"Until a Florida judge issued an unusual order last month, Mr. Max's site also
contained a long account of his relationship with Ms. Johnson, whom he
portrayed, according to court papers, as vapid, promiscuous and an unlikely
candidate for membership in the Sobriety Society.
The order, entered by Judge Diana Lewis of Circuit Court in West Palm Beach,
forbids Mr. Max to write about Ms. Johnson. It has alarmed experts in First
Amendment law, who say that such orders prohibiting future publication, prior
restraints, are essentially unknown in American law. Moreover, they say, claims
like Ms. Johnson's, for invasion of privacy, have almost never been considered
enough to justify prior restraints.
....
Judge Lewis ruled on May 6, before Mr. Max was notified of the suit and without
holding a hearing. She told Mr. Max that he could not use "Katy" on his site.
Nor could he use Ms. Johnson's last name, full name or the words "Miss
Vermont."
The judge also prohibited Mr. Max from "disclosing any stories, facts or
information, notwithstanding its truth, about any intimate or sexual acts
engaged in by" Ms. Johnson. That prohibition is not limited to his Web site.
Finally, Judge Lewis ordered Mr. Max to sever the virtual remains of his
relationship with Ms. Johnson. He is no longer allowed to link to her Web site.
The page of Mr. Max's site that used to contain his rambling memoir now has only
a reference to the court order.
....
Ms. Johnson did not respond to telephone and e-mail messages seeking comment.
In her lawsuit, Ms. Johnson maintained that Mr. Max had invaded her privacy by
publishing accurate information about her and had used her name and picture for
commercial purposes."
Link
For your viewing pleasure here's the Google cache of the
offending page, and this is the cache of Mr. Max's home page.
I suspect the home page is unavailable due to the SlashDot effect. If Miss Vermont's
lawyers get creative and somehow compel Google to remove the cache I've copied the
page for future reference.
And in the blue corner, Ms. Johnson's homepage
in all it's flash-laden glory. I really she makes it as an actress, because IMHO
her cartooning is stunningly bad.
This story started with Metafilter, but I found the Googled NYTimes
story, the caches, and Ms. Johnson's site all by my lonesome.
"If you understood everything I said, you'd be me" - Miles Davis
"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." - Bertrand Russell
"Take away the right to say fuck and you take away the right to say fuck the government." - Lenny Bruce
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson
