A US billionaire has been given a court order that allows him to seek the identities of individuals he claims libelled him on a number of popular websites, including Wikipedia and WordPress.
Louis Bacon has been given permission to serve a court order called a Norwich Pharmacal Order (NPO) against three websites, where users are accused of contributing libelous material. NPO’s are named after a 1974 case involving the Norwich Pharmacal Company, which established the principal that a company can be required to hand over certain relevant information.
It’s unclear how much success Bacon will have with the NPO’s, though, since the websites are based in the US. He may have to seek further order in that jurisdiction. Wikipedia is reported to have said that it requires a US subpoena as opposed to a UK court order.
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