How should the online publication of explicit images without their subjects’ consent be punished?

[eridani]

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21606307-how-should-online-publication-explicit-images-without-their-subjects-consent-be

At least 3,000 porn websites around the world feature the revenge genre, and the number is rising, says John Di Giacomo of Revision Legal, a Michigan-based law firm. Women’s charities in Britain and America say more victims are contacting them for help all the time. (Men are occasionally targeted, too.) In Japan the number of cases reported to police more than tripled, to 27,334, between 2008 and 2012.

The consequences for the unwitting subjects can be severe, including damage to their future relationships and careers. Ms Chiarini was harassed online. Others have had abusive strangers turn up at their doors. In the past couple of years several are known to have killed themselves.

Yet victims often find themselves without legal recourse. Many countries have laws against harassment or “malicious communication”, but these generally target repeated actions, direct contacts and verbal or physical threats. Copyright law cannot help if the person who publishes an image also took it. Even if it was snapped by the subject (one survey suggests that such “selfies” make up a large share of all revenge porn), getting it taken down is slow and costly. And during the delay it may be republished elsewhere.

If images were stolen or obtained by subterfuge, a victim may have some redress. In February a jury in Texas awarded $500,000 to a woman whose ex-boyfriend posted a pornographic video he recorded during a Skype call. But few victims bring such cases. Costs can reach $100,000 and legal proceedings will draw unwanted attention to the images. And most countries absolve websites that host user-generated material of legal responsibility for it. (Child pornography is usually an exception.) After “basically begging” a site to remove images of herself, Bekah Wells, a Florida student, found her written appeal and photos featured on its home-page.

[Schema Thing]

1. In a word? Yes.

[msongs]

2. alternatively, people can just stop taking pics of themselves having sex. problem prevented :-) nt

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. A) not likely to happen, and B)

it doesn't have to be 'sex' photos. Heck, it doesn't even have to be nudes. It could simply be pics of you doing something stupid or embarrassing, like picking your nose or getting drunk at a party. Your suggestion is in the same vein as 'if you have nothing to hide, who cares if the NSA spies on you.' Ie, don't do anything 'wrong', and the 'problem is solved'.

So there does need to be some sort of redress available, and probably along the way, we need to have the ability to automatically 'self-copyright' our individual images, such that barring an explicit written contract, you always have the automatic right to demand that your pictures be immediately removed from any website hosting them, no matter who posted them, even the person who took them, if they obtained no written consent from you to use your image online.

[IronLionZion]

4. Some sick twisted people take recordings without permission

like a hidden webcam or something, even a cell phone while their partner is sleeping. This happens easily in college dorm rooms where there's not much space to begin with and your computer and other stuff are all in the same room as your bed. This happened to the gay dude in Rutgers who offed himself after his roommate and another girl decided to live stream it without permission or knowledge.

There was some actor recently who got in trouble for posting a pic of his wife and baby, without even thinking of the fact that she wasn't covered up. Many of these phone apps will auto-upload before you have a chance to even know what you did. It happened to a British politician who decided to take naked selfies without realizing it would be instantly uploaded for all the world to see.

[ismnotwasm]

5. Jail or fine

I am my own property, last time I checked. If I want my image used, I'll sign a legal waiver.