Lawyer @MarcoRandazza Goes To War Against #RevengePorn Site Over ‘Takedown Lawyer’ Business Model
Read this disturbing story on how one man is unethically profiting off of “revenge #porn” – by extorting the victims. Please note that the most common victims of this scam are people who allowed someone like their ex boyfriend or girlfriend to take naked photos of them. (Or who took the photos themselves and shared them privately with their partner.)
So the takeaway lesson of this story is… Unless you’re willing to risk naked pictures of yourself showing up at a “revenge porn” site, which will then require that you pay to get them removed, then it might be best to not ever allow your partner to take such photos of you, or to take any such photos yourself! Just something to consider…
[TechDirt] Well, well. Last year, there was a lot of attention paid to a so-called “revenge porn” site called “Is Anyone Up”? The site reposted submitted nude photos, linked to the person in the photo’s social networking accounts. The “idea” (a horrific one) was that spurned people, who had naked photos of their ex’s, could publicize them. Not surprisingly, many people were completely horrified by the concept and the media coverage was not kind. The site eventually went down, but others popped up to take their place.
Lawyer Marc Randazza has decided to go to war with one of them, which uses the very similar name “Is Anybody Down” (and, no, I’m not linking to it). Randazza points out that he has no problem with porn or porn sites, but when the participants are not consenting (and not necessarily adults) he has serious problems.
However, his main issue with this other site is in what he believes to be its sneaky business model. There is apparently an “advertisement” on the site for a “lawyer” named David Blade, who will help you get your photos off the site for $250. Randazza argues that it’s really the site’s own business model. Here’s their business plan:
Step one: Register the domain name “isanybodydown(dot)com”
Step two: Get ahold of nude photos of people who never consented to having their photos published.
Step three: Publish them, along with their names, home towns, and links to their facebook profiles.
So now how do you “profit?”
Well, openly saying “I’ll take down the photo for $250,” would probably create some legal issues for you. So, instead, you create a fake lawyer persona and say “I am an internet lawyer, named David Blade, III, and I’ll get your pics down for $250.”
The “ad” goes on at length about how successful “David Blade” is in removing images from the site, and how it’s much cheaper than going to any other lawyer. Blade has his own website, called TakedownLawyer(dot)com. Randazza has a few damning facts. The registration info for both sites… are by the same person. The “ad” by “Blade” insists that they’re different people, with Blade claiming to merely be a college friend of the operator of the site — and someone who disapproves of the site.
“Blade” claims that as he’s tried to convince the operator of the site to take it down, their “compromise” is that the site owner has allowed him to place that “ad” that just so happens to help “Blade” make money any time someone wants their images down from the site. The other bit of damning evidence? There is no record of a David Blade as a registered NY attorney (where he claims to operate). Oops.
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