AutoAdmit
{{short description|Law forum}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox website
| name = AutoAdmit
| logo = Autoadmitlogo.png
| url = {{URL|www.autoadmit.com}}
| commercial = No
| type = Internet forum
| language = English
| registration = Required
| owner = Jarret Cohen
| author = Jarret Cohen
| launch_date = {{start date|df=yes|2004|03|17}}
| current_status = Active
}}
AutoAdmit, also known as Xoxohth, is a website for prospective and current law students and lawyers. Its largely unmoderated law school message board is now the only active section, though it previously featured pages for undergraduates, business students, and graduate school, and recently{{When|date=August 2021}} introduced a crypto currency discussion page. The message board, which bills itself as "the most prestigious law school discussion board in the world", has drawn the attention and criticism of some in the legal community and the media for its lack of moderation of offensive and defamatory content.
History
AutoAdmit, originally named Xoxohth, was founded in early 2004 by Jarret "rachmiel" Cohen. It was programmed in PHP from scratch by Cohen and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student under the moniker "Boondocks" in order to emulate the old Allaire Forums software the Princeton Review message boards used. AutoAdmit's first users were dissatisfied with changes made to the Princeton Review message board in March 2004, such as stricter moderation of discussions and the abandonment of the message board's popular tree format in favor of a vBulletin-type format.{{cite web | last = Hoffman | first = Dave | title = Xoxohth 1.1: The Past and Present | publisher = Concurring Opinions | date = 1 November 2006 | url = http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/11/xoxohth_11_the_1.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070906222444/http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/11/xoxohth_11_the_1.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 6 September 2007 | access-date = 26 November 2006 }}
The website was the inspiration for a 2007 call for papers by the Yale Law Journal on the topic of anonymous internet speech.{{cite web | last = Kerr | first = Orin | title = Legal Responses to Cyberbullying | publisher = The Volokh Conspiracy | date = 16 April 2007 | url = http://www.volokh.com/posts/1176705254.shtml | access-date = 17 April 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070523001536/http://volokh.com/posts/1176705254.shtml| archive-date= 23 May 2007 | url-status= live}}
Criticism and controversy
=Trolling=
On 11 March 2005, Brian Leiter of the University of Texas at Austin accused AutoAdmit on his blog of being "a massive forum for bizarre racist, anti-semitic, and viciously sexist postings, mixed in with posts genuinely related to law school".{{cite web | last = Leiter | first = Brian | authorlink = Brian Leiter | title = Penn Law Student, Anthony Ciolli, Admits to Running Prelaw Discussion Board Awash in Racist, Anti-Semitic, Sexist Abuse | publisher = Leiter Reports | date = 11 March 2005 | url = http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2005/03/penn_law_studen.html | access-date = 26 November 2006}}
AutoAdmit moderators countered that Leiter mischaracterized the website and that the professor of law and philosophy deliberately searched for racist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, chauvinistic, bigoted, and anti-Semitic threads in an attempt to misconstrue the site's focus on law school discussion. An AutoAdmit webpage dedicated to providing additional context was created by contributors to AutoAdmit.{{cite web | title = Why Dr. Brian Leiter Hates Us | publisher = AutoAdmit | url = http://www.autoadmit.com/leiter.html | access-date = 8 January 2018}}
=Anonymous speech and harassment=
On 1 March 2007, ABC News profiled two Yale Law School students who alleged that harassing and defamatory comments had been posted about them on AutoAdmit.{{cite news | last = Marikar | first = Sheila | title = After Years of Telling All, 20-Somethings Start to Clam Up | work = ABC News | date = 1 March 2007 | url = https://abcnews.go.com/US/Technology/story?id=2912364&page=1}}{{failed verification|date=February 2013}} On 7 March 2007, The Washington Post published a front-page article featuring AutoAdmit that reported similar allegations and raised questions regarding freedom of speech and anonymity.{{cite news | last = Nakashima | first = Ellen | title = Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web | newspaper =The Washington Post | pages = A-1 | date = 7 March 2007 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030602705.html}} On 19 March 2007, an editorial by Elizabeth Wurtzel in The Wall Street Journal criticized the AutoAdmit law message board as a forum of "mean-spirited" gossip.{{cite news |first=Elizabeth |last=Wurtzel |authorlink=Elizabeth Wurtzel |url=http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009805 |title=Trash Talk |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |type=Editorial |date=19 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070323152741/http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009805 |archive-date=23 March 2007}}
The publicity created debate as well as a new wave of harassment of the Yale Law School students, including an incident that led Anthony Ciolli, a third-year law student at the University of Pennsylvania and one of AutoAdmit's administrators, to resign.{{cite web | last = Hoffman | first = Dave | title = Penn Law Student "Resigns" From Xoxohth | publisher = Concurring Opinions | date = 13 March 2007 | url = http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/03/penn_law_studen.html | access-date = 15 March 2007 }} The law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge revoked an offer of employment to Ciolli; Charles DeWitt, managing partner at the firm's Boston office, explained to Ciolli via private correspondence, "We expect any lawyer affiliated with our firm, when presented with the kind of language exhibited on the message board, to reject it and to disavow any affiliation with it. You, instead, facilitated the expression and publication of such language."{{cite web | last = Efrati | first = Amir | title = Law Firm Rescinds Offer to Ex-AutoAdmit Executive | publisher = Wall Street Journal blogs: law | date = 3 May 2007 | url = https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/05/03/law-firm-rescinds-offer-to-ex-autoadmit-director/ | access-date = 14 January 2015 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070505011219/https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/05/03/law-firm-rescinds-offer-to-ex-autoadmit-director/| archive-date= 5 May 2007 | url-status= live}}
