Unwanted Exposure: Civil and Criminal Liability for Revenge Porn Hosts and Posters

Written by: Susanna Lichter
Edited by: Suzanne Van Arsdale

Hollie Toups, the first named plaintiff in Toups v. GoDaddy, was harassed for weeks after nude pictures of her appeared on the website Texxxan.com alongside her real name and a link to her Facebook profile. When Toups requested that Texxxan.com remove the pictures, she was told by the website that they could help in exchange for her credit card information.[i] Texxxan.com is a “revenge porn” or “involuntary porn” website.[ii]

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By Michael Hoven Facebook’s “Sponsored Stories” Settlement Rejected by Court District Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California rejected a $20 million settlement of a class-action suit against Facebook over its “Sponsored Stories” feature, reports Wired. In his order, Judge Seeborg questioned the fairness of the proposed settlement, under which Facebook would pay $10 million in attorney’s fees and $10 million to charity, to class members, especially given the size of the award to plaintiffs’ attorneys and the ... Read More...

Third Circuit holds that vulgar MySpace profile created off school grounds did not cause “substantial disruption” at the school to justify student’s ten-day suspension By Michael Adelman – Edited by Abby Lauer J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District, No. 08-4138 (3d Cir. June 13, 2011) Slip Opinion The Third Circuit, sitting en banc, reversed and remanded the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s ruling that suspension was an appropriate punishment for a student who created a fake MySpace account that made fun ... Read More...

Ninth Circuit Argues for Less Stringent Test for Protecting Anonymous Online Commercial Speech By Kathryn Freund – Edited by Janet Freilich In re: Anonymous Online Speakers, No. 09-71265 (9th Cir. July 12, 2010) Opinion The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied writs of mandamus appealing the District Court of Nevada’s order to disclose the identities of anonymous online posters. Although the Circuit Court denied the writs of mandamus for procedural reasons, the decision provides a discussion of Free Speech protection ... Read More...

By Ian B. Brooks Illinois Establishes Standard for Identifying Anonymous Internet Commenters Evan Brown at Internet Cases reports that the Appellate Court of Illinois, Third District has set forth a standard for identifying an anonymous internet commenter in Maxon v. Ottawa Publishing Co., No. 3-08-0805 (Ill. App. 3d June 1, 2010). A couple from Illinois, unhappy with anonymous comments on a local newspaper website, sought to identify the commenters. Illinois Rules on Civil Proceedings Rule 224 allows a petitioner to ... Read More...