3 Count: Revenge Porn Justice

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1: Operator of ‘Revenge Porn’ Website Convicted in California

First off today, the Associated Press is reporting that Kevin Bollaert of San Diego was found guilty Monday on 27 felony charges related to his operation of the site ugotposted.com, which specialized in users uploading nude and sexual images of others, mostly women, without their permission.

The charges include multiple counts of identity theft and extortion. Much of the charges stem from another site Bollaert ran, changemyreputation.com, which would charge the victims up to $350 to have their images removed. Bollaert’s team had argued that, while the actions were repulsive, they were not illegal. The jury, however, convicted Bollaert and he now faces up to 20 years in prison.

California recently passed a tough new anti-revenge pornography law. However, the law was not used in this case. The jury was also not able to reach a verdict on two counts of identity theft, but was able to convict on the others.

2: Star Wars: Disney Cracks Down on Website Behind Leaked Sith Lord Image

Next up today, Rebecca Hawkes at The Telegraph reports that Disney has requested a subpoena to ImageShack asking for the court’s approval to force the image hosted to reveal the identity of an uploader of an alleged leaked image from the upcoming Star Wars film.

The image, which is said to feature the villain, Kylo Ren, who was previously only seen from the back in the officially-released teaser. The subpoena also notes that they have filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice with ImageShack over the image, though the file was online as of the writing of the article.

The upcoming Star Wars film is due out this December.

3: ESA Apologizes for DMCA Claim on Dying Light Mod Files

Finally today, Kyle Orland at Ars Technica reports that the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has apologized for DMCA notices that were erroneously sent to modders of the game Dying Light.

Dying Light had recently issued an update to the game that, in a bid to prevent cheating, broke many of the mods for it. This led many to conclude that the game’s publisher, Warner Brothers, had changed it policy on modifications and was filing the takedown notices to prevent the mods from being distributed.

However, the game’s developer, Techland, has stepped in and said that the breaking of modifications was unintentional and the feature will be added back shortly. The ESA has also apologized saying that the notices were sent in error by a third-party contractor.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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