New Anti-Revenge Pornography Book Available from Amazon.com

The Revenge Pornography Victim's Guide to Removing Pictures from the Internet, by Attorney Kyle Bristow, is available for purchase in the United States from Amazon.com at this link, in Germany from Amazon.de at this link, and in the United Kingdom from Amazon.co.uk at this link.  (Please note, however, that the book is in English.)

Description:

The Revenge Pornography Victim's Guide to Removing Pictures from the Internet was written by Kyle Bristow, Esq., an attorney who has assisted women who have been victimized by revenge pornography websites. This book explains how to find content online and how to seek its removal or suppress it in search engine results.

Since becoming a licensed lawyer in Ohio and Michigan, the author has acquired experience in and significant recognition for his accomplishments in Internet law. After getting two revenge pornography websites shut down on behalf of clients and assisting another lawyer with destroying a third website, he was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire Magazine, ABA Journal, Katie Couric's "Katie" television talk show, the Colorado Springs Independent, and two local television news stations.

The ABA Journal quoted a prominent attorney in their feature article about revenge pornography who claimed that Bristow is one of only "four or five" lawyers in the entire country knowledgeable of this area of law.

Reviews:

Kyle Bristow has been a vital ally to me and to victims across the country in our fight to stop the posting of “revenge porn.” He has been willing to stand up and fight for victims’ privacy when very few others would. Once personal photos have been published, getting them removed is a daunting and overwhelming task. As victims, we have all faced that moment when we felt defeated and that nothing could be done. This book not only gives hope that something can be done, but also serves as a guide on where to start fighting back and the steps necessary to regaining your privacy.

Hollie Toups,

Revenge pornography victim who sued Texxxan.com and launched a social movement to combat revenge pornography.

I have known Kyle Bristow for over eight years, and I have always been impressed with his intellect and his creativity. As attorneys, we started fighting revenge pornography together in 2012, and Bristow is now one of the experts in the field. This excellent and easy-to-use guide provides outstanding advice for the laymen who has fallen victim to this pestilence. In short, a book like this will help one banish the revenge pornography rats to the cesspools from whence they came.

This scourge began mercilessly settling in the Internet earlier that year and revenge pornographers made themselves unwelcome in all corners of cyberspace. Although they may be no different from us in body, they differ from us above all in soul. We probably would never had been bothered by them if they had simply stayed home all day masturbating to goat porn. However, their need to terrorize innocent young women makes them comparable to a similarly vile animal: the rat.

Rats have been parasites on mankind since the very beginning. Wherever rats turn up, they carry destruction to the land by destroying mankind’s Good while nourishing plagues such as cholera, dysentery,and Typhoid fever. They are cunning, cruel, and first appeared in massive hordes. Just as the rat is the lowest of the animals, so is the revenge pornographer the lowest of mankind.

Jason Van Dyke,

Texan attorney who sued the website operators of PinkMeth.com, a revenge pornography website.

Michigan to Criminalize Revenge Pornography

New Website Launched

Visit the new website here if you are a victim of revenge pornography.

Attorney Against Revenge Pornography

If you have been victimized by a revenge pornography website, feel free to contact Attorney Kyle Bristow of Bristow Law, PLLC, for a free consultation.

Website:  www.kylebristow.com
Phone:  (567) 694-5953
Email:  BristowLaw@gmail.com

Bristow has experience in attacking revenge pornography websites, and he was featured in articles published in the American Bar Association Journal, The Wall Street Journal, and The Colorado Springs Independent.

Texas Man Charged with Felonies for Revenge Pornography

Read the story here.

Alleged Revenge Pornography "U Got Posted" Website Administrator Arrested, Charged With Felonies

The California Attorney General's Office has filed felony criminal charges against the alleged website administrator of U Got Posted.

View the press release here.
View the arrest warrant here.

View the charging document here.

Michigan Man Charged with Felony for Revenge Pornography

The entire story is online the website of ABC 10 News.

ABA Journal Publishes Article About Revenge Pornography War

ABA Journal, the scholarly publication of the American Bar Association, has published an in-depth article in their November 2013 issue that delves into the phenomenon of revenge pornography.  It is available here.

