Seth Tupper reports:
A South Dakota lawmaker wants to require bloggers and operators of other Web sites to collect information about the source of anonymously posted content so the information can be used in libel and slander lawsuits.
Republican Rep. Noel Hamiel, who represents Aurora and Davison counties, introduced the legislation as a two-bill package last week in the state House of Representatives.
[…]
One of the measures, House Bill 1278, requires any person who allows Internet posts to “keep a record of the internet-protocol logs adequate to provide identification and location of otherwise unknown, anonymous, or pseudonymous persons who leave or upload content.” The logs could be used, for example, to trace an anonymously posted blog comment to a particular Internet account or even a specific computer.
The other measure, House Bill 1277, would allow a person who is suing for libel or slander to name the blogger or other “online content provider” as a co-defendant, but only for the limited purpose of obtaining information about the source of the anonymously posted content. The main defendant would be the person who posted the content anonymously or under a pseudonym.
Read more on The Daily Globe.