Blogger claims success with injunction served on Twitter

Donal Blaney asked the High Court to serve an injunction in a tweet

The blogger who persuaded the High Court to serve an injunction against a fraudster impersonating him on Twitter said yesterday that the ploy had worked.

Thatcherite blogger Donal Blaney convinced the court to serve the order to the anonymous tweeter, claiming that it was the only way to get to the impersonator. The false Twitter account - @blaneysbarney - featured a photo of Blaney and several tweets purporting to be from him.

"The hitherto anonymous individual who infringed my intellectual property rights and set up the fake @blaneyblarney account on Twitter has, on service of the injunction requiring him to stop and to reveal his identity, agreed to comply with the order," wrote Blaney in a blog post.

"I am in the process of negotiating a settlement with this individual. Rather than taking money in damages myself, I am minded to allow him to impersonate me one last time by donating the money to charity."

The case further illustrates Twitter's meteoric rise from a marginal micro-blogging tool to the worldwide phenomenon it is today. The High Court was praised for embracing the new medium by legal experts.

"The willingness of the courts to consider different methods of service should be applauded," said Philip Carnell, technology lawyer at City law firm CMS Cameron McKenna.

"This clearly saves the time and cost of taking formal steps at court to obtain identity information from Twitter or an internet service provider."