Revenge Porn Could Soon Become a Federal Crime in the US

[CommanderFrank]

With the notoriety from a publicized trial, the UK making revenge porn a federal crime and 16 states already with laws on their books, it was only a matter of time (and about time) that the Federal government address the issue of revenge porn and enact laws accordingly.

We already punish the unauthorized disclosure of private information like medical records and financial identifiers, why should personal images of one's naked body, given in confidence, be any different?

 

[Dekoth-E-]

So naked pics are gonna be on par with bank robbery now..Awesome! The future for this world looks so amazing. I can't wait till we start getting thrown in prison for saying the wrong thing or owning books.

 

[Ducman69]

So this time Jason Segel from that Sex Tape movie goes to jail when they accidentally release it, and she decides to blame him for the whole affair.

Or perhaps you and a former girlfriend years ago put a sex tape online, no one cared, but now you're on bad terms after a nasty breakup and she decides to try to hurt you this way, because the whole "guilty until proven innocent" false sexual-harassment/rape charges were less convenient.

Even better yet, perhaps you guys didn't even put it online, but she decides to upload some pics of hers which SOMEHOW she manages to find on the vast world wide web, and claims its her scumbag ex-lover who dumped her. Just like false rape charges, after they go on a guilty-until-proven-innocent crackdown on the guy ruining his life, I bet there won't be anything more than a slap on the wrist after they determine by IP address he had nothing to do with it. Love to see how much court time is wasted on BS like this.

Just a sign of the times I guess.

 

[temujin987]

clearly, only men think it's cool to post nudes all over the internet that you can't ever get rid of, but can severely ruin your future. apply for a job? oh, naked pics. application denied. shouldn't have agreed to make those pics? yea right. revenge porn should certainly be illegal, heck, it should be common sense to not even do it.

 

[Dekoth-E-]

So this time Jason Segel from that Sex Tape movie goes to jail when they accidentally release it, and she decides to blame him for the whole affair.

Or perhaps you and a former girlfriend years ago put a sex tape online, no one cared, but now you're on bad terms after a nasty breakup and she decides to try to hurt you this way, because the whole "guilty until proven innocent" false sexual-harassment/rape charges were less convenient.

Even better yet, perhaps you guys didn't even put it online, but she decides to upload some pics of hers which SOMEHOW she manages to find on the vast world wide web, and claims its her scumbag ex-lover who dumped her. Just like false rape charges, after they go on a guilty-until-proven-innocent crackdown on the guy ruining his life, I bet there won't be anything more than a slap on the wrist after they determine by IP address he had nothing to do with it. Love to see how much court time is wasted on BS like this.

Just a sign of the times I guess.

You forgot the most important part. Once he is in jail even if she gets found out for making that shit up, they still won't just release him because once in the system they don't release without an act of congress. Also because of the media attention his life will still forever be ruined.

clearly, only men think it's cool to post nudes all over the internet that you can't ever get rid of, but can severely ruin your future. apply for a job? oh, naked pics. application denied. shouldn't have agreed to make those pics? yea right. revenge porn should certainly be illegal, heck, it should be common sense to not even do it.

Yes, because every individual is a special snowflake who's naked pics rank at the top of google search and instantly come up during employment verification. Sure revenge porn should be illegal, but lets not exaggerate and make shit up. It in no way is going to "Severely" ruin anyone's future.

 

[Ducman69]

clearly, only men think it's cool to post nudes all over the internet that you can't ever get rid of, but can severely ruin your future. apply for a job? oh, naked pics. application denied. shouldn't have agreed to make those pics? yea right. revenge porn should certainly be illegal, heck, it should be common sense to not even do it.

Hi temujin, thank you for your application, but we went on revengepr0n.com and somehow after watching a crapton of videos over several hours came upon some nude pics that look similar to you. As such, we don't think you're a good fit for this company, as nice as your areolas are. Really?

