Toto

I read through it, and it's a very persuasive case on a legal level. But I don't see the ACLU or the EFF filing amicus briefs, and the Facebook group still has 17 members. I think that actually using Schiffman's name is a real problem, especially since there were no real indications that the email was a parody, and Golb himself never admitted that it was a spoof until after his arrest. There are many other cases of spoofs using the name of a living person, but none exactly like this.

I suspect that the case was affected by Raphael Golb's personal quirks and his unwillingness to admit that he might have done anything seriously wrong.

manwithdream

Toto,

I don't think Golb has a good argument that his emails in Schiffman's name were parodies or whatever, so he might lose on that part of his appeal, but the rest of his appeal is to show that slander and libel are not crimes anymore, but should be treated as civil cases. Also, I think he shows that he did not commit identity theft because there was no fraud for financial gain. I think most of his appeal is strong, but he will probably be in trouble for some part of what he did.

howardfredrics

Any way you slice it, Golb doesn't deserve six months in jail with a bunch of hardened criminals, particularly since convictions for his most serious "crimes" (e.g. identity theft) will almost surely be overturned on appeal. And THAT, my friends, is the point.

Toto

Here's another hopeful sign for Golb: 9th Circuit rules that fibs can be protected speech

Toto

The Golb Affair by James R. Davila