A state court of appeals in Virginia has decided that Yelp must disclose the identities 7 Yelp accounts that were involved in anonymously posting critical reviews of an Alexandria, Virginia carpet cleaning business.
Hadeed Carpet believes that none of the Yelp reviews came from real customers. The small business sued to force Yelp to kill the bad reviews and unearth the real identities behind the Yelp accounts.
First Amendment Rights activists feel that this courts decisions could also have “persuasive authority” in non-Virginia cases. This case contradicts the state-law consensus that expects a plaintiff to provide solid evidence justifying "piercing the veil" of anonymity.
SOURCE: Jan 10, 2014, washingtontimes.com, Critics must be identified, court rules in online landscape altering decision