99% of the complaints are about women taking selfies and distributing them, and then getting pissed when they are shared. What should be "common sense" is that if you don't want naked pics of yourself online, don't take nude selfies and put them on the internet.

Besides, if we were just talking about taking down WEBSITES that specialize in hosting this stuff, sure, but we're talking about prosecuting individuals based on what is surely going to be very flimsy evidence of who the responsible uploader is.

 

[Hornet]

I wonder if Fappening will be considered revenge porn.

 

[Ducman69]

I wonder if Fappening will be considered revenge porn.

I'm 100% sure its what really sparked action here, and definitely it would since its naked pics shared on the internet without their consent.

And like temujin said, Rihanna and Jennifer Lawrence are destitute and can't find jobs now that there are naked pics of them online.

 

[sfsuphysics]

We already punish the unauthorized disclosure of private information like medical records and financial identifiers, why should personal images of one's naked body, given in confidence, be any different?

Ummm... because medical records & financial identifiers can be used for identity theft purposes? Where as naked boobies at most helps some anonymous person rub one out on a lonely Saturday.
afternoon?

 

[sfsuphysics]

Seriously though, if we're worried about how the public views you, then why shouldn't all court appearances be secret? Any jury member that wants to tweet after a trial? FELONY! I mean shouldn't TMZ be sued out of existence because they released the Ray Rice slap video? They pretty much ruined his career on what was a "private" moment

 

[pothb]

Seriously though, if we're worried about how the public views you, then why shouldn't all court appearances be secret? Any jury member that wants to tweet after a trial? FELONY! I mean shouldn't TMZ be sued out of existence because they released the Ray Rice slap video? They pretty much ruined his career on what was a "private" moment

You forget, it's a guy. No one cares.

 

[Skripka]

What should be "common sense" is that if you don't want naked pics of yourself online, don't take nude selfies and put them on the internet.

It is even simpler than that, amigo.

If you don't pornographic pictures you took of yourself on the internet....don't take pornographic pictures of yourself. That is the keystone of idiocy right there, uploading them to a server you don't own, that you don't know if it is secured physically, that you don't know if it is patched up to date is just icing on that shit-for-brains cake.

 

[ebduncan]

I think people care entirely too much about their appearance.

everyone has the same stuff, minus a few select few, yet its taboo .....

hell think of the tribes in africa, does all the footage taken of them count as revenge porn?

cannot wait for more stupid laws....

don't want nude pics on the internet, don't take nude pics, don't want porn on the net, don't make one.

 

[DKS]

Given that revenge porn is a subset of sexting and there are documented suicides of minors from sexting and revenge porn, this is serious stuff. People (mostly young women including Rehtaeh Parsons who was raped and hadpictures posted to the internet) have dies. That it becomes a federal crime is appropriate. But so is the inclusion of sexting and revenge porn in school sex ed curriculum.

 

[michael.pa2]

Seriously though, if we're worried about how the public views you, then why shouldn't all court appearances be secret? Any jury member that wants to tweet after a trial? FELONY! I mean shouldn't TMZ be sued out of existence because they released the Ray Rice slap video? They pretty much ruined his career on what was a "private" moment

Totally different situation. There's nothing "private" about assault,if Rice's wife wasn't blinded by the prospect of all his money,he'd be in jail right now,that was no slap,it was a vicious attack that left her unconscious. Allowing nude photos to be taken maybe unwise,but it doesn't break any laws like Rice's actions did.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Totally different situation. There's nothing "private" about assault,if Rice's wife wasn't blinded by the prospect of all his money,he'd be in jail right now,that was no slap,it was a vicious attack that left her unconscious. Allowing nude photos to be taken maybe unwise,but it doesn't break any laws like Rice's actions did.

The "private" aspect is irrelevant, it was something that happened on private property, it was not in public view, TMZ used their pull (aka money) to get a copy of that tape. Is this really any different than a revenge porn site that promises money for videos? Or even if there is no money involved, revenge itself is the "pull" to get that moment that was in a private location publicized. I'm sure Ray Rice thought that shit was "private" too, until he saw it all over the news.