The journalist interviewed me at length and quoted me in the article:

Kyle Bristow, an associate with Romanzi Atnip in Waterford, Mich., encourages his revenge porn clients to register copyrights in their pictures—but he hasn’t needed to actually sue. So far, he says, the demand letter he sends to a site has been adequate to get the pictures taken down. And staying out of court is often a goal for his clients, Bristow says. “When women file suit, they bring unwanted attention to their situation, and oftentimes these websites will retaliate by posting images to other websites,” he says.

* * *

The lack of potential recovery doesn’t stop some lawyers from suing. Indeed, Bristow says he would enjoy collecting from this kind of defendant.

“I would absolutely enjoy going after their wages and tax refunds and what would otherwise be permitted by law,” he says. “Plus, if they were ever sued, it would be a high-profile case and they would be exposed as the repugnant individuals that they are.”

Revenge Pornographers Beware: Another Court Rules CDA Doesn't Apply

A number of misinformed individuals have alleged that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act allows revenge pornographers to operate revenge pornography websites without having to fear civil or criminal liability.

 

As I have argued on this website and in interviews with the media, the CDA does not protect these websites, because they are co-developers of the content and/or directly solicit it.  Click here to find out why I feel this way.

 

In a recent case that involves a gossip website, a judge held that the CDA does not protect a website when the website administrator solicits the content.  Said the judge:  "This Court holds by reason of the very name of the site, the manner in which it is managed, and the personal comments of defendant Richie, the defendants have specifically encouraged development of what is offensive about the content of the site."  In this case, the plaintiff was awarded over a quarter of a million dollars in damages.

 

The only thing that revenge pornographers have going for them is that they cowardly use anonymity to run their websites.  With subpoena powers, however, these defendants can be hunted down and brought to justice.

Yet another revenge pornography website goes offline

Craig Brittain, who ran the revenge pornography website Is Anybody Down--which he recently renamed Obama Nudes--has announced on Facebook that he is not only taking his website offline, but that he is permanently leaving the revenge pornography industry.

The only major revenge pornography website that remains online is U Got Posted, which is currently on the receiving end of a number of lawsuits.

 

My January 2013 prediction is coming true, despite all the yelping of the pathetic naysayers:  “The days of the revenge porn industry are limited. . . . The house of cards is coming down.”

Another lawsuit filed in Florida against revenge pornography websites

Rebekah Wells of Women Against Revenge Porn filed suit in Florida state court on May 12, 2013, against Pink Meth, CloudFlare, Image Flea, her former boyfriend who is alleged to have released private photographs of her, and a sheriff's deputy who is alleged to have threatened to release private images of her.

 

The news article can be viewed here.  The online docket entry for the case can be viewed here.

 

Note to the revenge pornographers:  Bekah is coming after you, and she is bringing hellfire with her.  You should pray for the mercy of God, because she will extend no mercy to you.

 

Death to revenge pornography.

Ohio and Michigan legal representation for victims

Victims of revenge pornography should immediately contact a lawyer to help them with their horribly stressful and invasive situation.

 

If you or a loved one has been victimized by way of a revenge pornography website and the victim resides in Ohio or Michigan, contact Attorney Kyle Bristow at (419) 725-9300 or kbristow@francelawgroup.net for a free initial consultation.

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 22, 2013

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kyle J. Bristow, Esq.
Associate Attorney, France Law Group
6545 W. Central Ave., Ste. 206
Toledo, OH 43617
(419) 725-9300
kbristow@francelawgroup.net

OHIO ATTORNEY CALLS ON U.S. CONGRESS TO END REVENGE PORNOGRAPHY

Lawyer proposes law to make website hosts liable for tortious conduct of users

Toledo, Ohio – Ohio Internet lawyer Kyle J. Bristow of the Toledo-based France Law Group, LLC, has called on the United States Congress to amend the Communications Decency Act so that computer service providers that permit revenge pornography websites to be hosted can be civilly sued or criminally prosecuted under state or federal law.  Attorney Bristow sent letters to all thirty-nine members of the U.S. Congress Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on May 22, in which he proposed an amendment to the Communications Decency Act.

