St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa thinks so. La Russa is suing Twitter over an unauthorized account that used his name and talked about drunk driving and the death of two Cardinals pitchers in a light hearted way.
La Russa filed a lawsuit against Twitter in California state courts last month claiming that the unauthorized Twitter account damaged his reputation and caused him emotional distress.
On June 5, 2009 the Associated Press reported that La Russa and Twitter had reached a settlement in the case. The settlement agreement, as announced by La Russa, is that Twitter will pay La Russa’s attorney fees and make a donation to his Animal Rescue Foundation.
Does Twitter, or other similar social networking sites like Facebook and My Space have an obligation to determine the identity of people that establish accounts? Without those protections can anyone set up an account in your name and post things that may conflict with your viewpoints?
If your reputation has been damaged or if you have suffered emotional distress because of similar impersonations or unauthorized social networking site accounts then contact Dolan Law. We will be happy to provide you with a free consultation.