Blogging Ethics

In regards to the B&S commenter who was arrested for his comment on B&S, I gave the police his IP address.  I did so without being legally required to do so.  I gave the information when asked without being served with anything.  Was I wrong in doing so? 

I don’t think so.  I feel no obligation whatsoever to protect commenters’ information from law enforcement.  I’m not going to go sending information out to just anyone.  I encourage comments and understand that some people wish to remain anonymous.  I don’t have a problem with that.  But if law enforcement asks for whatever information I have about commenters, they should not be under any illusion that I’m going to lawyer up to protect that information.  I’m not going to take any responsibility for things that I did not write. 

That being said, in this particular case, all I passed on was the IP address.  The commenter’s ISP gave the police his address and name.  Also, given the nature of the comment, I have no doubt that had law enforcement would easily have obtained a warrant for the information anyway, so a refusal by me to provide the IP address would only have delayed the matter and cost me the expense of a lawyer. 

What do you think?  Where is the ethical line for a blogger when it comes to this kind of information?