Phil Mickelson Files Defamation Lawsuit

Professional golfer Phil Mickelson has filed a defamation suit against a Canadian internet service provider.  The purpose of his suit is to uncover the identity of an individual or individuals who have been posting defamatory statements about him and his family.  Mickelson has vehemently denied all allegations and claims that the individual is deliberately attacking his otherwise spotless reputation.

Phil’s suit is against Videotron S.E.N.C., and claims that on November 11th and 12th one or more individuals using the screen names “Frogroller” and “Longtitude” posted a wide range of statements, including, but not limited to, the fact that Mickelson’s wife Amy regularly has extramarital affairs and that Mickelson himself has fathered an illegitimate child.  “Lefty” is asking the court to require Videotron to provide the identity of the individual(s) so that he can “stop the dissemination of false and wrongful statements…and obtain reparation for the prejudice already suffered”.  In other words, Phil wants to find out who is behind these libelous attacks and sue the crap out of them.

Mickelson obtained the information with respect to the Montreal residency of “Frogroller” via a complaint filed on November 21st in San Diego County superior court, from which he received authorization to subpoena information from Yahoo! that subsequently lead to the identification of “Frogroller” as a resident of Montreal.  In addition, Mickelson’s attorney Glenn Cohen has indicated no resistance from Videotron with respect to providing the subpoena and he expects to receive the information in a timely fashion.

This case could certainly have far-reaching implications regarding the anonymity of internet posting and the privacy of individuals who post statements online.  Mickelson has said that is not his concern, as he simply hopes to discontinue the defamatory statements being made about himself and his family.

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