On December 28th, 2011, Bill Hadley read the comments. It was a simple article in the Freeport Journal Standard, detailing Hadley’s run for a newly vacant seat on the county board. But the commenters were less polite. “Hadley is a Sandusky waiting to be exposed,” a commenter called Fuboy had written. “Check out the view he has of Empire [elementary school] from his front door.”

It was a rude but not unusual comment, in line with the ad hominem hostility often found in comments sections. But for Hadley, this comment crossed the line, and he set out to find the person behind it. His quest to unmask Fuboy set off a four-year legal saga that would send shock waves through Freeport’s legal and political community.

Read the article “Finding Fuboy: One Man Spent Four Years and $35,000 to Unmask His Internet Troll” on theverge.com.