Look I'm not defending those who post "revenge porn", I just don't think it should be a fucking federal crime for doing so. I mean one side, we have potential humiliation for the "victim", on the other side we get prison for an unknown number of years. Now what is going to ruin someone's life more? Stiff penalties that outweigh the nature of the crime should NEVER be used as a deterrent to prevent said "crime".

And without getting too much off topic too much, it was a slap, she went out because her head hit a railing, such violent movements tend to happen when you have someone who's over 250 pounds, in a fit and muscular way not a too many buckets of KFC way, striking someone who's so light she tends to move when it gets too windy.

 

[Jagger100]

clearly, only men think it's cool to post nudes all over the internet that you can't ever get rid of, but can severely ruin your future. apply for a job? oh, naked pics. application denied. shouldn't have agreed to make those pics? yea right. revenge porn should certainly be illegal, heck, it should be common sense to not even do it.

Only women can take or let naked pics be taken and expect the world to help her pretend she didn't do it.

 

[Liger88]

This revenge thing is getting out of hand. It's been going on since the days of the camera and only widely criticized because the Internet takes it out of the local population and makes your silly picture or movie global.

So what happens when a person sends a nude picture and the other loses the phone. Someone else then finds it and uploads it onto a random user based porn site?

This preaches bad behavior and another reason first world nations are turning into the third. The actual person involved in the film or photo gets no responsibility whatsoever. We're talking about those who willingly took part in the nudity, not those who had no idea either.

 

[Comixbooks]

Obama is going to make anyone who live with freedom a crime.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Obama is going to make anyone who live with freedom a crime.

There ya go, let your inner conservative side out and bash Obama instead of remembering your civics class from high school which states that the President does not get to make laws, he simply allows or disallows laws that CONGRESS presents to him.

Seriously bash the person who's bringing this law to congress, which I'm ashamed to state that she's from my state.

 

[maverikv]

If you think this should be legal you should probably do some serious self examination, because you're at best an a-hole and at worst a sociopath.

 

[staknhalo]

Again, from the reddit thread; this is stupid because the person who took the photo owns the photo/copyright of that photo, not the subject in the photo. If you take a picture of yourself naked, then it is your property. If I take a picture of you naked, the photo is my property, no matter what's in it. I should be able to do with my property as I damn well please.

 

[staknhalo]

If you took a picture of yourself nude and someone hacked your account or whatever, then you have an argument to make (whtehr you win that argument or not is another matter). If you let me take a picture of you naked, or you are naked in a place someone can easily take a picture of you; it's your own damn fault for not securing your own damn privacy. People need to start taking personal accountability for their actions.

 

[staknhalo]

^ Or, personal accountability for their own inactions as well.

 

[naib]

Wasn't it only last week where the luddites on here were praising america for not doing this and laying into the UK

 

[Dekoth-E-]

If you think this should be legal you should probably do some serious self examination, because you're at best an a-hole and at worst a sociopath.

If you think something like this should be a "Federal Crime" you should probably do some serious self examination, because your at best a nanny state sympathizer and at worst an advocate for people being relieved of all personal responsibility.

While this should most certainly be frowned upon, the notion that it is as black and white as "illegal vs legal" is a GROSS misrepresentation of the complexity of the issue. There is a very real potential for abuse here and a reality that proving consent in most cases is impossible.

 

[Gorankar]

Porn is legal, the reason for the porn is meaningless. Privacy is dead, so, use some personal restraint and put the camera away, so you do not have to restrain the 1A to try and fix your own stupidity.

Yeah, revenge porn sucks, but if that porn is legal otherwise the reason the porn is out there is irrelevant. We are not here to pick up after your mistakes people.

 

[collegeboy69us]

I think it's bullshit... same thing with false rape accusations, the woman holds ALL the power to say and do whatever she wants with little or no consequences.

