WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission made an unprecedented move against “revenge porn” on Thursday, reaching a settlement with the alleged operator of one such website that bans him from posting nude photos or videos of people online without their consent.
Revenge porn refers to the practice of sharing nude photos or videos of a person in order to exact revenge against or otherwise humiliate that person.
The FTC’s agreement is with Craig Brittain, who allegedly operated the website Is Anybody Down out of Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to the agency’s complaint, Brittain acquired nude images of women in a number of ways, including posing as a woman on Craigslist and soliciting images from users. He then allegedly posted the photos on the website, sometimes with the women’s personal contact information.
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Citron called the FTC announcement “exciting news.”
Julia Horwitz, consumer protection counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said her organization supports the FTC’s action. “As businesses increasingly appropriate the images of identifiable individuals for use in commerce, the government must pay increasing attention to the rights of the individual subjects,” Horwitz said.
