Criminalizing Revenge Porn

[Bonobo]

http://www.salon.com/2013/04/07/criminalizing_revenge_porn/



I wanted to post this important article. In the internet age, I think the law has to keep up with the kinds of new issues that are coming to the forefront. Once something is on the internets, it will pretty much be around forever. There should be harsh penalties for those who maliciously cause the kind of long-lasting damage to someone that this kind of invasion of privacy can result in.

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Imagine a woman does a Google search on her own name and up comes a page featuring a naked photo that she sent to an ex-boyfriend. There are links to her Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn account. In the comment thread, anonymous trolls critique every inch of her body. Perhaps her home phone number and address are also included. Say she contacts the local police in tears, only to be told that the post is perfectly legal — or worse, that “boys will be boys.”

This is becoming an increasingly common scenario, activists say, given the proliferation of “revenge porn” and the legal system’s failure to catch up with it.

A new bill in Florida is aiming to remedy that: It would make it a felony to publish online nude photos or videos of a person without their permission and along with identifying information. At the same time, activists around the country are petitioning for both state and federal laws to criminalize what they call “non-consensual porn.” A recent class action lawsuit filed by more than 20 women in Texas against revenge porn site Texxxan.com along with its host GoDaddy has only turned the heat up on the issue.

It isn’t that victims are currently without recourse. “There are lots of laws that we can use on the civil side, from invasion of privacy to emotional distress to harassment and stalking,” says Erica Johnstone, co-founder of the nonprofit Without My Consent. There are problems with that approach, though. The Communications Decency Act protects website operators from liability for content submitted by outside parties; and most revenge porn sites are driven by submissions from users. What’s more, the content in question is usually posted anonymously, so a subpoena is required for the website to reveal the IP address of the person who posted it. In the interest of preventing the plaintiff’s identity from entering court record, the case is typically filed as a Doe v. Doe lawsuit. “Presenting that to a state court is a new strategy that many state courts have not seen before and don’t necessarily know where to look in terms of precedent and guidance,” says Johnstone.

[TygrBright]

1. Yep. And before anyone pulls out the "she shouldn't-a sent the nekkid pic...

...to her boyfriend in the first place, it's her fault, lalalalablablahblahblah" meaningless drivel, please also note that virtually ANY pic of anyone's face, snapped with or without their consent, can be photoshopped onto some truly disturbing images to harass someone.

This is purely and 100% an issue of "FFS, if you can't manage the basics of mature adulthood and human decency, then yes, it's time to put yet another law on the books. And ENFORCE it properly.

exasperatedly,
Bright

[cliffordu]

2. Fabulous. Who doesn't know that what you put on the internet is forever?

Even if you 'just texted your (idiot, scumbag) boyfriend a cool photo"


It SHOULD be a felony to post private photos/films on the internet without permission.. Alas, it is not.

Send someone photos or films you wouldn't want your gramma to see, you might get bit real good.

Maybe forever.

[Bonobo]

3. Kids make mistakes.

A 16 year old who sends his/her first love a photo should not be penalized for the rest of his/her life.

[cliffordu]

4. Man, I couldn't agree more.

It is sickening.

Children (and some geriatrics) need to be educated about this. Aggressively educated.

I dont have much empathy for the average 40 something year old who thinks it's OK to send a photo of their junk to someone else and then snivel when the press gets ahold of it.....(Anthony Wiener, are you paying attention, yet? )

Whoops. We agreed again. Sorry.

[Volaris]

7. no, but if asshole then puts it up on the web (and didn't have senders PERMISSION to do so)

yeah, that sure as hell should be illegal.

I think this is a good idea, and I fully support the idea that adults can engage in whatever kind of sexual habits they like, as long as Safe, Sane, and CONSENSUAL applies.

[LittleBlue]

5. It doesn't even need to be an ex-boyfriend

Phones are lost, computers are hacked, there are all kinds of ways that someone's private photos can end up online. Even online photo accounts can be hacked.

My opinion: don't put anything in digital format that you don't want your parents to see. The greatest risk is probably a hacker who gains access to your computer or Facebook account, not your ex in a fit of revenge. And those guys will never be found by the local PD. Good chance they're in China or Russia anyway.

This is a good example of reactive legislation rather than getting out in front of these online issues. For example, how will they enforce a Florida state court subpoena on a Chinese-based server?

[dsc]

6. I think every victim of this should claim that they were under 18 at the time of the picture

being taken and make them produce proof that, that isn't the case. Good luck on that since they don't have copies of the drivers license or any other such age bearing document.