The thought that really pisses me off, we have people wasting time on laws like this, but we have 4th and 5th time DUI offenders that (literally) kill people who are getting off with a slap on the wrist. You kill someone from driving drunk? We kill you. It doesn't cost 1 million to execute someone, it costs about 50 cents for the bullet, and maybe a thousand or two for cleanup/disposal.

 

[Megalith]

I think there should be a national online database, similar to the sex offender registry, where you simply put in a woman's name, and you get to download full frontal photos of her. Then this revenge porn stuff wouldn't be such a big deal.

 

[ssjwes1980]

If you took a picture of yourself nude and someone hacked your account or whatever, then you have an argument to make (whether you win that argument or not is another matter). If you let me take a picture of you naked, or you are naked in a place someone can easily take a picture of you; it's your own damn fault for not securing your own damn privacy. People need to start taking personal accountability for their actions.

This is really the only REAL "common sense" answer to all of this. If you don't want the pics out there then don't let them out of your control... You can make all you want but if you give it to someone else or let them take it of you.. thats on you.

Please please.. PLEASE Government, protect me from myself!... Thats what they are really asking for. People have rights, but to often people forget about their own responsibilities that go with those rights. Start being responsibilities for yourself, its never to late.

 

[Gorankar]

Would this law even pass constitutional muster? How long b4 it was struck down in the higher courts? Will it end up kicked to the curb like most hate speech laws? Or will this be OK because it will primarily be seen as a law that protects women from their own stupidity and the evil that is man?

 

[nightfly]

I think people care entirely too much about their appearance.
don't want nude pics on the internet, don't take nude pics, don't want porn on the net, don't make one.

I can only wonder how much of this is thought up by lawyers. I'm pretty old, nearing retirement. And when I started out, with the sexual revolution and all that back in the 60's, we all thought the porn laws would be a thing of the past pretty quick. After all, we were going to be the ruling generation soon, right? And we knew that pot, sex, porn, prostitution were all pretty much a waste of time prosecuting, much less worrying about. So we thought it would all go away, one big happy country.
And then the conservative backlash. Lots of people discovered they enjoyed controlling other people's behavior. And we're right back where we started. It's still 1960 in a lot of people's minds. Simply Fu&%$ng amazing, the fact that there are still any people out there who gasp in shock at the sight of a breast, vulva or penis. I still don't understand why women aren't thrilled that men like to look at them. It's not nice to feel attractive, ladies? Well fine. Just wait until you're forty and we stop looking, or sixty and people avert their eyes because no one EVER wants to look at you. What goes around, comes around. Ive read more than one article by elderly playboy models where they mentioned that they've kept their playmate spreads just to show people how terrific they USED to look.

 

[TwistedAegis]

This is really the only REAL "common sense" answer to all of this. If you don't want the pics out there then don't let them out of your control... You can make all you want but if you give it to someone else or let them take it of you.. thats on you.

Please please.. PLEASE Government, protect me from myself!... Thats what they are really asking for. People have rights, but to often people forget about their own responsibilities that go with those rights. Start being responsibilities for yourself, its never to late.

Personal accountability? For a wife who sends her husband pictures, they get divorced, and he posts them on a revenge site - that's the WIFE who should take "personal accountability"??? That's the twisted reasoning why this had to become a law in the first place.

 

[staknhalo]

Personal accountability? For a wife who sends her husband pictures, they get divorced, and he posts them on a revenge site - that's the WIFE who should take "personal accountability"??? That's the twisted reasoning why this had to become a law in the first place.

Yes. Personal accountability. When sending a photo of yourself to someone, take into account all future outcomes of what can be done with that photo. Then, decide if you still want to/don't want to accept those risks and send/don't send the photo. Personal accountability.

 

[TwistedAegis]

Yes. Personal accountability. When sending a photo of yourself to someone, take into account all future outcomes of what can be done with that photo. Then, decide if you still want to/don't want to accept those risks and send/don't send the photo. Personal accountability.

