On the evening before his first day at work as President Bill Clinton's newest White House adviser, Sidney Blumenthal turned to his computer for the latest Internet gossip.
As a former journalist renowned for his high-level contacts - he is the man who introduced Hillary Clinton to British premier Tony Blair - Mr Blumenthal knew exactly where to look for the spiciest Washington rumour-mongering: he called up the Drudge Report.
Last week Mr Blumenthal and his wife Jacqueline filed a US$30 million (HK$231.9 million) lawsuit against Matt Drudge, author of the Internet's most notorious gossip sheet, and against America Online, the network where the Drudge Report appears.
The 153-page lawsuit alleges libel, slander and invasion of privacy over a brief item that falsely accused Mr Blumenthal of covering up a 'spousal abuse past'.
The case has stirred a hornet's nest of legal, political and media controversies, pitting a formidable liberal journalist against a cyber-hack who lives in a one-bedroom flat on Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles.
At stake in a clash between the traditional and the electronic media is not just the reputation of a Washington power couple who were horrified by the 'outrageous falsehoods' and 'contemptuous drivel'.
The lawsuit is also aimed at a reckless Internet culture where few boundaries exist to prevent the dissemination of lies.