Background on Revenge Porn with perspectives from victims, purveyors, lawyers and commentators.

1. Th

3. Re–venge porn, n. - A form of cyber-
rape thatinvolves the distribution of
sexually explicit photos and/or videos
of an individual (either real or
photoshopped) on the Internet without
permission. Revenge porn, sometimes
called involuntary porn, is usually posted
by a scorned ex-lover or friend, in order
to seek revenge after a relationship has
gone sour.
EndRevengePorn.com

4. THE VICTIMS
PART 1

5. But what these people don’t realize is a
victim of Revenge Porn, I am victimized
every time someone types my name into the
computer. The crime scene is right before
everyone’s eyes, played out again and
again, and, ironically, I am treated as if I am
the one who has committed the crime. I am
victimized very time someone tells me that
it’s my fault because I consented to the
taking of the photos.
Rebekah Wells
WomenAgainstRevengePorn.com

6. Hollie Toups
ArmyofShe.com
I felt my life was over. I feared I would never
be able to pursue my career in Criminal
Justice, and more importantly I was
terrified. Someone was single-handedly
destroying my life with the click of a button
from behind a computer screen.
Together we can make a difference, because we
may be bent, but we will never be broken. . .
.We’ve all been living in the shadows. Where I
was ashamed before, now I can feel proud that
we can help people.
NOTE: ArmyofShe.com;
Dozens of Women Join ‘Revenge Porn’ Class Action Lawsuit Against Texxxan.com. ABC Nightline;
GoDaddy.com Among Defendants in Revenge Porn Lawsuit; Houston Chronicle
EndRHollie Toups
ArmyofShe.com
evengePorn.com

7. Stand up for what you feel is right. It’s not OK that people are
doing this and exploiting you, just because you trusted
somebody and because you shared intimate photographs in an
intimate relationship. That’s not the problem here. The problem
is that somebody is using this against you and trying to drive you to
suicide. They’re ruining our lives. That’s not OK.
I’m coming out because I’m tired of hiding . . . I hope that I’ll set an
example and show this is how you overcome this: by coming
forward. You’re not exposing yourself—you’re already exposed
on the internet. Instead, you’re exposing what is happening to
you. Everybody’s going to see me naked, and everybody’s going to
see me do things I never wanted anybody to see except the person
I was with. But if it’s in the name of the cause and to change the
laws about this, then I’m happy to do it. We’re all naked underneath
our clothes.
Holly Jacobs
EndRevengePorn.com
NOTES: A Victim Speaks: Standing Up to a Revenge
Porn Tormentor,
BetaBeat; Revenge porn’ victim fights back: ‘I was
terrified, Today Show

8. PART 2
THE PORNOGRAPHERS

9. I really don’t give a fuck. Why should I
care? It’s not my life. It’s literally just a
business. It’s stupid not to monetize it.
People threaten me with lawsuits every
day, which is funny, because it fuels
the site.
–Hunter Moore, Founder of Is Anyone
Up
These are not victims. These are
people that have decided to publicly
transmit their own information.
I call it entertainment. We don’t want
anyone shamed or hurt we just want
the pictures there for entertainment
purposes and business.
Craig Brittain, Founder of Is Anybody
Down
NOTES: The Battle Over Revenge Porn: Can Hunter Moore the Webs Vilest Entrepreneur Be Stopped, BetaBeat Hunter Moore,
Founder of Anyone Up, Says New Website Will be Scariest on the Internet, Huffington Post Is Anybody Down?, Wikipedia

10. PART 3
THE WARRIORS

11. This is a form of cyber human
trafficking, or as it has been termed
“cyber rape,” because they take photos
of women for the purpose of
dehumanizing them, for the purpose of
degrading them, and they go even
further.
John S. Morgan
John S. Morgan Law Firm
Lead Counsel in Toups v. GoDaddy.com (Tex. Dist. Ct.)
Note: Dozens of Women Join ‘Revenge Porn’ Class Action Lawsuit Against Texxxan.com. ABC Nightline

12. I want to hurt isanybodydown.com.
I want to hurt them bad.
Who’s with me?
Marc Randazza Randazza Legal Group
Lead Attorney in UGotPosted (S.D.Cal.)
Note: Let’s Fuck Up David Blade Attorney at Law and IsAnybodyDown.com. Who’s With me?, Legal Satyricon

13. To future employers who might be squeamish about what may
or may not be online about these ladies, remember that the
strongest steel is forged in the hottest fire. These women are
just discovering their potential. General Patton once said the true
measurement of success is not how high one climbs, but how high
one bounces after hitting the bottom. By this measurement, Ms.
Toups and Wells are practically Rockefellers.
As to the bigger debate, existing case law has limited the scope of
website immunity under the Communications Decency Act where
the site operator was potentially liable if it participated or facilitated
illegal conduct. I believe the revenge porn sites should be held
liable, but this would not extend to registrars or hosts such as
GoDaddy absent some scienter on their part.Bennet Kelley
Internet Law Center
Victims Attorney