Interesting concept. So renting my house, it's my fault if my renter turns it into a meth lab and trashes it. Or if I write someone a check, it's my fault if they strip the MICR details and write a bunch of bad checks against my account. And so on and so forth.

That's an interesting world you live in; simply because something is easy to do, it isn't wrong and it's the victims fault for enabling the person using property for an unintended use.

 

[staknhalo]

Interesting concept. So renting my house, it's my fault if my renter turns it into a meth lab and trashes it.

You've apparently never heard of 'Residential Lease agreement'. If you don't have the renter sign one before you rent out your place to them; then you are accountable for your own inaction, and the rentee CAN be let off the hook; and has an argument to see that he is, in the eyes of the law.

If you wan't to have people sign a lawfully enforceable contract before sending them pictures, then go for it. You are well within your right to do so. That would be an example of personal accountability; even if seen as 'overreacting' by the other party.

Or if I write someone a check, it's my fault if they strip the MICR details and write a bunch of bad checks against my account. And so on and so forth.

Now you are talking about fraud for monetary gain. Totally different subject and not applicable. However, depending on circumstance, and/or length of time you reported it/didn't report it in - you can still be held accountable.


Interesting world you live in.

So how long until you and your ilk are petitioning for a law that requires the government to wipe your ass for you, because you shouldn't have to be bothered wiping/knowing how to wipe your own ass?

 

[staknhalo]

If you don't have the renter

Edit: should be rentee*

 

[TwistedAegis]

You've apparently never heard of 'Residential Lease agreement'. If you don't have the renter sign one before you rent out your place to them; then you are accountable for your own inaction, and the rentee CAN be let off the hook; and has an argument to see that he is, in the eyes of the law.

If you wan't to have people sign a lawfully enforceable contract before sending them pictures, then go for it. You are well within your right to do so. That would be an example of personal accountability; even if seen as 'overreacting' by the other party.

Oral contracts are also enforceable, as are implied ones.

Now you are talking about fraud for monetary gain. Totally different subject and not applicable. However, depending on circumstance, and/or length of time you reported it/didn't report it in - you can still be held accountable.

Interesting world you live in.

So how long until you and your ilk are petitioning for a law that requires the government to wipe your ass for you, because you shouldn't have to be bothered wiping/knowing how to wipe your own ass?

Hmm, looks like some of these revenge porners get money out of it; so taking pictures meant to be private, putting them online (and sometimes then extorting/blackmailing to take them down) isn't fraud?

Sorry, didn't realize not being stabbed in the back or having morals was the expectation of having someone wipe my ass for me.

 

[Skizzy]

Damn, that's the best type of porn.

 

[staknhalo]

Oral contracts are also enforceable, as are implied ones.

If you feel that 'revenge porn' falls under oral and/or implied contracts - then there's no reason for another law to be put on the books in regards to it; you already have it (the law(s) to enforce oral and implied contracts).

Hmm, looks like some of these revenge porners get money out of it; so taking pictures meant to be private, putting them online (and sometimes then extorting/blackmailing to take them down) isn't fraud?.

And if one doesn't earn any money?

And if one does earn money from it, if the photo was taken by them, it is their property. They are not committing fraud by legally selling their own property.

If the photo was taken by you, willingly given to them and they sold it, then you need to prove they deliberately deceived you in agreeing to never show/sell said photo(s). So again, you already have the currently standing laws on your side, correct? So again, no need for new laws.

If someone is blackmailing you over nude photos; well, again, there are current laws in existence to handle blackmailing; so again, no new laws needed.

So all in all - this proposed law is unnecessary - we seem to be in agreement

Sorry, didn't realize not being stabbed in the back or having morals was the expectation of having someone wipe my ass for me.

Not everything morally wrong is illegal; not everything morally right is legal.

Now you know not to confuse morality with legality.