Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Solly Malatsi seeks out-of-court deal in TV migration fight

      15 July 2025

      South Africa’s telcos battle to monetise 5G as 4G suffices for most

      15 July 2025

      Major new electric car brand launching in South Africa

      15 July 2025

      MTN empowerment investors see ‘modest’ return as Zakhele Futhi winds up

      15 July 2025

      Eskom wants your solar system registered – but what does that actually mean?

      15 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Samsung’s bet on folding phones faces major test

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      OpenAI to launch web browser in direct challenge to Google Chrome

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025
    • In-depth

      The 1940s visionary who imagined the Information Age

      14 July 2025

      MultiChoice is working on a wholesale overhaul of DStv

      10 July 2025

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      A smarter approach to digital transformation in ICT distribution

      15 July 2025

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » A » Court orders Telkom to reveal user’s details

    Court orders Telkom to reveal user’s details

    By Editor11 September 2013
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Ryan-Air-640

    European low-cost airline Ryanair has obtained an urgent court order in the high court in Pretoria forcing Telkom Mobile to help trace someone it accuses of harming its reputation on the Internet.

    Judge Francis Legodi ordered Telkom on Tuesday to furnish the Irish airline with all information in its possession which identified or would help Ryanair to identify an Internet user with the pseudonym “always flying” and an Internet protocol address in South Africa.

    Ryanair company secretary Juliusz Komorek said in an affidavit Ryanair was Europe’s only ultra-low-cost airline, had 57 operational bases across various European airports and carried more than 80m passengers a year.

    He said the airline had an unblemished reputation for safety in the past 29 years, while maintaining cost-effective flight operations in Europe and North Africa.

    Komorek said the airline became aware last September of several “defamatory and other derogatory statements” published about it on the website www.pprune.org and www.pprune.com.

    The website was subscribed to globally by pilots, journalists and other professionals, with more than 370 000 registered users, communicating through an average of 2 000 posts per day, and receiving nearly a million visitors a month.

    It proclaimed itself the “PPRnNe Forums” (The Professional Pilots Rumour Network) and popular aviation topics were posted and discussed on the website.

    Komorek said the airline had instructed the Los Angeles-based law firm Holland and Knight LLP to file libel proceedings against a number of unidentified defendants — suing them as John Does (1-100) — in the Los Angeles superior court.

    At the same time, Holland and Knight had also been instructed to seek and obtain a subpoena against Internet Brands, the California registered owner of the PRRuNe website, in order to establish the real names of the defendants.

    On receipt of data, further subpoenas were obtained against various parties such as Yahoo, Microsoft and Google.

    Ryanair also appointed the specialist consultancy company, Word to the Wise, to analyse the information received, and the company was able to identify from which IP addresses the posts were made.

    The addresses included two Irish companies, British Telecom in the United Kingdom and 8ta (Telkom Mobile) in South Africa.

    The investigation revealed that the user “always flying” had made 20 posts about Ryanair on the website.

    Komorek described one post as “particularly offensive and damaging” as it “falsely portrayed Ryanair to the general public as having incompetent flying crew”, which could seriously affect the airline’s reputation and business.

    The comment, which was posted under the headline “Poor Airmanship” read: “I don’t care if its wind/delays/weather or anything, if you are flying around your destination eating into your alternate fuel then you shouldn’t be a pilot. If they were employed at my company I would have fired the lot of them!”

    Komorek said the airline had already obtained orders in the high court in Ireland and had launched a similar application in Australia.

    Ryanair launched the South African high court application after Telkom at first failed to respond to its requests, but later said its code of conduct relating to the confidentiality of clients precluded it from furnishing the information.

    “The applicant [Ryanair] is concerned that it has suffered and will suffer reputational harm as a result of the posting,” Komorek said. “[It] has no objection to honest, objective, legitimate comment, but in the present circumstances stands to suffer increasing reputational damage as long as such wrongful publication remains on the website.

    “Once in possession of the information, the applicant proposes requesting the user to take down the posting and to tender a public apology for the publication of any unlawful and wrongful statements.”

    UK newspaper the Independent reported last month that Ryanair had dismissed one of its pilots, John Goss, for questioning the airline’s safety records in a television interview. Goss accused the airline of encouraging crews to minimise the amount of back-up fuel.

    The newspaper said the airline had threatened to take legal action against Goss for his “defamatory contributions” to the programme.  — Sapa

    • Image: Mikel Ortega/Flickr


    8ta Ryanair Telkom Mobile
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleZATS: Ep 274 – ‘Kids in the studio’
    Next Article EOH turns in a stunner

    Related Posts

    From MTN to IBM: the tech industry’s best slogans and payoff lines

    24 March 2025

    Telkom is eating its rivals’ lunch in mobile

    10 February 2025

    Telkom on a winning ticket as it ditches legacy networks

    5 August 2024
    Company News

    Mental wellness at scale: how Mac fuels October Health’s mission

    15 July 2025

    Banking on LEO: Q-KON transforms financial services connectivity

    14 July 2025

    The future of business calling: Voys brings your landline to the cloud

    14 July 2025
    Opinion

    A smarter approach to digital transformation in ICT distribution

    15 July 2025

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.