Someone created a fake Twitter account for St. Louis Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa. The account’s Tweets were offensive, referring to the deaths of pitchers Darryl Kile and Josh Hancock. It was immature, obviously the work of a young kid. La Russa contacted Twitter and asked them to shut down the account. No brainer, right?

Wrong. Three weeks later, Twitter hadn’t responded. So La Russa filed a lawsuit in San Francisco County Superior Court.

Thirty minutes later, the account was gone.

According to CEO Biz Stone, “We don’t have a list of trademark names we’re going through. It’s more like, let us know.”

I’m thinking that policy ain’t gonna fly much longer, now that Twitter’s been anointed by Oprah and celebrities are giving us all the details of their fascinating lives.

UPDATE, June 8: Twitter says they won’t settle with La Russa. They’re also working on verified accounts for “a small set of public officials, public agencies, famous artists, athletes, and other celebs who run the risk of impersonation.”

UPDATE, July 8: Suit’s been dropped. No cash exchanged hands.

Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
on June 05, 2009 - 9:28 am

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