 

Revenge pornography is a recent phenomenon in which pornographers post onto the Internet nude images of American women—and their home addresses and contact information—without their consent.  The victims of such websites often experience severe depression, job and relationship loss, reputational injury, and a significant increase of being raped by a stranger who frequents revenge pornography websites.  It is common for victims of these websites to receive hundreds of unwanted emails, text messages, and phone calls from strangers who find their images online.  The cyber-harassment is omnipresent and lasts indefinitely.

 

Under current federal law, the companies that permit revenge pornographers to host websites are immune from civil suit and criminal prosecution.  Attorney Bristow seeks to have this changed so that irresponsible companies can be brought to justice for being complicit in the victimization of American women.

 

Since becoming a lawyer, Attorney Bristow has become nationally recognized as being at the forefront on the war on revenge pornography.  To date, he has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire Magazine, and a television news program; he has launched a website to bring attention to the plague of revenge pornography; he has represented numerous victims of revenge pornography; and his legal efforts have resulted in two notorious revenge pornography websites being permanently shut down.

 

“It is time for Congress to act,” Attorney Bristow said.  “Death to revenge pornography.”

###

Number of lawyers fighting revenge pornography increases

If you or a loved one has been victimized by a revenge pornography website, you should consider finding a lawyer who practices law in your jurisdiction to seek justice.  A court can award monetary damages and injunctive relief--in the form of a court order requiring the disabling of the website.

 

Please visit here to see a list of lawyers who have spoken out against revenge pornography or who have filed suit against websites of this genre.

 

The following states have lawyers who are familiar with the plague of revenge pornography:  Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, and Texas.

To "U Got Posted": U got sued!

The notorious revenge pornography website U Got Posted has been sued in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The case is entitled Middleton v. Bollaert, and its number is 13-11968-cv.

Pink Meth Crushed

The anonymous individuals who operate the notorious revenge pornography website Pink Meth have removed virtually all of their content from their Twitter profile, and they have also removed all the content from their revenge pornography website.

Another one bites the dust.

Florida Front Opened in the War on Revenge Pornography

Ms. Holly Jacobs has filed suit in Florida against Pink Meth and other revenge pornography websites and the companies that support them.

Revenge Porn Complaint: Holly Jacobs vs. Ryan Seay

BREAKING: Women Kicking Revenge Porn Butt in Texas

Plaintiff Hollie Toups of the Texxxan lawsuit is reporting that the judge has rejected GoDaddy's motion to dismiss the case against them.

 

In other related news, an article was recently published that states that the judge of that case has ordered Texxxan deactivated.  Here is an interesting tidbit in that article:  the parents of the revenge pornographers are co-defendants in that legal case.

 

Many revenge pornographers live with mommy and daddy and use mommy's and daddy's computer and Internet subscription to create and/or maintain their revenge pornography websites.  There is definitely civil liability to go around.  These parents must be so proud of their children--especially when liens are placed on their property and foreclosure occurs.

Notorious website shut down

The revenge pornography website Is Anybody Down? is being shut down, the revenge pornographer, Craig Brittain, is reporting via Twitter.

Read the article on Beta Beat.

Response to Eric Goldman’s claim that revenge pornography is protected by federal law

Eric Goldman, a law professor of Santa Clara University, wrote an article for Forbes Magazine in which he argued that federal law shields revenge pornographers from civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution.  Goldman, Eric.  “What Should We Do About Revenge Porn Sites Like Texxxan?”  Forbes Magazine.  Published January 28, 2013.  Mr. Goldman’s claims are not only incorrect, but are dangerous insofar as they embolden revenge pornographers to continue their war against women.

 

In his article, Mr. Goldman refers to Attorney John Morgan’s class action lawsuit against Texxxan.com when he writes “No matter how much the lawyers hype their lawsuit in the media, it’s mostly dead on arrival.  All of the defendants—other than the users actually submitting the revenge porn—are protected by 47 USC 230, the law that says websites aren’t liable for third party content.”  Mr. Goldman goes on to state that the “existing class action is . . . weak.”

 

Section 230 of Title 47 of the United States Code does offer immunity for website providers that permit third parties to post content, but that is not the end of the analysis.  47 U.S.C. § 230(e) explicitly states that the section does not provide criminal immunity for obscenity-related crimes, nor does the section provide civil immunity for infringement of intellectual property rights.  It is for this reason that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched investigations into the revenge pornography websites Is Anyone Up? and Texxxan.

