Joan Orie Melvin v. John Doe, et al.

On June 24, 1999, a Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge ruled that his Virginia court lacked jursidiction to hear a matter between a defendant and plantiff who both reside in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  Arising from comments found on a website, the plantiff filed a lawsuit in Loudoun County and asked the court to issue a subpoena to AOL for the release of name of the subscriber who posted the information. The case was filed in Virginia because the defendant posted the website through AOL, whose corporate headquarters are located in Loudoun County, Virginia.

On February 24, 2001, America Online filed an Amicus Brief in a Pennsylvania appellate court in Melvin v. Doe, a case in which the plaintiff (a state judge) is seeking discovery of the identity of a Doe defendant who allegedly posted defamatory material about the judge on a website the defendant created through AOL's service.  In the brief, AOL (while not taking a position on the underlying merits of the lawsuit) explains that the proliferation of "John Doe" lawsuits seeking to unmask the identity of anonymous online speakers (including AOL subscribers) threatens to chill speech protected by the First Amendment.  AOL accordingly urges the court to require plaintiffs to demonstrate that they have viable legal claims before compelling disclosure of the identity of an anonymous online speaker.

More Information

Brief Amicus Curiae of America Online, Inc.

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Melvin v. Doe Letter Opinion