Golfer Sues Over Vandalized Wikipedia Page

Golfer Sues Over Vandalized Wikipedia Page

Profile described Fuzzy Zoeller as abuser of family, booze, pills

FEBRUARY 22--Pro golfer Fuzzy Zoeller has filed a lawsuit over the vandalizing of his Wikipedia page, which recently described him as a former wife and child abuser who was hooked on alcohol and prescription drugs. According to Zoeller, 55, his Wikipedia profile was altered in late December from a computer with an IP address that tracked back to Josef Silny & Associates, a Miami law firm. In a Florida Circuit Court complaint filed last week, Zoeller (who is identified as "John Doe") notes that his Wikipedia page was altered to include his alleged admission to "polishing off a fifth of Jack (Daniels) after popping a handful of Vicodin pills." The page went on to claim that Zoeller had also acknowledged "the violent nature of his disease" and how he had beaten his wife and four children "while under the influence of alcohol and drugs." In his lawsuit against the Silny firm, a copy of which you'll find below, Zoeller, a former Masters and U.S. Open winner, contends that the false and defamatory statements have damaged his reputation and caused "mental anguish" and loss of income. Zoeller sought to use the "Doe" alias to minimize further invasion of privacy, but since his complaint quotes at length from the vandalized Wikipedia page, an Internet search easily identifies the subject of the since-revised online profile. In fact, a mirrored version of the vandalized Wikipedia page can still be found on the web site Answers.com (7 pages)