14. PART 4
LEGISLATORS

15. People who post or text pictures that
are meant to be private as a way to
seek revenge are reprehensible. Right
now, there is no tool for law enforcement
to protect the victims. Too many have
had their lives upended because of an
action of another that they trusted. This is
a common sense bill that clamps down
on those who exploit intimacy and
trust for revenge or personal gain.California State Senator
Anthony Cannella
Author of California Revenge Porn Law
Senator Cannella Strikes Back at Cyber Revenge

16. PART 5
COMMENTATORS

17. What does it say about society that
websites where angry men shame
their ex-lovers are thriving? The
purpose of revenge porn isn’t to allow
regular guys the opportunity to see
some naked girls-next-door; it’s
explicitly purposed to shame,
humiliate and destroy the lives and
reputations of young women.
Note: Revenge Porn Degrades Women,The Guardian

18. Blanket immunity for revenge porn operators is incompatible
with congressional purpose. Section 230 celebrates the Internet
as a “forum for a true diversity of political discourse, unique
opportunities for political development, and myriad avenues for
intellectual activity” for the “benefit of all Americans.” But revenge
porn sites and other cyber cesspools threaten the universality of the
Internet’s benefits by encouraging cyber harassment that silences
women and minorities, narrows the range of political discourse, and
stifles intellectual activity.
Congress ought to consider passing laws that criminalize the
operation of sites designed to facilitate the posting of nude
photographs without subjects’ consent, along the lines of state
invasion of privacy laws. . . The Senate Judiciary Committee
recently approved a bill that makes it a crime to make an
online app whose primary use is to facilitate cyber
stalking. The next important step is to criminalize sites doing
the same.
Danielle Citron,
University of Maryland School of Law
Note: Revenge Porn and the Uphill Battle to Sue Site Operators, Concurring Opinions;
Revenge Porn Site Operators and Federal Criminal Liability; Concurring Opinions

19. Every time a distasteful content website flares up in the
media, the pro-regulation crowd agitates for amendments
to 47 USC 230. . . . First, we are already seeing troubling
efforts to exploit the existing exceptions to Section 230,
such as trademark lawsuits against consumer review
websites and plaintiffs abusing copyright to create a “right
to forget.” Adding another exception will just create
more possibilities for mischief.
Still, for individuals who would prefer not to be a
revenge porn victim or otherwise have intimate
depictions of themselves publicly disclosed, the
advice will be simple: don’t take nude photos or
videos.
Eric Goldman,
Santa Clara High Tech Law Institute
Note: What Should We Do About Revenge Porn Sites LIke Texxxan.com, Forbes

20. The first thing that strikes me about Prof. Goldman’s discussion of revenge porn
(and this is true of many discussions of the issue) is the failure to note its
gendered dimensions. . . . The second interesting omission in Prof.
Goldman’s article is any mention of the harm revenge porn causes. The
victims of these acts have lost jobs, been forced to change schools,
change their names, and have been subjected to real-life stalking and
harassment because of the actions of those who posted and distributed
their images. Some victims have committed suicide. The sexually explicit
images of them have been sent to their parents, their children, their classmates,
their employers; they have been used to blackmail, stalk, and threaten their
subjects. This is not merely “distasteful,” and it most certainly is not like having
a colleague look up the price of your home.
Given these omissions, perhaps it is not surprising that Prof. Goldman
concludes with the recommendation that he does. The wording is telling: “for
individuals who would prefer not to be a revenge porn victim…” According to
Prof. Goldman, one can simply “prefer” not to do be a victim of forced sexual
exposure. But I wonder if Prof. Goldman, or anyone else offering similar
advice, has considered the fact that women and men are not equally at
risk for either becoming the target of revenge porn or of suffering the
negative consequences of it.
Mary Anne Franks
University of Miami School of Law
Note: Why We Need a Federal Criminal Law Response to Revenge Porn, Concurring Opinions; Why We Need a Federal Criminal
Law Response to Revenge Porn, Concurring Opinions Concurring Opinions

21. ABOUT
US

22. Bennet Kelley
• Founder of the Internet Law Center in
Santa Monica, California
• Past Co-Chair California Bar
Cyberspace Committee
• Part of US Delegation of Internet
Experts to meet with Leading Chinese
“Netizens”
• Part of US Delegation for US-China
Legal Exchange on E-Commerce
• Host of Cyber Law and Business
Report on WebmasterRadio.fm
• Publisher of award-winning
Cyber Report
r

23. InternetLawCenter.net CyberLawRadio.com
@InternetLawCent @CyberLawRadio
Ilccyberreport.com Cyberlawradio.wordpress.com
100 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 940, Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 452-0401/ bkelley@internetlawcenter.net