Angered Model Strikes A Pose At Google

Files Lawsuit Claiming Blog Hosted By Internet Giant Defamed Her

(CBS)  Canadian model Liskula Cohen has never shied away from gracing magazine covers or modeling for fashion icons like Armani and Versace. But her successful career is now forcing her to go on the defensive against an anonymous Internet blogger with a serious grudge.

It marks the latest case of cyberbullying to make headlines: former Vogue cover girl vs. Google.

Cohen filed a lawsuit in Manhattan State Supreme Court hoping to reveal the identity of a person who anonymously posted insulting remarks, which she claims are defamatory and malicious, on a blog run by the search engine.

Most of the bloggers comments fixate on Cohen's alleged sexual behavior, often referring to her as a "skank."

Concerned about damage to her reputation Cohen is hoping a court order will force Google, which owns the blog site, to reveal the identity of the person responsible so she can proceed with a defamation lawsuit.

According to Lisa Bloom, a legal analyst for CBS' The Early Show, Cohen has a valid case against Google. "They have been put on notice," Bloom said.

Google responded to the claim by saying they sympathize with victims of cyberbulling but "take great care to respect privacy concerns and will only provide information about a user in response to a subpoena or other court order."

[justice1776]

So get "a subpoena or other court order" and end this. What''s the problem?

[nojoy01]

So get "a subpoena or other court order" and end this. What''''s the problem?

Posted by Justice1776 at 09:27 AM : Jan 07, 2009

That is what the article is about. The Court order she filed for.

[pollroller1]

Must be a slow news day LOL

[mumu11]

Congrats, lady organs, just just hit a new low: " not in my Christian circles" indeed! Where did you get the idea that Christians were the only humans "worthy" of having their constitutional and civil rights respected?

[smart_guy_09]

she probably just needs to stop being a ***.

[rf35]

Get a grip! Calling someone a "***" is now cyberbullying?!?! Like anyone takes bloggers like this seriously. It''s obviously a frustrated, insecure man or a jealous, insecure woman trying to vent. This case should be dismissed within 10 minutes of entering the courtroom. And Ms. Cohen needs to thicken up a little.

[markangeloo]

Christ hung out with prostitutes, criminals & the poor;
not with soldiers, police or the rich ??

[photolex]

I think berkshirerez misses the point of protecting a reputation. "If this woman is not really a s*k*a*n*k then she has nothing to worry about." Except that those people who do not know her are led to believe she is one. What if a blogger called her a murderer, prostitute, pedophile, or terrorist. What if someone in your office spread lies about you? Would you still feel that baseless accusations do no harm?

[legacyabq]

this is not defamation

it is satire

Protected under 1st amendment

It would only be defamation if someone accused her of a specific criminal act etc

Unfortunately, in my opinion Lisa Bloom''s on-air commentary on this "story" was superficial and uninformed, when she erroneously made it appear to be a "foregone conclusion" (i) that a remark (e.g., that somebody is a "***") does in fact provide the sound basis for a lawsuit against the speaker, and (ii) that such "fact" automatically affords the "injured" party a legal right (which she characterized as "routine") to obtain the identity of the poster from Google or some other internet content provider.

To the contrary, to say that somebody is a "***" is most likely opinion which, as a matter of constitutional law, cannot provide a sound basis for a defamation lawsuit. Also, the right to express opinions ANONYMOUSLY is itself, constitutionally protected.

Furthermore, subpoenas and other legal devices seeking the identity of anonymous internet posters are very frequently opposed in court, and when competently opposed [whether by the internet content provider, or by the anonymous poster, who usually may seek relief under his/her "screen name") are VERY OFTEN quashed.

[Especially in states with anti-SLAPP statutes, there may be statutory attorney-fee provisions which may make it possible for the anonymous poster to obtain legal assistance with fees to be paid by the party seeking to "unmask" and sue the anonymous poster if the anonymous poster wins on the anti-SLAPP motion.]

[buttonjockey]

This is the price of fame! It costs, and if people don''t like you, that''s your own problem. You might want to do things that protect your reputation. Doing respectable things is the best way to shrug off idiot bloggers who wallow in their own hate. Whining is a poor choice and only plays into the idiot''s hands. I don''t know what Ms. Cohen is, but I don''t admire her response to this problem. I think that is respectability is within her, she will keep her chin up and do admirable things.

[jtleseth]

If it wasnt for that blogger,,I WOULD HAVE NEVER HEARD OF HER.......she owes big time for all the "exposer"......stay tuned to see if she ends up in Hustler.......poor baby...

[mechengr9]

If you wanted to remain anonymous you should have become a model. It comes with the territory. Deal with it. As another person said I never heard of her until now.

It''s all some sort of publicity stunt anyway.

