Court order sent via Twitter

AN anonymous blogger impersonating English solicitor Donal Blaney on Twitter has complied with an injunction issued via the micro-blog platform.

Earlier this month the High Court in London gave permission for the injunction to be served via Twitter. The order was served against an unknown Twitter user who anonymously posts to the site using the same name as Mr Blaney, who is a right-wing political blogger who blogs at a site called Blaney’s Blarney.

The Twitter injunction, the first of its kind, was allowed by the judge because it was the only means of communication with the defendant.

The unknown user had been posting threads posing as Blaney’s Blarney which had been followed by friends and colleagues of Blaney believing it was him.

The settlement reached is covered by confidentiality, but the blogger has agreed to pay damages.

He has also disclosed his identity. Although this is also covered by confidentiality, Blaney told Solicitors Journal he was not surprised to find out who it was.

Blaney’s case was that the unauthorised use of his name breached his copyright and intellectual property rights.

The injunction, Blaney said, was “an important step in dealing with online bullying”.

“Today is a great day for the overwhelming majority of well-meaning, decent people who use the internet and a bad day for bullies,” Blaney said on his blog.

Matthew Richardson, the barrister who secured the order in Blaney’s case, said that the injunction was “a huge step forward in preventing anonymous abuse of the internet”.