"Textual" Harassment Case Over Anonymous Text Claiming Infidelity

A Naples Florida couple recently filed a defamation lawsuit against an unknown entity for sending a text message claiming that one of the spouses were having an affair with an employ. The whole incident was made worse by the fact that the husband and wife were celebrating the wife's 45th birthday when the text message arrived on the wife's cell phone. The text message came in anonymously and they did not recognize the phone number. They hired an attorney to get to the bottom of the anonymous message. The lawsuit allows the attorney to start serving subpoenas to trace the origin of the message.

The couple's lawsuit, filed in Collier Circuit Court, alleges the anonymous texter knew the text message was made-up and defamatory, creating severe emotional stress for the couple. The lawsuit, assigned to Circuit Judge, seeks damages of $15,000 or more.

Harassment and defamatory comments are on the rise in electronic mediums such as the internet, SMS texting, blogs and social networking sites. So are requests for subpeonas to sequester information that would reveal the identites of anonymous commenters, e-mailers and texters. Thirty-seven states, including Florida, have passed cyberharassment laws. Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington focus on texting in addition to e-mails, blogs, the Internet and other forms of electronic communication, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Silent Sender has always expressed the important of "thinking before you click". If you want to send an anonymous message you better make sure you are not abusing the power of anonymity for nefarious purposes. Unfortunately, valuable tools like anonymous email can be used for "good" and "bad". With great power comes great responsibility.

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Corporate America Takes A Second Look At "Whistleblowing"

Regulators and corporate compliance offices are re-examining practices surrounding anonymous tips involving corporate corruption. There have been some recent cases where anonymous tips resulted in allegations, but without evidence, the tips became hearsay.

The saga regarding the French automotive maker Renault began last August, when a group of Renault managers passed on an anonymous tip accusing a senior Renault official of negotiating a bribe.

Four months later, Renault in January 2011 dismissed the executive and two other managers. The employees proclaimed their innocence, but the company's chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, stated publicly that the company had evidence against them. But, over the past two months, Renault and its lawyers have failed to produce any evidence against the trio.

Renault is now admitting that they may have been "tricked" into making the allegations and the company is preparing  to reinstate the three managers for lack of evidence.

While anonymous tips are important and vital to exposing corruption- a tip is just a tip unless it leads investigators to damaging evidence against the accused. An anonymous tip should always include some kind of evidence for the allegation(s) being made or the tip may not be taken seriously. Corporate America  typically responds to anonymous tips of corruption with a knee-jerk reaction, shoot and ask questions later. Allegations are really only "gossip" unless they include information or identify where information can be found pertaining to the allegations.

Anonymous messaging and the use of anonymous email to expose corporate corruption or any crime is an important tool to bring criminals to justice.

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The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make On-line

1. I am anonymous while on-line 

Nope- Just because you can't be seen doesn't mean you can't be found

I saved this little goodie for last because it is near and dear to my heart. People foolishly believe that they are effectively anonymous while on-line. This false sense of security if just that, false.

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Discover how to send an anonymous email - Go Silent! The Truth Will Set You Free...