[eggy1620]

In a related case, her same lawyer has filed suit on behalf of Dr. Seuss%u2019 Grinch against James Earl Jones for all the %u201Cmalicious accusations hurled at my client in the lyrics to that immature, untrue song.%u201D

Just think.. one day there''''ll be a professional insulter. What are we gonna do about him?
Posted by william712
---------
Name him Bill and give him a slot on Faux News?

[alanw1077]

For filing this suit, she may be the dumbest person on the face of the planet. Think about it: she purports to be upset because a specific webpage, that 99.9999% of us have never seen before today, is insulting HER, a person that 99.99% of us have never heard of before today. So what do we all do? We rush to the site, and see the insulting shots of this freak that none of us never heard of before. So NOW, there are almost a million people now aware of the %u201Cskank%u201D shots of her, vs only a handful before this story broke. Making this Cohen weirdo the dumbest person on the planet. I rest my case.

[asor1-2009]

AlanW1077 Didn''t you forget something? She thrives on publicity!!!!!!!!!
Enjoyed your comment:)

[eggy1620]

Careful Alan, you may find yourself as the next defendant.

[bhrater-2009]

The line has to be drawn somewhere, yes more people will look at the site because it has made news. But doesn''t that mean that she should for some reason just ignore the bad things?
The internet is here to stay and will be a part of our lives for the future. These cases will determine the ground rules for exposure and privacy in that future. I believe in internet freedom, but there must be some order to it. I would prefer it done this way than through ISP''s clamping down.

[hober_mallow]

***? *** !!!

You can send all the *** like Miss Cohen to my house ASAP.

I''d hit her at once.

[yongamerica]

A blog is not a newspaper. In this blog world she can refute her attackers and defend her reputation, whatever that may be. If the defamatory and malicious postings are true of the STANK, then she could sue, however she opens these allegations to exposure in the court proceedings.

Google is not obliged to her request to divulge any information about any of its customers unless a grand jury determines there is sufficient evidence for a case.

[louiville2]

That will be interesting, Just think Palin could go after all the left wing *** that libeled her.

[mtminds]

If she wasn''t such a narcissist she wouldn''t be compelled to read about herself in every blog she finds. I bet she Googles herself at least once a week to boost her ego, and then she sees this blog as a big zit on her self perception. Probably because there is some truth to what ever allegations she''s objecting to.

[berkshirerez]

I think this woman is actually pretty brilliant...her notoriety and possibly her career just skyrocketed. In fact...she is probably the ''anonymous blogger''. To the comment made by bhrater "I believe in internet freedom but there must be some order to it". The problem with ''order'' is that it automatically begins infringing on ''freedom''. Who determines where the line is drawn now that George W is heading back to Texas?

[abrame]

Libel is libel.

I wish her the best and hope she gets to crush the character and career assassin that is trying to ruin her.

[abrame]

Posted by AlanW1077

You sure seem defensive about her going after a demented sexual predator.

You must be feeling nervous. I rest my case.

[mecury69]

"Maybe Google can politely accept her concern as being warrant enough, and avoid the court system."

Um, who IS Google exactly? SOMEONE would have to make that determination that it is warranted. Then you open up a can of worms against anyone in the public eye that is slandered. How about George W. or Obama during the election? They certainly were slandered.

She needs to fight it on the blogs as anyone else would do. Or bring it to court and let the legal system determine if there is cause for Google to do so.

No one in Google has been elected or appointed and do not see where they would be qualified to determine what is slander. Google only can enforce it''s ''rights of use'' rules and the blogger would have to break them.

[jk90us]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...maybe her potential clients weren''t as concerned with the word "***" as they were by her candid pics of her being dry-humped by some ugly bald black guy with his pants half way down??

Maybe???

And just maybe her drawing attention to the site so that now the ENTIRE world thinks she''s a *** was NOT the best way to go here?

Just thinking.

Also, the general feeling about fashion models is that they are ALL pretty much ***, so it''s not like that blogger is pointing out anything earth shattering.

[jk90us]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...maybe her potential clients weren''t as concerned with the word "***" as they were by her candid pics of her being dry-humped by some ugly bald black guy with his pants half way down??

Maybe???

And just maybe her drawing attention to the site so that now the ENTIRE world thinks she''s a *** was NOT the best way to go here?

Just thinking.

Also, the general feeling about fashion models is that they are ALL pretty much ***, so it''s not like that blogger is pointing out anything earth shattering.

[timothyone-2009]

Knowing what I know about life today, how short it is, and how unlikely it is that any God that may exist really gives a shine about who we do, I would be *** skankoid freak! If it didn''t have much of a chance of ever hurting anyone, and it sounded fun, I''d do it. (Using protection) Living life worried about what others think is immature and a sure fire way to bring misery on yourself. We live once, why allow some old church nutcase who''s likely done and doing worse than you ever will tell you how to live? Dedicate yourself to you and your children first and equally, then your family.

