University of Miami Law Review
Abstract
The issue of nonconsensual pornography has recently been brought into the limelight because of events like the online postings of celebrities’ intimate photos. Non-celebrities, however, have been victimized in this way since long before the recent hackings, and their lives are also changed in the worst possible way. The harms that result from the unconsented-to distribution of an individual’s intimate photos and videos are severe and oftentimes long-lasting. This Comment suggests that an alternative proposal to help nonconsensual pornography victims regain their reputations, their privacy, and their lives, is to federally criminalize the nonconsensual distribution of a person’s intimate images or videos, and include in the law a safe-harbor provision with a "notice-and-takedown" procedure similar to the provision in Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Such a framework would bind the hands of Internet service providers to remove nonconsensual pornography or links to such content from their websites in order to avoid criminal liability. It is the author’s hope that this alternative proposal will provide victims with an additional tool to regain their privacy and dignity by having nonconsensual pornography removed from the Internet.
Recommended Citation
Dalisi Otero,
Confronting Nonconsensual Pornography with Federal Criminalization and a “Notice-and-Takedown” Provision,
70 U. Mia. L. Rev.
585
(2016)
Available at:
https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr/vol70/iss2/9