Monthly Archives: September 2006

It Could Be Worse

Posted on September 20, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

I guess there is a real silver lining to the dismal performance of the UM football team this season: things could be much worse.

Posted in U.Miami | Comments Off on It Could Be Worse

My Captain’s Tavern Post is at ‘Critical Miami’

Posted on September 19, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Captain’s Tavern, a rare foray into restaurant reviewing, is up at Critical Miami thanks to the Miami Cross Blogination project.

And it already has four comments.

Posted in Miami | Comments Off on My Captain’s Tavern Post is at ‘Critical Miami’

Miami Cross Blogination: The Morality and Legality of the Craigslist Sex Baiting Prank

Posted on September 19, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

[This Miami Cross Blogination posting is by Gus Moore of Miami Beach 411.]

Good afternoon ladies and gentleman. Class is now in session. I am very happy to be with you today, substituting for Professor Froomkin. The subject of today’s session is: Did the Craigslist Sex Baiting Prank Break the Law?

By now I am sure many of you are familiar with Jason Fortuny’s sex baiting prank at Craiglsit. For those who are not, I brought along the cliff notes (warning: not safe for work):

"Last Monday Seattle resident Jason Fortuny carried out a thought experiment into reality — one I think anyone who has surfed Craigslist sex ads has entertained. He took a hardcore Women Seeking Men ad from another city and reposted it to see how many replies he could get in 24 hours. Then he published every single response — photos, emails, IM info, phone numbers, names, everything, to a public wiki. Then they went public on Jason’s LiveJournal page calling it The Craigslist Experiment, inviting readers to identify the CL ad’s responders.

"(…) Since then Jason has had *his* private info published to CL and been threatened physically, threatened with lawsuits, and has been hated on by everyone from online BDSM communities to Wired. Wired called him "sociopathic" while commenters are saying things like "Disclosing an email to the public is indeed a violation of privacy, and if anyone has a spine, they will take you down with a massive lawsuit that will make you regret ever doing this. You are a liar, a xenophobe, and deserve to have your ass beaten to within an inch of your life."

The story went viral, getting posted all over the web.

The prank has people divided; some cheer Mr. Fortuny for outing these sexual deviants, while others want to tar and feather him.

In my opinion, what Mr. Fortuny did was wrong. He could have performed the same experiment without violating people’s privacy by blacking out the subjects contact information and identifying pictures.

It does teach us a lesson – be careful about what you share with strangers.

TIP: If you don’t want your "business" posted all over the internet, then don’t email it to people that you don’t know.

My questions for the class are:

1. Did Jason Fortuny break the law?
2. Is publishing an email illegal?
3. Is The Craigslist experiment a 2257 violation? A commenter at Threadwatch.org thinks it might be:

"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."

In summation, after carefully reviewing the statute, it looks to me like this prank fits the criteria for a privacy tort claim.

There may be some Discourse.net readers more qualified to answer the legalities of this than I.

Heck, who am I kidding? I’m not an attorney. I’m just a substitute for the day. Discussing Miami travel is my thing. Professor Froomkin was just nice enough to invite me to hang out with you. I don’t know anything about Privacy Torts and 2257.

So, I will take this opportunity to learn what the class thinks.

Was this prank illegal? Will these dumbasses victims be awarded civil damages? Could there be a criminal indictment against Mr. Fortuny for posting nude images? Morally speaking, was the Craigslist sex baiting prank right or wrong?

If you would be so kind to continue this discussion after class, we can all meet up in the Comments.

Thank you for your time today. Class dismissed. 🙂

Sources:
• 4 Common Law Privacy Torts
• 2257. Record keeping requirements

• Are Accounts of Consensual Sex a Violation of Privacy Rights?
• Encyclopedia Dramatica – RFJason CL Experiment (warning: not safe for work)

Gus Moore is the Miami travel expert who founded the community website Miami Beach 411. If you like this posting, why not link to his blog or bookmark it as one of your favorites?

Posted in Internet | 4 Comments

Gas Prices Dropping Just Before an Election? Hmmm.

Posted on September 19, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Nieman Watchdog, The closer the election, the lower the price of gas,

Gil Cranberg says this correlation should galvanize the press. He wants to know, among other things, whether prices are dropping in countries that don’t have upcoming elections.

…

Q. Did George W. Bush’s buddies in the oil industry contrive to lower gasoline prices to help him (and themselves) in the fall elections?

I looked for guidance from three people knowledgeable about oil markets and put this more-neutral question to each: Is there possibly a link between the drop in gas prices in this country and the coming election?

One said flatly no, it’s just due to lower demand now than during the driving season.

Another said he was puzzled by the drop because people he trusts tell him it is not due to, or cannot be explained by, a comparable drop in crude oil prices.

The third had a similar reaction, noting that, in the past, when the price of crude oil dropped, the price of gasoline took much longer to come down. He said that price of gas customarily declines with the end of the driving season, “but not as sharply as it has in the last few weeks and certainly never went down faster than the price of crude, as it has.”

The latter two respondents, independently, referred me to Peter K. Ashton, a long-time consultant on petroleum issues who has testified on gasoline pricing before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Ashton’s response to the same question:

“As an economist, I cannot speculate on the politics that may be involved, but my recent research suggests that the recent drop cannot be explained by the drop in crude prices or the change in inventories alone. From an economic standpoint, therefore, it certainly raises questions in my mind as to whether the high prices we saw this summer were in any way justified by market fundamentals. I do not believe that they were. To the extent that prices are now declining more than market fundamentals might dictate suggests to me that a decision has been made to reduce prices back to levels that might be considered more in line with the forces of supply and demand. Whether that is a politically motivated decision is up to others to decide, not me! Nevertheless, it is clear to me that the prices we witnessed this summer could not be justified by the market.”

Posted in Politics: US: 2006 Election | 8 Comments

Official Statement from ICANN NomCom

Posted on September 18, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

ICANN has issued its official announcement regarding the work of the ICANN Nominating Committee this weekend.

Posted in Talks & Conferences | 4 Comments

Administration Banging the Drums of War — With Iran

Posted on September 18, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Time magazine — no liberal bastion! — reports that the military thinks something is up:

The first message was routine enough: a “Prepare to Deploy” order sent through naval communications channels to a submarine, an Aegis-class cruiser, two minesweepers and two mine hunters. The orders didn’t actually command the ships out of port; they just said to be ready to move by Oct. 1. But inside the Navy those messages generated more buzz than usual last week when a second request, from the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), asked for fresh eyes on long-standing U.S. plans to blockade two Iranian oil ports on the Persian Gulf. The CNO had asked for a rundown on how a blockade of those strategic targets might work. When he didn’t like the analysis he received, he ordered his troops to work the lash up once again.

And Col. Sam Gardiner — the author of an excellent study showing how the administration planted false stories about Iraq in the 2003 run-up to its invasion — now says that

We’re conducting military operations inside Iran right now. The evidence is overwhelming. From both the Iranians, Americans, and from Congressional sources.

Much more at Crooks and Liars.

Posted in Iran | 2 Comments