"... in which the person being photographed or recorded has a reasonable expectation of privacy.” is covered under a measure being considered in California to deal with something called
‘revenge porn’.
On a recent episode of “The Newsroom,” on HBO, the character Sloan Sabbith, a financial reporter, was mortified when an ex-boyfriend posted compromising pictures of her online, which then went viral. Her recourse – on the show at least – was to track down the offending creep and punch him.
If Ms. Sabbith were living in California, she would be closely following the deliberations of the state Legislature here this week. A proposal, to be debated Tuesday in the Assembly, could let victims of so-called revenge porn see their vindictive ex-lovers go to jail for up to a year.
The bill passed the state Senate earlier this summer. It would make it a criminal misdemeanor to post nude or revealing pictures that may have once been taken with a subject’s consent. The practice has become increasingly common, victims’ advocates say. And it poses a vexing legal question, pitting the rights of victims against the principles of free expression. Making matters more complicated is the fact that sites that host these user-generated images are usually immune from civil liability under federal law.
More after the jump.
Complicating matters, nonconsensual pornography, as the practice is sometimes called, doesn’t involve only a victim and a perpetrator. One person might record the image with the subject’s consent and post without consent, while another entity can host it – several Web sites specialize in doing just that – and many other Internet users can in turn spread that image far and wide in a matter of hours, or less.
Commenter mike goldner of minneapolis, mn says...
This is a problem solved by good judgement, not more laws limiting the right of free expression. Don't have your picture taken in the 1st place or if you must, use an analog camera and take the negative with you.
This is really in no meaningful way different than being careful about what you put on the internet in any format.
Government and laws can't and shouldn't make up for your bad judgment in for whom you pose au natural, or as we say in this country, in da buff.
49 comments:
Sounds like a reasonable measure, although it should involve monetary damages, not jail time (Hey, it's CA).
Of course, the idea "the person being photographed or recorded has a reasonable expectation of privacy" goes out the window now that the NSA sees all, hears all.
Yep. What the commenter said. Don't pose for nude pictures if you don't want your photos to be seen. Use some judgement.
If you don't care....fine. Pose away :-D
Don't get all hurt if later your bad judgement gets shown to the world.
I support these laws. I don't think good judgement solves the problem. What if a man were married for a decade and allowed his wife to take pictures of him, then, five years later, she decides to divorce him and, not receiving the settlement she desired, posts the pictures online, embarassing him. Did he show poor judgement? Is posting the pictures a mode of her free expression even though she did so without consent and the consent to take the pictures was given under the explicit agreement that they be shown to no one?
I actually think pictures not taken in public, porn or not, should not be published without consent of the subjects, despite what our share all society currently thinks.
Sorry. I tried to make a post correction using my cell phone.
The Newsroom is Sorkin liberal horseshit. I gave it a shot. It would have been cancelled already if not for Sorkin.
What if a man were married for a decade and allowed his wife to take pictures of him, then, five years later, she decides to divorce him and, not receiving the settlement she desired, posts the pictures online, embarassing him.
Something similar to this happened to talk show host Dr Laura.
Or maybe people should just live with the consequences of becoming intimate with partners whose characters they can't trust. These things--Freeman's hypothetical notwithstanding--don't tend to happen to people who are careful who they sleep with.
I think Freeman Hunt's take is interesting given she is libertarian (right?). I don't mean that in a snarky or disparaging way, or feel she needs to change in order to be consistent - I think very few of us are absolute purists with our belief systems. I know I'm not.
Obviously though she feels pretty strongly about this and it seems to trump her libertarian impulses.
I have an ex-girlfriend who wrote a novel and there was a character in it who was just like me except he had a big dong and he knew how to use it so it never even occurred to me that maybe I should press charges.
@Freeman: "Did he show poor judgement?"
Yes.
He's a bad judge of character.
Or he/she changed.
Whatever.
Solution: Never ever pose nude for photographs unless you don't mind them being used in a way you disagree with later.
This is the pictorial equivalent of "date rape".
She consented, but later felt bad about it.
Rape!
Call it Dr. Laura's law.
So, let me get this straight.
If a woman consents to sex, and the man videorecords it surreptitiously, then he has every right to put it on the internet because she consented to the sex.
Have I got that right?
She's charged with the knowledge that he might betray her trust and exceed the limits of the license she granted.
Have I got that right?
“a state of full or partial undress in any area in which the person being photographed or recorded has a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
That is so broadly written, it could mean a bikini shot at a pool party, that could later be innocently, or inoffensively, posted to a facebook page.
Maybe the law includes a Porn Panel.
A Palin Clause.
A man photographed in his house in shorts.
What if the shots of "full or partial undress" were taken in the kitchen? Is there a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in the kitchen?
This law, should it go into effect, will raise a lot of questions.
I seem to understand the delimma differently than Goldner and others. The ability to photograph or videotape is a bit more ubiquitous than anytime in previous history. A few years ago, Apple added a manditory "click" noise to audibly tell others when a photo was taken, because people were taking photos of people in dressing rooms and elsewhere without their knowledge.
If you go into creating a sex video or photo with your partner, then that's your own foolishness. But if they take the photo or video without your consent and then publish it; then that should result in jail time. I think the secondary scenario doesn't require new laws, but I do think the purpose of a new law is to ease the burden of proving that the image was taken without awareness.
Otherwise, I think agree with some here, who suggest that lack of the law might drive people to strongly consider the character of a partner and their own actions. Which is to say this is a low priority on my list of things the government needs to focus their attention.
Don't be a splooge stooge and don't be photo dodo!!!
"...he man videorecords it surreptitiously, then he has every right to put it on the internet because she consented to the sex.
Have I got that right?"
