Yelpers expect complete anonymity because we use our real first name and the first initial of our last name. We value reviews for restaurants, but even more for those in the service industry. This will most likely discourage users from being completely honest. I for one feel threatened by this event.

 

[ConHog]

That may require a touch test and through investigation of the evidence in the deliberation room!!!

A taste test may be in order.