The Washington Post described Jessica Cutler as "our blog slut."
The National Enquirer opined that she was "beautiful, untalented and morally corrupted."
Now the blogger who wrote about her attempts to juggle affairs with six men while keeping a job as an aide to a senator has a new role: the star defendant in a case that could help define what can and cannot be published in a blog.
Writing under the pseudonym Washingtonienne, Cutler described in detail the sexual intricacies of her life on the Hill. The blog, which Cutler claimed was intended to keep her friends up to date on her social life in Washington, achieved notoriety and its author fame and a book contract, after it was brought to a wider public by another blog, Wonkette.
Almost immediately, Washingtonienne shut down, but not before millions had read about "X = married man who pays me for sex," "K = a sugar daddy" and "YZ = the current favorite."
But YZ -- code for Robert Steinbuch, a legal counsel working for the same senator -- objected to the revelations about his private life.
While Cutler lost her job with Republican Senator Mike DeWine, Steinbuch moved to a teaching post in Arkansas and filed a lawsuit alleging invasion of privacy and seeking US$20 million in damages.
The case dating from the 2004 blog is expected to go to trial soon. In establishing whether people who keep online journals are obliged to respect the privacy of those they interact with offline, the case could have a profound effect on the content of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
"Anybody who wants to reveal their own private life has a right to do that," said Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Cen-ter. "It's a different question when you reveal someone else's private life."
Steinbuch's attorney, Jonathan Rosen, told a judge in a pre-trial hearing that his client wants to restore his good name.
"It's not funny and it's damaging," Rosen said. "It's horrible, absolutely horrible."
Cutler's attorney, Matthew Billips, had a different view.
"I have no idea what he wants," he said. "He's never said, `This is what I think should be done.'"
The judge, too, seemed bemused by the case.
"I don't know why we're here in federal court to begin with," Judge Paul Friedman told attorneys in April. "I don't know why this guy thought it was smart to file a lawsuit and lay out all of his private, intimate details."
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