Lawyer: Form of Cyber Human Trafficking
A so-called 'revenge porn' site has been shuttered by host site GoDaddy.com which cites copyright infringement. The site had relaunched with disclaimers denying responsibility for any submissions following last month's class-action lawsuit involving 20 east Texas women.
Beaumont attorney John Morgan insists his clients never gave permission to have nude photos of them posted online by their ex-boyfriends and husbands.
“Most of them feel they have to live in hiding,” Morgan told KTRH News. “If they go to the grocery store, or they go to church or the bookstore, all their normal routines, people ask aren't you the one whose picture is on that website, aren't you the one who has these naked photos.”
The lawsuit filed by Morgan's clients not only asks the site be shutdown, but also seeks damages.
“Certainly the owners of the site, the people who post on the site, the subscribers, the people who pay monthly fees to look at the pictures,” he says.
Houston defense attorney Matt Horak has dealt with clients accused of cyber crimes. He says going after subscribers is a stretch, but the women may have a case against the site and ex-boyfriends.
“I guess they could go after them for pain and suffering, mental anguish and embarrassment,” he says.
However, Horak says the biggest hurdle will be proving who posted the photos and when.
