FTC orders ‘revenge porn’ site to destroy images

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday ordered the operator of a now-defunct “revenge porn” site to destroy all the nude images he collected.

Under the terms of a settlement agreement, the commission also banned the operator of the site from publicly sharing similar images or videos in the future. No fines were associated with the order.

Craig Brittain operated a website from 2011 to 2013 that posted nude photos of woman and hosted another service that allowed those individuals to take them down for a fee, ranging between $200 and $500.

{mosads}“This behavior is not only illegal but reprehensible,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “I am pleased that as a result of this settlement, the illegally collected images and information will be deleted, and this individual can never return to the so-called ‘revenge porn’ business.”

The site isanybodydown.com is no longer operational, nor is a companion site called obamanudes.com.

The FTC alleged that Brittain and his associates solicited the photos in three ways, obtaining images of more than 1,000 people while it operated.

The website encouraged people to anonymously pass along photos with contact information, according to the FTC. It also allegedly set up a bounty system involving  rewards for individuals who found and posted photos of specific people. It allegedly solicited photos from women on Craigslist as well, by offering to exchange nude photos then publicly posting the photos it received.

The site made about $12,000 during its run. Brittain allegedly operated another service that advertised on the “revenge porn” website offering to remove the photos for a fee. The service was made to look like a third-party service but was allegedly run by Britain himself.

The FTC said the case fell into its jurisdiction by qualifying as an unfair or deceptive act affecting commerce.