Should it be illegal to put a nude photo of your ex on the Internet?

5-4-2012 National:

From: Cybercrime Review

Though I spend a lot of time on the Internet, there is still a lot I haven't seen. I read recently about "Is Anyone Up?" (which recently decided to shutdown), a website that allowed users to submit nude photographs of others, many of which were referred to as "pornographic souvenirs from relationships gone sour." Most posts also began with a screenshot of the person's Facebook profile.

Of course, there are several civil remedies that could be used to stop such postings, but is the act criminal? Congress tried to act on this most recently in 2005 with the Personal Pictures Protection Act of 2005. The bill would have allowed imprisonment of two years for placing sexually explicit photos online without permission.

This is a stretch, but under 18 U.S.C. § 2257, there is a requirement that "whoever produces any ... digital image ... of an actual human being ... which contains ... actual sexually explicit conduct" and goes through interstate commerce "shall create and maintain individually identifiable records pertaining to every performer portrayed." Punishment is up to five years in prison. Interstate stalking might also apply (18 U.S.C. § 2261A). ..For the rest of this story: by Jeffrey Brown