by Taylor Linkous, Associate Staff<\/p>\n
Technology and pornography–one of the great love stories of our time. That\u2019s right; technology and porn have always had an exciting, juicy, and mutually beneficial relationship.\u00a0 Where technology goes, porn follows.\u00a0 Take the Polaroid camera. Much of the success of the Polaroid camera is said to come from the fact that people could take explicit photos without having to go to the store to get the film developed.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Now, cell phones and more specifically, camera phones have seemed to give people this same sense of privacy and promiscuity.\u00a0 However, this is a false <\/i>sense of privacy considering we now have the internet, an amazing, yet very scary place where your boyfriend, girlfriend, or whoever else comes across these explicit photos can post them for the world<\/span> <\/i>to see.\u00a0 This is called revenge porn.<\/p>\n \u00a0Revenge porn is a nude picture or video that is publicly shared on the internet, usually by an ex-lover, for the purpose of humiliation.[2]<\/a> This happened to Holly Jacobs, a Florida woman who is now a strong advocate of strengthening laws against revenge porn and who founded the website End Revenge Porn.[3]<\/a> Jacobs found out from a friend that nude photos she had sent to her ex-boyfriend had been posted on her Facebook and then later to hundreds of revenge porn websites. Even more disturbing was that her name, email address, and place of business were posted along with the pictures.[4]<\/a> As if finding out your body was exposed to the entire internet world was not enough, she went to the police only to discover they could do nothing for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n Currently, the act of posting revenge porn is a crime in only two states, New Jersey and just recently, California.\u00a0 New Jersey\u2019s Title 2C: 14-9 is an invasion of privacy law which is directed at people who secretly photograph or videotape another person while they are naked or engaged in sexual activity without their consent.[5]<\/a>\u00a0 Although the law was not drafted with the criminalization of revenge porn in mind, it was written broad enough to apply to revenge porn situations.\u00a0<\/p>\n About a month ago, the California legislature passed SB 255, a revenge porn bill introduced by Senator Cannella.\u00a0 Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on October 1st and it went into effect immediately.[6]<\/a>\u00a0 The law makes posting revenge porn a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n Revenge porn has become a hot topic in recent months as a couple of other states have attempted to draft legislation specifically directed at criminalizing revenge porn.\u00a0 This past year, Florida, the home state of Holly Jacobs, tried and failed to pass a revenge porn law.[8]<\/a> \u00a0Also, just recently, New York Senator Joseph Griffo and Assemblyman Edward Braunstein announced they would introduce a bill criminalizing revenge porn.[9]<\/a> The Wisconsin legislature is also considering a revenge porn bill.[10]<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Many have voiced concerns about enacting laws that ban revenge porn. First, the failure of the Florida bill was partly due to concerns that such a law would abridge free speech in violation of the First Amendment.[11]<\/a>\u00a0 Similar concerns have been expressed regarding California\u2019s newly enacted revenge porn law.\u00a0 The ACLU initially opposed the bill because of First Amendment concerns, but has since changed this position and stated there are no objections to the bill.[12]<\/a>\u00a0 While most would agree that revenge porn is repulsive and wrong, it may be difficult to strike the right balance with a law that successfully bans the posting of revenge porn without <\/i>simultaneously <\/i>restricting legitimate free speech.\u00a0<\/p>\n Next, many people don\u2019t see a point in criminalizing this activity as victims are already able to file civil suits against the person who posted the pictures. \u00a0However, filing a civil suit takes lots of time and money.\u00a0 Moreover, the reality is that once these pictures are posted to a revenge porn website, they will spread like wildfire all over internet and are next to impossible to take down.\u00a0 A civil suit won\u2019t really remedy this issue.\u00a0 Threatening criminal penalties for posting revenge porn may be a better way to deal with the problem as it will discourage people from posting the pictures in the first place.<\/p>\n On the flipside, there are also concerns that revenge porn laws could be written too narrow.\u00a0 For example, as written, California\u2019s new law makes revenge porn illegal only if the photo was taken by the same person who distributes it and that person must have distributed the picture with the intent to cause serious emotional distress.[13]<\/a>\u00a0 This means that if a girl takes the naked picture of herself and sends it to her boyfriend and then her boyfriend later posts the picture on a revenge porn website, the California law would not apply.\u00a0 Moreover, showing that a person posted revenge porn with the intent to cause serious emotional distress may be difficult to prove.\u00a0 People may post these pictures intending to make money rather than with an intent to cause emotional distress.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n There are still many <\/i>questions to be answered about criminalizing revenge porn.\u00a0 While state laws criminalizing revenge porn are a start, it may be necessary for federal law to address the issue.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see how many states follow California\u2019s lead and whether Congress decides to step in.\u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, in case you\u2019re interested, a revenge porn case popped up in local news in the last month as the Albemarle County Commonwealth\u2019s Attorney, Denise Lunsford, filed for a protective order in Missouri against her former lover, David Cosgrove, former chief legal counsel to Governor Bob Holden, for posting nude pictures of her on the Internet.[14]<\/a>\u00a0 Cosgrove has asked the judge to dismiss the request and sanction Lunsford for \u201cfiling an unnecessary legal complaint.\u201d[15]<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2012\/10\/before-sexting-there-was-polaroid\/263082\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [2]<\/a> http:\/\/www.urbandictionary.com\/define.php?term=revenge%20porn<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [3]<\/a> http:\/\/www.endrevengeporn.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [4]<\/a> http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/opinion\/opinion-la\/la-ol-revenge-porn-should-it-be-a-crime-20130826,0,2875247.story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [5]<\/a> http:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/technology\/revenge-porn-law-california-could-pave-way-rest-nation-8C11022538<\/a>;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [6]<\/a> http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/10\/02\/jerry-brown-revenge-porn_n_4030175.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [7]<\/a> Id.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [8]<\/a> http:\/\/www.nytimes.c [9]<\/a> http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2013\/10\/03\/tech\/web\/revenge-porn-law-california\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [10]<\/a> Id.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [11]<\/a> http:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/technology\/revenge-porn-law-california-could-pave-way-rest-nation-8C11022538<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [12]<\/a> http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/opinion\/opinion-la\/la-ol-revenge-porn-should-it-be-a-crime-20130826,0,2875247.story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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