Cardinals Manager La Russa Sues Twitter Over Fake Account

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 5, 2009 - 9:28am.

St. Louis - Tony La Russa, manager of Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals, this week filed suit against Twitter over a fake account that posted false messages and allegedly damaged his trademark rights and caused emotional distress, the Associated Press reports.

One of the posts on the fake La Russa Twitter account, which is now closed, read: "Lost 2 out of 3, but we made it out of Chicago without one drunk driving incident or dead pitcher" -- referring to past real-life incidents involving Cardinals players.

The lawsuit includes screenshots from the Twitter account that include a picture of La Russa next to the words "Hey there! Tony La Russa is using Twitter"; also on the page is another note that reads, "Bio Parodies are fun for everyone."

Typically, under U.S. law, the individual who posts something to an online service is responsible for its contents, while the service provider themselves cannot be held liable -- although the legal precedent has thus far not been tested in connection with Twitter.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/jir66 (AP)