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California Man Arrested for Running 'Revenge Porn' Website

Posted by Unknown on from the someone's-going-to-jail dept.

cold fjord writes "Yahoo reports, 'A California man was arrested on Tuesday on accusations he ran a 'revenge porn' website, one that featured nude pictures of women often posted by jilted or angry ex-lovers ... The San Diego arrest, the latest action by the state to crack down on such websites, comes after California Governor Jerry Brown signed a first-in-the-nation law in October specifically targeting revenge porn. The law defines revenge porn as the posting of private, explicit photos of other people on the Internet to humiliate them. But authorities did not charge 27-year-old Kevin Bollaert under that law, because it is geared to those who post the incriminating pictures and not those who run websites that feature them .... Bollaert's site, which is no longer operational, had featured over 10,000 sexually explicit photos, and he charged women up to $350 each to remove their photos, officials said. ... Bollaert was charged under a California identity theft law that prohibits using identifying information of a person without their permission, and under anti-extortion legislation, according to court documents. Unlike many other revenge porn websites, Bollaert's site had required users post the photo subject's full name, location, age and a link to the person's Facebook profile, the Attorney General's Office said in a statement.'"

16 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Please don't kill me by Major+Blud · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pics or it didn't happen.

    No, really, it didn't happen if there aren't any.

    *DUCKS*

    --
    If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
  2. He could get out of the charge by Russ1642 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    He should turn over all of his submission records, in essence handing over the information on hundreds of men who could be charged for posting the photos. They would probably offer him quite the plea deal if he were to do this.

    1. Re:He could get out of the charge by DiEx-15 · · Score: 5, Informative

      No.

      One of the charges he is being slapped with is extortion. Because, according to the article, he was charging women $350 to remove the images. That is the very definition of extortion as the women had to pay to remove the images.

      It is a wonder he isn't being slapped with federal charges of extortion.

      The other charge is identity theft. According to the CA laws: He was posting information about these women without their explicit consent. That breaks the ID Theft law there.

      That is not to say he will not be forced to turn over the information of all the idiots who posted the nudes. They may still get that info with or without his help. However, he certainly won't get a plea deal out of it if he cooperates because he is being charged with more serious, unrelated issues that the CA Anti-Revenge Porn law doesn't cover.

    2. Re:He could get out of the charge by McGruber · · Score: 5, Informative

      He should turn over all of his submission records, in essence handing over the information on hundreds of men who could be charged for posting the photos. They would probably offer him quite the plea deal if he were to do this.

      Read the Arrest Warrant: http://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press_releases/Arrest%20warrant_0.pdf

      There are 31 Felony Counts listed in it. He's not going to get much of a plea deal; the police seized his computers, so they already have "all of his submission records."

    3. Re:He could get out of the charge by tipo159 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not really. California has a long and inglorious history of trying to turn itself into its own country -- second only to Texas in it's zest for trying to co-opt, twist, and otherwise manipulate federal law. See also: "This product is known to cause cancer in the State of California." They also have the highly controversial three strikes law that results in infinite prison. ...

      Note that both the "causes cancer" and "three strikes" were voter approved initiatives (Prop 65 (passed with 63%) and Prop 36 (passed with 61%) respectively), not something slipped through the legislature.

      The will of the people should prevail until you disagree, right?

  3. So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So he wasn't arrested for running the website at all. He was arrested for blackmail. That headline isn't just misleading, it's factually incorrect. He was arrested because of it, but not for it.

    1. Re:So... by AK+Marc · · Score: 5, Informative

      Just hosting a revenge porn site is legal. California even said as much. His actions toward the people in the images is what's gotten him in trouble. He blackmailed them, and improperly posted personal information about them, in some cases leading to them being identified and harrassed by others who saw the images. If he'd done nothing but host a site that held revenge porn images, and encouraged others to upload them, he wouldn't have been arrested (At least not for any of the charges he was charged with). So running a "revenge porn" site was irrelevant to the issue here.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
  4. Quick... by JavaLord · · Score: 4, Funny

    . Bollaert was charged under a California identity theft law that prohibits using identifying information of a person without their permission

    Quick, sue the NSA.

    1. Re:Quick... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Insightful

      heard earlier today: "If knowledge is power, then privacy is freedom." Think about that in context of the NSA.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  5. Kinda, sorta extortion. Maybe... by Huntr · · Score: 5, Informative

    Charging ppl $350 a pop to remove their photos for which they did not give permission to post? Yeah, go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

    1. Re:Kinda, sorta extortion. Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Charging ppl $350 a pop to remove their photos for which they did not give permission to post? Yeah, go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

      "Do not collect $350", surely?

    2. Re:Kinda, sorta extortion. Maybe... by LurkerXXX · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Which is slightly ironic, because there are folks who do exactly the same thing with photos from bookings when you are arrested. He may end up on the page of one of those blackmailers. Are the cops going after them as well?

    3. Re:Kinda, sorta extortion. Maybe... by edibobb · · Score: 5, Insightful

      and...
      Charge people $5,000 a pop to avoid RIAA copyright lawsuits? Profit.
      Charge people $3,000 a pop to avoid vague patent lawsuits? Profit.
      This right and wrong stuff gets so confusing!

  6. Extortion then? by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Bollaert's site, which is no longer operational, had featured over 10,000 sexually explicit photos, and he charged women up to $350 each to remove their photos, officials said

    So basically he was running an extortion racket?

    At the end of the day, you're posting intimate pictures of someone without their permission and without a model release, so I don't have a lot of sympathy for this guy. If the rest of the porn industry needs to keep model releases and the like on file, why wouldn't he?

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  7. Hey Mr. "Open Book" anonymous jackass by Xaedalus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Mod me down as a troll, but I'm going to call your stupid and asinine statement out. I _want_ to live in a world where my girlfriend, or certain adventurous female friends of mine, feel safe in sending me nudie pics on my phone, and do so because they feel they can without fear of reprisal, revenge, blackmail, or hacking. Because a world like that means that YOU, and every other man out there can also reap that kind of benefit.

    What's stupid, is asshats like Kevin Bollaert and others like him slut-shaming women for the lulz, and then profiting via blackmail. When that shit happens, then women don't feel safe in sending nudie pics to men they trust, and we don't get to see them. So I damn well hope they throw the book at him, and I damn well hope we can reverse this trend, because I'd personally like to receive more nudie pics from happy, well-adjusted women with roaring sex drives and a desire for a little exhibitionistic titillation.

    --
    Here's to hot beer, cold women, and Glaswegian kisses for all.
  8. No reference yet to Monty Python!?!? by Virtucon · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's Blackmail!

    Hello, good evening, and welcome to 'Blackmail'! And to start tonight's program, we go to Preston in Lancashire, and Mrs Betty Teal!
    Hello, Mrs Teal!
    Now this is for £15 and it's to stop us revealing the name of your lover in Bolton.
    So Mrs Teal...if you send us £15 by return post, please, and your husband Trevor, and your lovely children, Diane, Janice and Juliet need never know the name of your lover in Bolton.

    --
    Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"