Scorned lovers get Valentine's Day is here, and, as the song goes, "Love is in the air, every sight and every sound."
revenge on Internet
Honolulu police say they can
do little about resolving complaintsBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comEven so, lovers might want to think twice about documenting the sights and sounds of their affection in pictures or on video.
Over the past several years, Honolulu police say, they have been fielding an increasing number of complaints about scorned lovers posting erotic pictures or recordings of their ex-partner online.
"One complaint involved a woman whose ex-husband posted nude pictures of them having sex online," said HPD white-collar crime detective Chris Duque. "The Web site was mostly about him bragging about being a great lover.
"The thing is ... the pictures were his property as well as hers. ... It's something that they eventually settled with attorneys."
Duque said the first related online revenge complaint he took was in 1998 and that the frequency of the complaints increased last year to one or two a month. Most of the complaints are from women.
He attributes the increase to several factors, including people are becoming more computer literate and that the Internet, digital cameras and recorders have become more user-friendly and affordable.
The problem is, Duque said, posting erotic pictures of significant others online is often not a crime, so police can do little.
"We're talking about consenting adults who at the time thought it was a good idea," he said. "Unless you threaten someone online or perhaps break into their home and steal a picture and place it online, there isn't much we can do."
A 27-year-old Makiki woman who asked to be referred to as "Sophia" said that after she broke up with her boyfriend two years ago, he got drunk and posted nude pictures of her and a sexually explicit video of the two of them on the Internet.
"He was laughing about it," she said. "I remember thinking, What a dirtbag.
"My advice is, if you want pictures of yourself, take Polaroids."
In other states and countries, there have been criminal cases made for such online revenge tactics.
In Wisconsin, prosecutors used a defamation law to fine a man $1,000 after he posted naked photographs of his ex-girlfriend in 1999 on a Web site devoted to sexual torture. The postings included the woman's home address and phone number and claimed she was interested in sadomasochism.
And last year in Singapore, a country known for its strict laws, a court sentenced a 20-year-old man to more than four years in jail after he sent photos of his ex-girlfriend having sex with him to her teachers, friends and relatives. Though the country has no law that bars obscene e-mail, it is illegal to possess any kind of pornographic material.
Besides criminal prosecution, however, First Amendment attorneys say civil cases can be made based upon convincing juries that the consent the victim gave to have those videos or photographs taken was limited to private viewing, not public display.
"Others could say that if a wife or spouse consented to take a nude or erotic photograph, she gave up the right to privacy," said Honolulu attorney Jeff Portnoy. "But just because you give someone a limited consent to take that photograph doesn't mean you gave consent to put that photo on a Web site."
"That's a big jump. ... I'd take that case any time," said Portnoy, a partner with Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright.
Divorce lawyers at Coates & Frey said some clients have been enraged to find that their spouses have been e-mailing nude photographs of themselves to other people.
"They're ready to lash out, and a lot of them want to post those pictures online," said attorney David Hayakawa. "We calmly try to talk them out of it and make them understand the long-term ramifications of this. It's a growing trend. ... Who needs to key a car when you can put her picture on the Internet?
"People think love is forever, but sometimes naked pictures and erotic videos can last a lot longer."