Nude pics land Yahoo in trouble

Published on May 30th, 2005

Indiantelevision.com > News Headlines > Nude pics land Yahoo in trouble — Subject of my upcoming column in PC Magazine.

MUMBAI: Cecilia Barnes spells Rs $ 3 million for search engine giant Yahoo Inc, and how? Oregon-based Barnes has sued the company for that much amount for failing to remove nude photos of her from the profile of her former boyfriend.

Barnes, 48, has claimed in the lawsuit that her former boyfriend began posting naked pictures of her in Yahoo! profiles. Also included were her personal mail ids along with phone numbers. The photos were taken and posted on the net without her consent

“Due to these profiles and online chats, unknown men would arrive without warning at plaintiff’s work expecting to engage in sexual relations with her,” the lawsuit claims.

11 users responded in " Nude pics land Yahoo in trouble "

Subscribe to this post comment rss or trackback url

# 1 Darren said, on May 30th, 2005 at 1:01 pm

I wonder, does Cecilia Barnes know that she’s just increased her exposure 1000-fold? That is, if she was unhappy with dozens of people seeing her photos, going public with the lawsuit is going to increase that number exponentially.

# 2 Mike Voice said, on May 30th, 2005 at 2:44 pm

Interesting that she only sued after informing Yahoo what her old boyfriend was doing, and eliciting a promise from someone at Yahoo that the photos would be removed.

She didn’t file suit because the material was posted, she filed suit because Yahoo didn’t honor the promise to remove the material.

Looks like Yahoo will be implementing some new procedures for handling complaints.

# 3 Richard said, on May 30th, 2005 at 3:03 pm

She should Sue the boyfriend or her parents for that mattarr because she aint hot anyway!

# 4 K B said, on May 30th, 2005 at 4:05 pm

I don’t know enough about this story yet to “comment,” but doesn’t it seem at first blush that a number of questions here were resolved with the Dr. Laura fiasco a while back?

# 5 Angel H. Wong said, on May 30th, 2005 at 5:00 pm

Well, either her exBF is a total jerk or she’s a complete bitch and he’s getting even with her.

# 6 Pat said, on May 31st, 2005 at 5:09 am

Darren,
True, but cash can be a pleasant salve. And Yahoo, being a large company, has lots of cash.

The question will be is Yahoo liable for what people post in on-line web sites, blogs, or chat rooms. If she wins, will all ISPs, Portals, etc. change their policies to recognize that these situations can take place? If Yahoo claims some form of immunity and wins will that open the floodgates to even more abuse?

While your comment is very true, I see far greater implications for this law suit.

# 7 Mike Voice said, on May 31st, 2005 at 9:12 am

“The lady must be a stunner (48 yrs old?) to draw any attention at all. Most men do not purposefully seek out images of middle aged nude women”

ROFL

Tis true, but apparently the exBF was “sweetening the pot” by joining chat-rooms as his EX – and offering “herself” to all & sundry, while refering them to “her” Yahoo-profile’s nude photos as proof of “her” bonafides as a sure thing.

By the law of percentages, there are going to be some guys desperate enough to go looking for this woman at her workplace – and they would undoubtably be reassured when her looks (even clothed) match the online photos.

The Star Trek line of “Revenge is a dish best served cold” is aptly demonstrated in this case. Quite an elaborate, but hateful, endeavor.

# 8 Edward Dinovo said, on May 31st, 2005 at 11:48 am

I don’t understand how Yahoo is really liable here. Richard is right, she should sue the boyfriend who put the photos there in the first place. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a system for filing grievances with Yahoo and other web hosts (and freezes on accounts from law enforcement), but the blame for the content should be placed on the person who put it there.

Does it not work this way in the physical world? It would be folly to put the burden on hosting providers – then they would have to dig through all your personal data on their servers! Having said that, Yahoo was indeed far too slow in responding in this case.

# 9 Sound the alarm said, on May 31st, 2005 at 7:47 pm

I’m bored – anyone have the link?

# 10 mike cannalli said, on June 1st, 2005 at 5:49 pm

This is entirely the wrong way to do this. The XBF should write “For a good time call Cecilia Barnes at xxx-xxxx” in every mens room and phone booth he uses. It is too easy to remove a VDS (vindictive diabolical strategem) when it is posted in just one place. This way the fun goes on for years.
Better yet – get a life.

# 11 Andre said, on June 24th, 2005 at 6:16 am

question where can i find her pics?

Leave Your Reply Below...

Comment Moderation is Active, so if your comment doesn't
show up immediately, please don't submit it again.

Special Deals 4U

25% off eHarmony subscription with code EHTECH
12-percent discount forever with code TECH
10-percent discount and free month using TECH10
10-percent or 30 dollars off weekly car rental!
Get 10-percent discount on car rental!
Get 10% off rental cars!
Get 10% off Dollar rentals!
Discounts on domain names!