My husband and I had private pictures secured in a online portfolio, and there is a jealous man out to ruin my husband's martial arts career. He claims to be a private investigator, and somehow managed to hack into our folders and retrieve our personal pictures. He is threatening to doctor the pictures then dispurse them in our local newspapers. Is even a THREAT of defamation considered a crime?
Defamation by means of pictures
- Thread Starter KAnderson
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To begin, there are the crimes of theft, extortion and blackmail. Defamation is an action for civil, not criminal redress. You should probably call the police and have them assist you with gathering evidence. Recording phone calls is permissible in many states if one party consents and it might be the only remedy you have to protect yourself. You also have a civil action for copyright infringment but it is best to deal with the matter on a criminal level, prevent the problem from festering, and then use the evidence uncovered by the DA against the criminal in a civil trial to obtain money damages. This is incredibly sleazy -- how were the pictures secured online? I'd try to obtain log files ASAP since they will contain the IP addresses of every person downloading the files. I'd try to have the file verified by your host and obtain a certified report from your host that contains this person's IP address. Can help greatly in the long run...
Well, the pictures were taken from a secure profile that only the people that I gave direct access to, could view. (I might mention tht this started way back in october of last yr) I've since removed all of my pictures and only have them saved on floppy disks, but he still has saved copies on his harddrive.
Unfortunately, I'm not very computer literate and don't know how to track IP's. All the threats have been made online. He does not know our home phone number, so he can't call and threaten us that way. He has also challenged my husband to go to his home and fight him (they are both martial artists)
So everything that has happened, has happened over the computer.
if you know of anyway that I can track his IP down.....?
Unfortunately, I'm not very computer literate and don't know how to track IP's. All the threats have been made online. He does not know our home phone number, so he can't call and threaten us that way. He has also challenged my husband to go to his home and fight him (they are both martial artists)
So everything that has happened, has happened over the computer.
if you know of anyway that I can track his IP down.....?
Do you have the emails? Do you use something like outlook?
If you have a directory online, is it with a company or is it your own web site? Do you know if this guy got the user name and password from somebody else?
A "log" file is a file of activity generated by your web host. It contains a list of all the activity with your web site. The access by this person will be contained in this file, as it should list all the IP addresses of people that downloaded the pictures. There are ways to read it but the bottom line is that it's more preventative and may help your civil case as well as the police. It may be too long after the fact and your host may not have it handy... However, I'd probably report it to the police and hopefully nab this person in the act, e.g. set up a drop and amount. However, let the police handle it.
If you have a directory online, is it with a company or is it your own web site? Do you know if this guy got the user name and password from somebody else?
A "log" file is a file of activity generated by your web host. It contains a list of all the activity with your web site. The access by this person will be contained in this file, as it should list all the IP addresses of people that downloaded the pictures. There are ways to read it but the bottom line is that it's more preventative and may help your civil case as well as the police. It may be too long after the fact and your host may not have it handy... However, I'd probably report it to the police and hopefully nab this person in the act, e.g. set up a drop and amount. However, let the police handle it.
The pictures were in a "private" folder on Yahoo but I guess Yahoo didn't mention that even "private" folders were easily accessible. So let's look at this from a publicly accessible photo standpoint. Is it illegal to bring to light public photos of sexual activity with the soul purpose of defaming a person's reputation? This person has threatened to send pictures to a newspaper and try to get an article published. I doubt that any newspaper would even care, but is it illegal for this person to make threats of this kind or to take action?
If the folder was marked "private" it is possible to claim that there might be some protected right but that's a difficult claim to make. It's almost like leaving a folder marked "private" on a park bench, although on the web, getting there would require extra effort on this person's part.
However, what really is the crux of this matter, IMHO, is the attempt at blackmail, which is unlawful conduct. The real question is - what do you want to do about it?
You may want to record this person's attempts at blackmailing you. Additionally, if this person sends the photos to a newspaper, they could be liable for contributory (contributing to infringing activities) and/or copyright infringment as they have custody of photos that they do not have the right to publish/distribute. You may want to record your telephone conversations with this person. Most states make in lawful to do so as long as one party to the call consents. The police is also an alternative as mentioned earlier.
However, what really is the crux of this matter, IMHO, is the attempt at blackmail, which is unlawful conduct. The real question is - what do you want to do about it?
You may want to record this person's attempts at blackmailing you. Additionally, if this person sends the photos to a newspaper, they could be liable for contributory (contributing to infringing activities) and/or copyright infringment as they have custody of photos that they do not have the right to publish/distribute. You may want to record your telephone conversations with this person. Most states make in lawful to do so as long as one party to the call consents. The police is also an alternative as mentioned earlier.
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