 

Pornography websites, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2257, are required to, among other things, maintain accurate and complete identification records of the nude models that appear on their websites.  Revenge pornographers do not maintain such records, and so the websites are arguably violative of this law.  A first conviction carries up to five years in federal prison, while a second conviction carries between two and ten years in federal prison.

 

Revenge pornographers may also be criminally prosecuted under state or federal law for distributing child pornography if they disseminate a nude image of someone under the age of 18.  The federal law at issue is 18 U.S.C. § 2252.  A first conviction under this statute carries a sentence of between five and twenty years in federal prison.

 

Regarding the infringement of intellectual property rights not being privileged by § 230, Title 17 of the United States Code states that photographers retain copyrights in their photographs.  Once a website is put on notice that it is infringing upon the intellectual property rights of an individual, they are removed from the “safe harbor provision” of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and can be sued for copyright infringement.  Being that most of the nude images of the women are self-taken, they can sue the revenge pornographers for copyright infringement if their nude images end up on a website without their authorization.

 

Notwithstanding how obscenity-related crimes and infringement of copyrights pierce § 230 immunity, an argument can also be made that revenge pornographers are co-developers of the content that they post, which means that the nude images are not “user submitted content.”  In Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, LLC, 521 F.3d 1157 (9^th Cir. 2008), the Ninth Circuit held en banc that a website that induces third parties to provide illegal content is not shielded by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

 

Revenge pornographers are arguably co-developers of the content on their websites, because they actively acquire nude images and information about their victims, and then they synthesize it into a package that they post onto their websites.  In effect, through their active involvement in procuring and editing the content, the revenge pornographers become co-developers of it and lose Communications Decency Act immunity.  This argument is not original; it was also made by Abby Rogers in her article for Business Insider, “An obscure court ruling might totally destroy a new ‘revenge porn’ site.”

 

If a revenge pornography website is sued and the court holds that it is not shielded by the Communications Decency Act, then the website operators could be liable for numerous torts, including but not limited to:  copyright infringement, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy (if the website is maintained by multiple people who are acting in concert to commit torts).

 

If a judgment is rendered against a revenge pornographer, then the plaintiff becomes a creditor and can seize the revenge pornographer’s assets for years to come in accordance with state law.  Revenge pornographers get to look forward to wage garnishments, liens against and foreclosures of their property, interception of their tax returns, the draining of their bank accounts, and the ruining of their credit scores.

 

Of eleven well-known revenge pornography websites, two were shut down through my hard work, one has been sued and shut down by Attorney John Morgan, one was voluntarily deactivated by a revenge pornographer after the FBI launched a criminal investigation, one was sued by Attorney Jason Van Dyke and forever lost its ability to be hosted on the domain addresses of numerous countries, one is involved in an intellectual property-related lawsuit that is currently pending, two were voluntarily shut down by revenge pornographers after another website in their control was sued, and two were voluntarily shut down after the revenge pornographers' identities were exposed.

 

I again restate what I told the Colorado Springs Independent in January of 2013:  “The days of the revenge porn industry are limited. . . . The house of cards is coming down.”

Website launch

This website will report on how lawyers and advocates are attacking the revenge pornography industry.

 

Revenge pornography is a recent phenomenon in which pornographers post nude images of women without their consent onto the Internet, along with their full legal names and contact information so that third parties can harass them.  Furthermore, by publicly posting this information online, the women often suffer reputational injury whenever a prospective love interest or employer conducts a Google search of their name.  Revenge pornography subjects women to severe emotional injury, pecuniary loss if they lose their job or need to see a therapist, and a significant likelihood of being raped by a stranger.

 

Nude images of women are often acquired by their boyfriends and husbands as "sext messages."  If the relationship ends, the jilted former lovers sometimes forward the images on to revenge pornography websites for vindictive reasons.

 

Although revenge pornography is a recent phenomenon, it has been aggressively attacked in recent months by numerous lawyers throughout the United States.  Said Attorney Kyle Bristow of the France Law Group, "The days of the revenge porn industry are limited. . . . The house of cards is coming down."