Lefty sues to unmask IT attacker

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Because he needed the court order to obtain the information he required about the identity of the person who posted what the millionaire Californian golfer said were "vicious" statements about him and his wife, he found it necessary to sue Videotron S.E.N.C. in the Quebec Superior Court. TaylorMade R11 Irons

The court was told he was seeking the identity of the author of "several highly defamatory statements posted by one or more individuals on the Internet, in particular on a Yahoo! website, under the pseudonyms of 'Fogroller' and 'Longitude'.

"The postings suggested that plaintiff has an illegitimate child, that his wife has affairs and other similar vexatious statements that are absolutely untrue and, simply put, vicious," the complaint stated.

According to Courthouse News, Mickelson said the San Diego Superior Court authorized him to subpoena Yahoo! for information about "Fogroller" and "Longitude," and Yahoo! responded with Fogroller's Internet protocol address, which is registered in Canada to a Videotron subscriber.

Mickelson is asking the court to force Videotron to identify the person so that he can "stop the dissemination of false and wrongful statements ... and obtain reparation for the prejudice already suffered." TaylorMade R11 Irons

The motion was filed in Montreal on January 25.

Glenn Cohen, the Jacksonville-based attorney for Mickelson, said Videotron did not oppose the request for subpoena, and that he expects the information shortly.

Whether the case has wider implications for anonymous postings on the Internet is not Mickelson's concern.

"If we can stop one person, then it's one less person who can get away with this," Cohen said.

"Maybe it will have a chilling effect. I don't know. If other people are victims of this and want to take up the mantra, that's fine. It was a very narrow decision Phil and I made to discover this person's identity and stop TaylorMade R11 Irons

Mickelson first filed a complaint on November 21 in San Diego County superior court, which authorised him to subpoena information from Yahoo! Inc. That led to identifying "Fogroller" as a Montreal resident, with Videotron as the Internet provider.

Mickelson wants the Quebec court to demand that Videotron supply him with all information of the person using the Internet protocol (IP) address who first registered under the "Fogroller" pseudonym on December 16, 2008, and of the person using the IP address that posted the statements about him.