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ARTICLE · 28 JANUARY 2020

Anonymous Internet Posters Not Immune To Default Judgment

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On January 13, 2020, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (ONSC) released its decision in Theralase Technologies Inc. v. Lanter, 2020 ONSC 205.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Natalie Kolos
Natalie Kolos
Aidan Fishman
Aidan Fishman
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On January 13, 2020, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (ONSC) released its decision in Theralase Technologies Inc. v. Lanter, 2020 ONSC 205. The decision is the first reported in Ontario in which default judgment has been entered against anonymous online defendants who could not be identified by the plaintiffs.

Background

The plaintiffs, a pharmaceutical company and two of its officers, commenced a defamation action with respect to derogatory comments made by anonymous internet posters on Stockhouse.com, a website designed for investors. The posters used a variety of pseudonyms to post these comments to the corporate plaintiff's page on the website, where they were viewable by the public.

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