No.
If she consented to nude photography, she has to be aware that it might at some time be made public.
This could happen in a number of ways that do not involve her husband. Kids, friends, neighbors chance upon it. Hell, the NSA and Google may already own it.
If you want a guarantee that a nude photo never surfaces, don't take one.
If she consented to sex, she has to be aware that it might at some time be made public.
Fair enough.
I don't want any further empowerment of childish idiots duking this shit out in courts that we all pay for.
I'm tired of politely ignoring the giant lie that everyone has the right to consequence-free promiscuity.
If you don't want a bunch of headaches related to your sex life, keep your pants on. It won't kill you.
"If she consented to sex, she has to be aware that it might at some time be made public."
That has always been true, hasn't it?
I'm with I have missplaced my pants.
I misspelled 'I have misplaced my pants' handle.
The droid blogger app doesn't include spelling.
If you want a guarantee that a nude photo never surfaces, don't take one.
This. To me nudity is no big deal. I've had nude photos taken. I wouldn't care if they were plastered all over the internet. First of all, they were tastefully done. Not obscene or sexual poses. Usually taken in natural outdoor settings. Second. I don't have nor have I ever had a desire to political or famous. So who cares. Plus.....I looked pretty damned good back then :-) or so says my husband.
But...if you are not sure if you want anyone to see the photos or would be embarrassed....don't do it. If you don't want something you wrote on the internet or anyplace else to be published....don't type it. See? Easy. Don't do it if you don't want it known.
To have photos taken of you without your knowledge and then posted or your private diary appropriated and published. Well, that is a completely different story.
That has always been true, hasn't it?
Yes, as have been the consequences for making it public.
Among my juniors, snapchat is the rage. Your photo - Mission Impossible - vanishes in N seconds after it is received. And if the recipient takes a screen grab of it, it reports back to you. (There appears to be nothing you can do about the screen grab, though, except remonstrate with stern piteousness or pitiful sternness.) This they think a safe way to gratify their desire to self-exhibit.
If you don't want a bunch of headaches related to your sex life, keep your pants on.
This isn't hard-earned experience that also happens to account for your online name, is it, I Have Misplaced My Pants??
NTTAWWT.
Since the restriction isn't content-neutral, I don't see how it would stand up in court.
I'm not sure how this is a "vexing legal question", either, except inasmuch as the exes feel vexed by their lack of legal options.
How Much Underage Porn is On Justin Bieber's various Internet Accounts?
Answer: Ask His Manager When His Pants Are Back On.
Heh, phx--
Child welfare lady at the Simpsons' front door: "Why are you wearing a grocery bag?"
Homer, imperiously: "I have misplaced my pants."
It just always tickled my funnybone.
And y'all might as well know that there is a thumb drive in my husband's dresser drawer that would be very embarrassing in anyone's hands but his. The pictures and videos on it were taken after we'd been married for several years and I knew I could trust him completely. If he ever went nutso and decided to distribute those photos, A. my entire life would be imploding anyway so a few pics would be the least of my concerns; and B. I wouldn't care if anyone we didn't know saw them and if he sent them to people we did know, they are classy enough to not look or to at least pretend to me they didn't, at the same time as they were coming to the conclusion that my husband was either crazy or an asshole or both, neither of which reflects particularly poorly on me.
Others' mileage may vary.
Homer, imperiously: "I have misplaced my pants."
Oh, that explains it. Ha ha!
Others' mileage may vary.
Yes, let us be the judge of that! :D
Obviously though she feels pretty strongly about this and it seems to trump her libertarian impulses.
I don't see a conflict. Libertarianism is in favor of upholding contracts. People who give limited consent for use of their images should have that respected.
When you make a (non-porn) movie, everyone has to sign releases. I don't see why this should be any different.
Freeman,
Releases aren't legally required, so far as I know. Producers use them in order to avoid legal hassles down the line. The release (which non-porn studios use as well) is essentially just an after-the-fact contract. In the absence of such an agreement, if you think the footage of you is being misused you file a lawsuit.
People who give limited consent for use of their images should have that respected.
That's what civil courts are for, not criminal courts. The other problem there is that the law only applies to certain kinds of content. There isn't a property-rights argument for why it should be illegal to post a picture of your ex-GF flashing her bra at you but legal to post a picture of her masturbating through her clothes. Or picking her nose, or looking unattractive, or etc etc.
The legislature is basically attempting to make it illegal to humiliate an ex on the internet. That's probably impossible to do under the Constitution.
Libertarianism is in favor of upholding contracts.
Which is perfectly fine.
Criminal law is in favor of punishing, and hence discouraging, wicked intent.
It's a mystery to me how some people can complain that there's no right to abortion to be found expressly in the U.S. constitution while claiming the right to free speech extends to pornography.
Must have something to do with preferred outcomes and words being but the skin of a living thought.
Something like that.
"...while claiming the right to free speech extends to pornography."
I don't argue that. What I argue is that you should be careful about who you allow to take nude photographs of you. If the concept of them being released ever under any circumstances bothers you, don't take them.
Their legality is a separate issue. Once they're out, they're out, legal or no. Lawsuits and criminal charges don't make them unseen.
People can be assholes. They betray you and hurt you. This applies to friends and lovers.
Reveal intimacies accordingly.
Pogo, that wasn't a shot at you, just an arrow in the air, so to speak.
We agree that "you should be careful about who you allow to take nude photographs of you." In fact, I go a little further than that. My advice to a young person, or any person, would be "just say no." Period.
In the general-release movie Titanic, they glamorized that sort of thing. I thought it bad advice and a bad influence. There's nothing to be gained but a tiny thrill that lasts an instant. The repercussions last a lifetime.
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