Deans from Yale Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School condemned the misogynistic and defamatory postings on AutoAdmit.{{cite web |first= Harold Hongju |last=Koh |url=http://ms-jd.org/node/201 |title=Dean of Yale Law School condemns 'despicable' sexist attacks on students |website=Ms. JD |date=9 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070322174216/http://ms-jd.org/node/201 |archive-date=22 March 2007 }} Others have noted that this behavior is so unethical as to jeopardize one's prospects for bar admission and employment. Brad Wendel, a legal ethics professor at Cornell Law School, wrote, "If I were one of the students who made some of the worst of these comments, I'd be sweating bullets right now."{{cite web |url=http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=1933 |website=Wired Campus |publisher=The Chronicle for Higher Education |title=A Chat Site for Law Students Draws Fire for Allowing Personal Attacks |date=14 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429184938/http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=1933 |archive-date=29 April 2007 }}{{failed verification|date=January 2015}}{{cite web |first=Brad |last=Wendel |url=http://legalethicsforum.typepad.com/blog/2007/03/this_may_be_a_s.html |title='This may be a subject of concern ...' |website=Legal Ethics Forum |type=blog |date=12 March 2007 }}
=Lawsuits=
{{Update|section|date=January 2015}}
On 12 June 2007, the two Yale Law School students filed a lawsuit against Anthony Ciolli and a number of AutoAdmit's anonymous posters, claiming their "character, intelligence, appearance, and sexual lives have been thoroughly trashed by the defendants".{{cite web |first=Daniel |last=Solove |url=http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/06/the_autoadmit_l.html |title=The AutoAdmit Lawsuit |website=Concurring Opinions |date=12 June 2007}} Filed in the District Court of Connecticut, the case, Doe v. Ciolli, 307CV00909 CFD, cited violation of privacy, defamation, infliction of undue emotional distress, and copyright infringement against Ciolli and several anonymous posters. The two plaintiffs were represented pro bono by the litigation boutique Keker & Van Nest LLP, David N. Rosen, a Yale Law School professor, and Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School who specializes in computer and internet law.{{cite web | last = Efrati | first = Amir | title = Students File Suit Against Ex-AutoAdmit Director, Others | publisher = blogs.wsj.com/law | date = 12 June 2007 | url = https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/06/12/students-file-suit-against-autoadmit-director-others/ | access-date = 12 June 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070614163508/https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/06/12/students-file-suit-against-autoadmit-director-others/| archive-date= 14 June 2007 | url-status= live}} It was said at the time that while AutoAdmit's reported lack of IP logging might prevent the plaintiffs from learning the defendants' true identities, the case could prove significant within computer and internet law if it came to trial.{{cite web | title = Has AutoAdmit Been Pwn3d? | publisher = abovethelaw.com | date = 12 June 2007 | url = http://www.abovethelaw.com/2007/06/has_autoadmit_been_pwn3d.php | access-date = 13 June 2007 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20070614165021/http://www.abovethelaw.com/2007/06/has_autoadmit_been_pwn3d.php | archive-date = 14 June 2007 | url-status = dead }} The plaintiffs subsequently dropped Ciolli's name from the list of defendants,{{cite web | title = Anthony Ciolli Dropped from Auto Admit Lawsuit | publisher = randazza.wordpress.com | date = 9 November 2007 | url = http://randazza.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/anthony-ciolli-dropped-from-auto-admit-lawsuit}} and successfully obtained Doe subpoenas of Internet service providers (ISPs) in hopes of identifying the anonymous defendants.{{cite web|title=AutoAdmit Case Moves Forward; Federal Judge Approves Request to Subpoena ISPs for Clues to Anonymous Posters' Identities |publisher=Yale Daily News |date=31 January 2008 |url=http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/23231 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203103848/http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/23231 |archive-date=3 February 2008 }} {{As of|2008|08}} the attorneys had discovered the names of some, but not all, of the offending posters.{{cite web |first=Michael |last=Law| title = The AutoAdmit Scandal: The XOXOTH Secret Forum Identities | publisher = Law Vibe | url = http://lawvibe.com/the-autoadmit-scandal-xoxoth/ |date=5 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080816182455/http://lawvibe.com/the-autoadmit-scandal-xoxoth/ |archive-date=16 August 2008 }}
In March 2008, Anthony Ciolli filed his own suit against Heide Iravani, Brittan Heller, Ross Chanin, Reputation Defender, the law firm of Keker & Van Nest, as well as lawyer David N. Rosen and law professor Mark Lemley in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.{{cite web |url=http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-03-04-Ciolli%20Complaint.pdf |title=Complaint in Ciolli v. Iravani et al. |date=4 March 2008}}
=Blake Neff controversy=
In July 2020, Blake Neff, the head writer for Tucker Carlson Tonight, resigned from Fox News after it emerged he had made anonymous posts on AutoAdmit that featured content that were racist, sexist, and homophobic in nature.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/10/media/tucker-carlson-writer-blake-neff/index.html |last=Darcy |first=Oliver |publisher=CNN Business |title=Tucker Carlson's top writer resigns after secretly posting racist and sexist remarks in online forum |date=2020-07-11 |access-date=2020-07-11 |archive-date=2020-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710235926/https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/10/media/tucker-carlson-writer-blake-neff/index.html}}
Notes
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