Court's Use of Facebook to Serve Documents a World First

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Court's use of Facebook to serve documents a world first | thetelegraph... http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/courts-use-of-facebook-to-serv...

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From: The Daily Telegraph December 17, 2008 12:00AM

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THE world-first decision by an Australian court to allow lawyers to serve documents on two people via their Facebook pages will change the face of the networking site, cyber experts said yesterday.

Carmela Rita Corbo and Gordon Kingsley Maxwell Poyser, who defaulted on a $154,000 loan, were served legally-binding documents via their Facebook pages by order of the ACT Supreme Court.

Emails have been used before to serve court notices and earlier this year lawyers for the Bulldogs NRL club served Sonny Bill Williams with a subpoena via a text message while he was in France.

But the case of the Canberra couple, who borrowed the money to refinance their Wyselaskie Circuit townhouse, is the first involving Facebook.

Meet the Facebook court order pair

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"Facebook has become less fun since it has been discovered by lawyers and bankers," internet law expert Dr Matthew Rimmer said.

He said the decision, which raced around the world yesterday, would make Facebook users more wary of the information they post.

"It challenges the notion that Facebook is your own personal diary and address book and a closed social network," the Australian National University's Dr Rimmer said.

Law firm Meyer Vandenberg, acting for MKM Capital, was granted judgment by the court to recover the loan plus $8000 in interest and take possession of the couple's home when they did not attend court to defend the case.

After 11 attempts to serve the documents on the couple failed, lawyer Mark McCormack, who has his own Facebook page, persuaded the court to allow the unusual method of serving the default notice. Master David Harper, no computer geek at 65, said he was satisfied the couple's Facebook pages were genuine because they used their dates of birth and listed each other as friends.

He also allowed the documents to be filed via email and delivered physically to their home. By yesterday, Mr

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Poyser had dropped his profile and Ms Corbo had updated hers to keep the public out.

But MKM Capital still did not have its money and that was the next issue to be decided, Meyer Vandenberg managing partner Archie Tsirimokos said.

Cyberspace Law Policy Centre director David Vaile said that if people were shocked by the court decision, it was because the potential danger of Facebook pages had eluded them in the past.

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