back to article Victim of Tor-hidden revenge smut site sues Tor Project developers

The Tor Project has found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit that claims the privacy software's developers aided a revenge porn slinger. An attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) told The Register the allegations against the Tor team are baseless. In a lawsuit, Shelby Conklin accuses the Tor Project of …

  1. Jamie Jones Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Streisand effect in 3...2...1....

    Oh dear. I'm actually very sympathetic to cases like these, and the bastards (assuming her story is true) are evil scum, but....... oh dear :-(

    I presume if she was run over by a car, she'd sue Ford?

    1. codejunky Silver badge

      Re: Streisand effect in 3...2...1....

      Surely TOR should deny it is their responsibility as it is the internet itself which allows such activity. Maybe even blame the protocol developers or hardware manufacturers of network cards.

    2. Badvok

      Analogy defect!

      Yeah, if Ford produced the car used with the specific intention of providing people a means to run other people over anonymously.

      1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

        Re: Analogy defect!

        Errr, what? So you're saying that TOR was designed to allow people to post naked pics of others anonymously?

        Besides, crappy car analogies are a requirement on techie forums!

        1. Badvok

          Re: Analogy defect!

          "Errr, what? So you're saying that TOR was designed to allow people to post naked pics of others anonymously?"

          Wasn't it? You didn't actually fall for all that 'freedom of speech' guff did you?

    3. noodle heimer

      Re: Streisand effect in 3...2...1....

      I'd like to thank the Reg for bringing this to my attention, and the good folks at the tor2web subsidiary of the DEA for letting me access this website without needing to install a Tor client.

  2. Jamie Jones Silver badge
    WTF?

    Seems she sued them back in 2012 for a million dollars...

    Has it taken this long, or is she trying again?

    http://www.xbiz.com/news/157338

    1. Terry Cloth

      Re: Seems she sued them back in 2012 for a million dollars...

      That was a different deal. Then, she was suing PinkMeth for publishing the photos, a case I hope she wins/won. Here she's suing TOR, an entirely different kettle of fish.

      1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

        Re: Seems she sued them back in 2012 for a million dollars...

        Thanks for the reply.

        However, I thought this case involved suing both TOR and pinkmeth?

  3. P. Lee

    Lack of Judgement

    1) Keep your pants on. Making yourself vulnerable at the deepest emotional and physical level is not something you just do for fun. Parents, its rather important that you teach your kids this, despite everything shown on TV, in films and broadcast on the radio and probably taught in schools. Stop living by your feelings alone and use some reasoning. Has your partner made a public statement of commitment to you alone, for life? If not, assume they will leave you. Has your partner had sexual relationships which ended badly? Why do you think you'll be any different? Feelings? We know those come and go. Love is a principled commitment to seek someone-else's best interest before your own. Until you have evidence your partner loves you and can control themselves, don't put yourself in jeopardy.

    It seems a lot of effort is being put into trying to undo the consequences of living as if there are no consequences. It's a lie. There are always consequences. The right to be forgotten is a King Canute scenario. Your modesty is your responsibility, not the law's and it relates also to your choices before the photo's were taken. That's what the lock on the bedroom door is for.

    2) No photos. There's no such thing as "private art." It's porn and it features you. If it won't be shown, you don't need it taken.

    3) Social media. You risked pic's not just on paper, not just on your own hackable computer but out on the internet? (see title)

    Yes its wrong to harass people like this, but there is usually an easy way to prevent it happening in the first place. Sadly, as a society, we seem determined to see the consequences as the problem and stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the real problem is with our own lack of judgement.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Lack of Judgement

      alternatively, sometimes people (who may be happily married) like to have a bit of fun with their partner, sending nice pictures when apart from a few days etc

      I'd be quite unhappy if i lived in the eternal paranoia that perhaps my wife can't be trusted with these images

      and it's also a fact that marriages break down and a VERY small percentage of jilted partners turn to sites like this

      But I'm not going to live a marriage with my wife measured against a risk assessment

      1. LucreLout

        Re: Lack of Judgement

        "I'd be quite unhappy if i lived in the eternal paranoia that perhaps my wife can't be trusted with these images"

        Erm, you have considered what would happen if you or your wife were to lose the phone or have it stolen, right?

        Maybe your PC or laptop where one of you may be backing up the images gets compromised or stolen. Given many phones backup all pictures to a server, you're relying on that server being kept secure indefinately, which may not be the case.

        There's a myriad of reasons why the images could end up published without malice on either yours or your wifes part. Perhaps it was the same of some of the women in question?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Lack of Judgement

      Naked pictures are not necessarily "porn" - although people's definitions vary considerably depending on their social culture and their own dark desires.

      Several of my old friends are very pleased to have pictures of themselves at what they consider their peak of physical beauty in their late teens or twenties. Every few years I check whether they still want me to retain any copies. Loss of contact means that I purge the set.

  4. YetAnotherLocksmith Silver badge

    Well said.

    It appears 3 commentards are set to sue - next time they type format c:, confirm it a few times then lose everything, they'll be calling their lawyers for their data back!

    1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

      errrm, when you posted that, there were only 2 other commentards apart from you, and neither of us advocated any such thing

  5. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    FAIL

    She's making a very poor showing of herself as a law student. Having the pictures in the first place is a 'meh' issue, but then showing no appreciation of how both the Internet and the law works is seriously damaging her employment prospects.

    1. Valeyard

      showing no appreciation of how both the Internet and the law works is seriously damaging her employment prospects

      erm..actually....

      1. ratfox

        There's no such thing as bad publicity. Thanks to this lawsuit, thousands of lawyers are going to know she exists. Few of them are above making a silly lawsuit for a big splash of fame.

  6. Kracula
    Go

    1 mil for a couple of pics...?

    ... not bad. I always thought that there is no good reason for taking sex pictures, except blackmail, but I will suggest my wife that we take some pics next time, have someone post them on whatever site and ask for millions of dollars... oh wait, this does sound like blackmail.

  7. Billa Bong
    Coat

    Please can I make the joke..

    about handling stolen goods now?

  8. emmanuel goldstein

    it's like...

    the bank that's been robbed suing the manufacturer of the clown masks.

    1. ShadowedOne

      Re: it's like...

      Except no one blames the bank for getting itself robbed, unlike the victim blaming further up.

  9. Stevie

    Bah!

    Not usually sympathetic to people stupid enough to gift pix of themselves as nature intended to others and expect them to stay confidential, but in the case of this sort of website I have to say that how limp-dicked can you be to need to use this sort of anonymous vengeance bullying to get satisfaction?

    Seriously? *This* is all you have? And you don't even have the balls to claim ownership?

    No wonder she dumped your sorry backside.

  10. This post has been deleted by its author

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