[kc629]

this woman is a crybaby, she should give herself bigger and better things to worry about than schoolyard insults my 13 yr old neice has thicker skin than her!

[lili5044]

What better way to get attention then something like this? She is getting exactly what she deserves. I never even heard of her before this..What a sk**k!

[Krazcarl]

Folks have made fun of me on a blog before will most likely do it again "THAT''S COOL". It''s hard to beleave that a pretty lady could be that stupid "NOT"..

[jsklinemn]

Does not surprise me in the slightest that there are people out there so vein that they can''t tolerate someone not liking them in some way or accepting them. This really is bad that some folks have to resort to this sort of thing. I suspect that if people paid less attention to them, they''ll ultimately go away. Fact is; it''s my right to voice my opinion if I don''t like the way you are doing something. In this country, if you are challenging my right to voice my opinion, you are challenging the right to free speech in the US. Good luck with that!

[stedster]

If she gets her way this will set a precedent by which anyone can get sued by anyone for saying anything. That would be great for ambulance-chasing d**k s***ks, and bad for anyone trying to speak freely. This is just one step closer to having thought police eliminating more of our rights as Americans.
Google should do like some websites which reserve the right to censor anything said at will. Which is worse? Would that make Google culpable for every single thing allowed through on their blogs?
I''m getting tired of all these frivoluos lawsuits.
If you are in the public eye, you should accept what happens in public.

[jc2436]

Perhaps if one of you had "Googled" her name you might have found out that she is a former model. She has not worked in modeling since she was disfigured by a doorman in a bar fight at a night club in 2007. The web site (www.mahalo.com) says that the same man was involved in a similar incident in 2008.

[jc2436]

Perhaps if one of you had "Googled" her name you might have found out that she is a former model. She has not worked in modeling since she was disfigured by a doorman in a bar fight at a night club in 2007. The web site (www.mahalo.com) says that the same man was involved in a similar incident in 2008.

[skinnyminny2]

Many of you call her a ''crybaby''--imagine this happening to you or to your child. I''d be angry, too. The ''blogger'' is probably a discarded lover or perhaps a fat, ugly, jealous woman who feels the need to try and tear someone down.

[wl7bzh]

Liskula Cohen-No matter what you say about her just make sure you spell her name right-when one needs to be in the limelight, is there any bad publicity? Can you say Paris, Lindsay,Britney, or even Baraq?

[nothappyatall]

Good luck suing, chances are the blogger is an 18 year old dork with no job, and no assets.
He also could be using any of a number of proxy servers to post with, which hide his IP and makes him untraceable.

[tucson23]

I''m not sure what Lisa Bloom knows, but I''m pretty sure that public figures generally cannot bring defamation lawsuits, and in any event they have the burden of proof that the comments made about them are not true AND caused real damage to themselves (read: money lost). I imagine that would be hard to do, especially since she''s no longer a model.

[dronemonk]

I looked up photos of her (on Google). She kinda looks like David Bowie in drag. I hope she doesn''t sue me for saying so...

[shanev137]

If I had to guess, I would say this means everything that everyone is saying about her is true.

[rf35]

Many of you call her a ''crybaby''--imagine this happening to you or to your child. I''d be angry, too. The ''blogger'' is probably a discarded lover or perhaps a fat, ugly, jealous woman who feels the need to try and tear someone down.
Posted by skinnyminny2

But there''s a difference between being angry about something and filing a frivolous lawsuit. If someone upsets me with a post in a blog, I blog back.

[questionnews]

I wonder what idiot told her she was model material in the first place. Give her a couple more years & it will be a coin flip as to whether she or Phylis Diller would be a better catch.

[neo269]

If that''s her in the pictures, I''d say it''s an accurate description.

I''m guessing the nasty comments here are coming from some jealous, impotent people. or maybe just ugly. The woman is very pretty.

[questionnews]

I''''m guessing the nasty comments here are coming from some jealous, impotent people. or maybe just ugly. The woman is very pretty.

Posted by Hominatrix53 at 11:16 AM : Jan 08, 2009


Some people''s pig''s are other people''s princesses.
Looking at the world through beer goggles helps alot.

[avenger09123]

Whatever, this is such bullcrap grow some thick skin and get over yourself. Not everyones gonna think well of you in a positive way.

And for the person that said imagine if you were a child and you got teased like this. I spent the better part of my youth being teased for being a nerd, but you don''t see me filing suit against those idiots, jesus these rich people need to grow some thick skin and quit acting like big kids hitting babies with their huge sticks.

[fauxnewscom]

The First Amendment should have forbid any kind of insult, including insulting the Government and fashion models. What were our Founding Fathers thinking?