Concerns raised over Web sex ad replies

Cthippo · 12 Sep 2006

Associated Press said:

NEW YORK - At first glance, the posting looked like any number of Internet classified ads explicitly seeking sex. But instead of the 27-year-old woman with long brown hair advertised, a male, Seattle-area graphic designer collected the replies and posted them online — with photos, names and contact information. Privacy experts say the case treads the line legally but crosses it morally.

"It's a sad commentary overall," said Lauren Weinstein, a veteran computer scientist and privacy advocate. "It's one of those situations where both sides look bad. ... From an ethical standpoint, this isn't brain surgery."

It all began with Jason Fortuny's posting on the online community Craigslist. According to his Web journal, Fortuny took a real ad and reposted it so that responses went straight to him. Among the 178 responses were 145 photos of men "in various states of undress." The replies included e-mail addresses, names and in some cases, instant-messaging accounts and phone numbers.

Fortuny then posted all the replies on a Web site devoted to parodies and satires online.

It's by no means the first time information thought private gets posted online.

Internet vigilantes have engaged spammers and scam artists and posted results of their conversations online. Others expose sexual predators they purposely seek out in chat rooms.

In this case, however, the men who replied to Fortuny's posting did not appear to be doing anything illegal, so the outing has no social value other than to prove that someone could ruin lives online, said Jonathan Zittrain, a law professor at Oxford and Harvard universities.

Whether Fortuny violated any laws is less clear, he said.

"It's one of those questions that could find its way onto a law school exam because it is comparatively new territory," Zittrain said.

Fortuny did not immediately respond to e-mails from The Associated Press, and calls Monday to his telephone number generated a message saying the subscriber "is not in service."

Craigslist Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster told the AP in an e-mail that Fortuny's actions violated the site's policies. He noted that the ad in question was removed several times, only to be reposted.

"Publishing private e-mails is something that decent people don't generally do without very good reason," Buckmaster said.

Kurt Opsahl, staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Craigslist would be protected under federal law exempting service providers from liability for what their users do. Fortuny's liability under Washington state law, he said, rests on whether the disclosures are of legitimate concern to the public.

"As far as I know, they (the respondents) are not public figures, so it would be challenging to show that this was something of public concern," Opsahl said.

Weinstein said the action could potentially make Internet users more likely to question the legitimacy of Craigslist ads and more reluctant to participate.

"Once you've lost that trust," he said, "a large part of the utility of what those services were there for in the first place is lost."
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DougEdey · 12 Sep 2006

Craigslist seems to like sex, there was a case where some prostitues were caught via entraptment on it wasn't there?

Ah well, not gonna affect me

yodasarmpit · 12 Sep 2006

Pwned

WireFrame · 12 Sep 2006

not very funny really. The guy that did it is clearly not being engaged enough at work. Nobody really did anything wrong, and I don't see the point of the exercise. It is interesting that the guy doesn't want respond to questions about this. Maybe someone should post up HIS private details and see what happens.
from ElReg:

Wired reporter Ryan Singel found the tallest horse in the world from which to pontificate.

"No journalist would ever pull a stunt like this," he claimed, "because exposing the private lives of private persons, in absence of any justifiable public interest, is both unethical and a clear violation of the law."
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Nexxo · 13 Sep 2006

WireFrame said:

not very funny really. The guy that did it is clearly not being engaged enough at work. Nobody really did anything wrong, and I don't see the point of the exercise. It is interesting that the guy doesn't want respond to questions about this. Maybe someone should post up HIS private details and see what happens.
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I agree. It's good Karmic realignment: post his private details, e-mail, phone number and home address and see whether he is still so keen to do the same to others.

cjmUK · 13 Sep 2006

Nexxo said:

I agree. It's good Karmic realignment: post his private details, e-mail, phone number and home address and see whether he is still so keen to do the same to others.
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Karmic Re-alignment? I'll need to remember that one...

I'm not sure an eye-for-an-eye is the best response, but I hope he has broken some Washington-state laws and they pursue him.

It wouldn't be so bad if he had done it for money, or for revenge or any other understandable motivation, but he just seems to be naturally spiteful. You'll probably find he has a history of harming pets!

I just can't understand how he thought he'd get away with it without any sort of backlash...

Nexxo · 13 Sep 2006

cjmwork2 said:

I'm not sure an eye-for-an-eye is the best response...
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Generally it isn't, but in his case it would be an object lesson.

WireFrame · 18 Sep 2006

seoblackhat.com said:

Here are the 3 possibilities we will include in the contest:

1. Criminal Indictment against Jason Fortuny

MrTurner at Threadwatch pointed out that what Jason did is a 2257 violation:

But the biggest issue he could fall into is the fact that posting nude images online without proper 2257 documentation is illegal. You can’t post nude images online in the US without proof that the individual is 18 years of age or older. A single offense could be a fine of $25,000 and up to 5 years in jail.

So there is certainly a chance for a federal indictment. Choice one is for a criminal Indictment of Jason Fortuny stemming from his publicity stunt (not a conviction).
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Heh. There's some re-alignment. Apparently his details are already free available online, if one cared to look.....

Nexxo · 18 Sep 2006

I like.

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Concerns raised over Web sex ad replies

Cthippo Can't mod my way out of a paper bag

DougEdey I pwn all your storage

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Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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Concerns raised over Web sex ad replies

Cthippo Can't mod my way out of a paper bag

DougEdey I pwn all your storage

yodasarmpit Modder

WireFrame <b>PermaBanned</b>

Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

cjmUK Old git.

Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

WireFrame <b>PermaBanned</b>

Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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