ANDERSON — An Anderson businessman is suing two unnamed defendants for libel, claiming he was defamed on an Internet message board that appears on The Herald Bulletin’s Web site.

Darrell E. Baylor, insurance agent and owner of Baylor & Associates, a mortgage loan business, filed the lawsuit June 30 in Madison Circuit Court, seeking the identities of a pair of posters on the Web forum, which allows people to post messages anonymously, using assumed names in most cases.

The lawsuit claims Baylor was libeled when posters “Jack Deth” and “Brent Leroy” made comments on June 16 about his alleged alcohol use.

“Have you been hitting the Ripple again this morning?” the lawsuit claims “Jack Deth” posted at 10:44 a.m.

“Do they have Ripple at the Eagles?” “Brent Leroy” is purported to have replied about five hours later.

“(It) is a well known public fact that the Plaintiff has not had any type or form of alcoholic beverage since 1994, that plaintiff prides himself on his community, business and social reputation and that the libel demonstrated by person or persons unknown has severely hindered plaintiff’s abilities to appear and perform his normal public and private functions,” Baylor’s Anderson attorney, Paul Baylor, writes in the lawsuit.

Neither Baylor nor his attorney, Paul Baylor, could be reached for comment late Friday. Darrell Baylor is Paul Baylor’s father. Paul Baylor previously worked as a reporter for The Herald Bulletin. Darrell Baylor’s lawsuit seeks a retraction and unspecified damages.

Paul Baylor issued subpoenas to both The Herald Bulletin and its parent company, Birmingham, Ala.,-based Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., in an attempt to learn the posters’ identities. Those who want to use the Web forum first must register on the site by providing an e-mail address and password — but not a name.

“We don’t own the Web site,” said Herald Bulletin publisher Mike Casuscelli. “We host the Web site — period. Quite frankly, in a nutshell, if (Darrell and Paul Baylor) knew the terms and conditions (of registering to use the site), they wouldn’t be asking for what they’re asking for.”

Through its attorneys, Charles Braddock and Jimmy McDole, The Herald Bulletin filed a motion to stop the subpoenas. During a hearing Friday, the attorneys said the message board site, “Hey Martha,” is maintained by the Seattle-based, privately owned company Groupee Inc., and the identities of the posters aren’t known locally.

“We are only the local host of a national network called ‘Hey Martha,’” Braddock said. “We have no control over that information. We only agreed to host it.”

McDole argued that even if the newspaper had the information, the subpoenas are too broad because they don’t include a general date to search for the information. He also said it’s an issue of privacy.

However, Paul Baylor said, the newspaper or its corporate parent likely has some identifying information and requested that it be released. But Braddock maintained neither The Herald Bulletin nor CNHI knows users’ identities.

During the somewhat heated and brief court hearing, Judge Fredrick Spencer acknowledged posters’ identities likely aren’t known by Herald Bulletin officials, but ordered the newspaper to provide to Darrell Baylor the correct entity to receive the subpoena — either CNHI or Groupee. He told the attorneys to return to court on Friday.

“I have no doubt at all that Mr. Braddock and Mr. McDole are correct that the records you seek are not at the corner (of 12th and Jackson streets, the newspaper’s Anderson address), but they can find out where they are,” Spencer said. “You cannot play the corporate befuddlement game. Tell (Baylor) where to serve the subpoena. That’s what this is all about.”

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What’s next?

Attorneys for Darrell E. Baylor, Anderson, and The Herald Bulletin are expected to return to Madison Circuit Court at 8 a.m. Friday, Aug. 22. Judge Fredrick Spencer ordered the newspaper’s attorneys to provide Baylor’s attorney, Paul Baylor, with information on where to serve a subpoena seeking the identities of two posters to “Hey Martha,” an online message forum that appears on the newspaper’s Web site. Baylor is suing two unidentified people for libel after they posted comments on the forum.