Only one star, but several legal issues

My August column for the South Carolina Press Association:

A lawsuit by a Charleston psychiatrist over a single star review on Google raises several legal issues regarding standards for the social media era, including issues that apply equally to traditional media.

Yes, Bloggers Can Be Covered by Oregon's Shield Law

Back in late 2011, there was much hand-wringing over a decision by a federal judge in Oregon that a blogger could not invoke the state's reporters' shield law in a libel case against her because, in that particular situation, the blogger was not acting as a journalist.

Ninth Circuit Weighs In On Internet Anonymity, Consumer Griping At Risk

(cross posted at the Citizen Media Law Project; written with CMLP Assistant Director Sam Bayard)
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision last Monday in In re: Anonymous Online Speakers, No. 09-71265 (9th Cir. July 12, 2010), a case that could be influential for future courts deciding whether to order the identification of anonymous or pseudonymous Internet speakers.