Does the First Amendment trump the right of an aggrieved merchant who seeks to unmask the identity of the authors of scathing reviews?  That’s how many framed the key issue in Yelp! Inc. v. Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, Inc., which was appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court.  Did the court answer the question as to whether the alleged malicious reviewer should remain anonymous?  Spoiler alert: you’re going to need your Civ Pro hornbook for this one.

For more details on the case and the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling, read the latest post on our new firm blog Technology Law Dispatch.