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Jeweler wins ruling to reveal Yelper’s identity
A judge ruled Tuesday that Yelp must reveal what it knows about the identity of a reviewer who posted an allegedly libelous review about her experience at a Boston jeweler’s store.
Boston--A Boston Municipal Court judge ruled in favor of a jeweler Tuesday when he ordered Yelp Inc. to reveal what they know about the identity of a reviewer who posted an allegedly libelous review about her experience at the retailer’s store.
The review in question was posted to Pageo Jewelers’ Yelp page on Feb. 28 by a user identifying themselves as Linda G. from Boulder, Colo.
It slammed Pageo for being overpriced and lacking ethics and also claimed that Pageo owner George Pelz had not given “Linda G.,” an alleged longtime customer who had spent a lot of money at the store over the years, a fair price when she sold her “wedding ring/engagement ring” and all the jewelry she’d bought there back to the store.
Her review also indicated that she was selling her jewelry out of desperation in order to leave an abusive relationship and that after completing the sale, she was seated at the same table as Pelz at a fundraiser for abused women, which she found to be hypocritical since he had “ripped me off when I was so down and out,” she stated.
After being told by Yelp that they would not remove the review, Pelz fired back on the site on March 7, calling the review a “complete fabrication” and Linda G. a “Yelp terrorist,” a reference to a term used in a Boston Globe story that ran that same day.
Yelp declined another request from Pelz to remove the review because it “appeared to reflect the user’s personal experience and opinions, consistent with Yelp’s Terms of Service and Content Guidelines,” court papers state.
On July 27, Pelz brought a libel and negligence lawsuit against Linda G. Doe in Boston Municipal Court, outlining eight claims made in the review that are “false and defamatory statements,” the suit states. (Yelp is not being sued.)
He also subpoenaed Yelp’s registered agent in Boston, seeking identifying information about Linda G. Yelp pushed back, however, filing a motion in opposition claiming that releasing Linda G.’s information was a violation of the user’s right to free, anonymous speech on the Internet.
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On Tuesday morning the parties had their day in court and late that afternoon the judge ruled that Yelp had to comply with the subpoena and reveal what information they have on Linda G.’s identity by Friday.
Attorney Paul Allen Levy of the Washington, D.C.-based Public Citizen Litigation Group, who represented Yelp pro bono in the subpoena case, did not respond to request for comment on Wednesday.
Pelz told National Jeweler that he will determine how to move forward with his libel suit when they determine exactly who, or what, Linda G. is.
In the meantime, the jeweler said his Yelp page has come under fire from people all over the country, with more than 50 users posting one-star reviews as backlash for filing a lawsuit against a Yelper.
The page currently is earmarked by Yelp with an “Active Cleanup Alert” prestitial, which states: “This business recently made waves in the news, which often means that people come to this page to post their reactions. The best place to share your thoughts is on Yelp Talk. You are also welcome to post a review about this business, but we will ultimately remove reviews that appear to be motivated more by the news coverage itself than by the reviewer’s own customer experience with the business (even if that means removing points of view we might agree with).”
As of Thursday morning, a handful of these reviews remained, including one that stated, “I waited thirty minutes for my pizza before being told by the store manager to leave the premises. One of the worst experiences of my life, I will be calling dominoes (sic) next time!”
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