Sites charge $100 a year to access private photos and videos of non-porn stars in the nude, usually posted by spurned ex-lovers but it doesnt end there
Six years ago, Rebekah Wells Googled her name to see what turned up. The results horrified her: nude photos of herself taken by her ex-boyfriend, along with her name and address, on commercial porn sites such as ImageFlea, ImageEarn and PinkMeth.
She went to the police in her home town of Naples, Florida, and a sheriffs deputy was assigned to her case. One year later she became romantically involved with the deputy, and after the relationship fizzled, Wells claims the police officer threatened to upload a new batch of her nudes.
She felt nauseated, embarrassed and angry. Wells managed to get her photos removed and filed suit against her ex and the sites, but the lawsuit fizzled. She also launched a site, Women Against Revenge Porn, to help other victims of abuse, though it is closed for now. But the sites that posted her photos werent just trying to satisfy her exs pathological desire for revenge they were there to make money.
According to the Pew Research Center, four out of 10 people have been insulted, shamed, stalked, bullied or harassed online. Revenge porn is just one of the ways sites are profiting from internet abuse. And even sites that dont profit directly may benefit in other ways from the attention online abuse can bring.
Cops dont do this cyber stuff
Revenge porn sites such as SeenMyGF or MyEx charge $100 a year to access private photos and videos of non-porn stars, almost invariably women, usually posted by spurned ex-lovers. But it doesnt end there. As with every adult site, theres an entire ecosystem supporting them from domain registrars and web hosting services to upstream bandwidth providers and online payment systems. Everybody gets their cut.
I have had clients tell me the cops confessed to them they dont do this cyber stuff, he says. Another barrier to prosecution is the blame the victim mentality, which is still fairly prevalent.
A handful of victims have also won high-profile civil lawsuits. Last December, a Texas court awarded Bindu Pariyar $7.25m after her ex-husband posted thousands of nude photos and videos of her online. (She also claims that he forced her to work in a strip club and as a prostitute.) But Pariyar told a Nepali news site she doesnt expect to collect much from her ex, and the damage is probably irreparable: her nude photos have spread to mainstream porn sites.