La Russa vs. Twitter Tests Web Anonymity

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La Russa Cites Trademark Infringement

"I'm not in agreement with the spokesperson's statement," McCoy responds, referring to Twitter co-founder Stone. "My understanding was that we had settled it." Although Twitter removed the case to federal court, according to the records of the Superior Court of California, McCoy believes this was done as a provision, "in case we didn't work something out." Twitter did not respond to a request for comment, and Fenwick & West declined to comment.

Currently, Web companies are protected from being sued for content created and uploaded by their users under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which states that Internet service providers can't themselves be treated as the publisher or speaker of content users post that is pornographic, defamatory, or otherwise illegal. Section 230 has been invoked to successfully uphold the immunity of Google (GOOG), MySpace (NWS), AOL, and Craigslist in suits that tried to hold those sites responsible for content posted by their users.

But La Russa's complaint hinges on a separate matter: trademark infringement. Because the impersonator's Twitter account displayed the text "Tony La Russa is now using Twitter" and provided his name, photo, and a Web address containing his name, La Russa is arguing that Twitter is complicit in a kind of false endorsement of its service. "It's sort of an argument of 'You're defrauding the marketplace because you're basically saying this person is endorsing the service,'" says New York attorney Rubin.

Other sites are also grappling with how to protect users from potentially harmful impersonation. On June 9, Facebook said it would let users sign up for custom user names on the site. In a company blog post, it asked people with trademarked "or other protected names" to e-mail the company ahead of the Jun. 13 opening of the feature with requests to reserve those names.

Facebook applies stricter rules

Whatever the outcome of the case, Twitter appears to be taking a lesson from it. On June 6 the company announced that it plans to begin experimenting with a "verified accounts" service to authenticate the identity of select users on the site. Included in the initial program will be "public officials, public agencies, famous artists, athletes, and other well known individuals at risk of impersonation," Twitter's Stone wrote in a blog post, adding that verifying businesses is also a possibility. The company hasn't detailed how it intends to verify these individuals.

Twitter is following in the footsteps of Facebook. "When any user contacts Facebook to report a fake account—including a celebrity—we investigate the situation and will remove that page or profile if appropriate," says Brandee Barker, spokeswoman for Palo Alto (Calif.)-based Facebook. When the company is tipped off to a potential impersonator, it asks users to send in copies of their identification. Facebook goes a step further in asking that all of its users, even noncelebrities, use their real names to help avoid the problems that potentially arise from anonymous users.

Will Twitter soon start asking all users to show ID? Its doubtful, says the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Matt Zimmerman, who points out that the anonymity afforded by sites such as Twitter ensures that the Web is a powerful outlet for free speech. When sites enforce authentic identity, "it makes them very attractive choke points for people who want to silence free speech," Zimmerman says.

Click here to see a copy of Tony La Russa's complaint against Twitter.

Douglas MacMillan is a staff writer for BusinessWeek in New York.

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