Watchdog Web site is news organization, N.H. high court finds
By The Associated Press
05.07.10
CONCORD, N.H. — The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a mortgage industry-watchdog Web site is a news organization and should not have been ordered to remove a leaked document it published or to identify its source.
The ruling, which tackled both the definition of journalism and the rights of those who post anonymous comments online, was a win for Las Vegas-based Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter, which assesses mortgage companies and disseminates its findings on the Web site.
The Web site had an article in 2008 that included a confidential financial document it had obtained about the Mortgage Specialists Inc., which has offices in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Someone then posted an anonymous comment accusing the company's owner of fraud.
After the mortgage company sued, a Rockingham Superior Court judge ordered the Web site to identify the source of the document and remove it from the site. Judge Kenneth McHugh also said the Web site had to identify the author of the anonymous comments.
The state high court disagreed, reversing the lower court's ruling and sending the case back for further review on issues including whether reporter privilege applies to the Web site when treated as a news organization and the standards for anonymous online comments.
"The fact that Implode operates a website makes it no less a member of the press," the court said in The Mortgage Specialists, Inc. v. Implode-Explode Heavy Industries, Inc.
Lawyer Jeremy Eggleton, who represented the Web site, said the ruling affirmed that New Hampshire law includes strong protections for the press.
"This is a great ruling for the press," he said.
The mortgage company's lawyer, Alexander Walker, said he was disappointed with the ruling but was hopeful that when the lower court reconsiders the issues it would again find in his client's favor.
Yesterday's ruling also marked the first time the New Hampshire court weighed in on the protection of those who make anonymous online comments. It adopted the standards set in several states and instructed courts to weigh claims of defamation against the news media's right to protect their sources.
The Implode-o-Meter site responded to the ruling by restoring the document and critical comments. The site's founder, Aaron Krowne, said he was pleased by the ruling but perplexed that the case wasn't completely dismissed.
"As events have unfolded, the nature of this suit has become clear. It is meant to limit the public's knowledge about financial fraud, even though it is from a known offender," he wrote on the site yesterday afternoon.
The owner of the Mortgage Specialists did not return a call for comment in time for this story.
