August 31 is a shameful day for some Hollywood female celebrities because hundreds of their alleged nude photos were first leaked on a 4chan thread, then rapidly spread to other social networks.
The victims included renowned award winning actresses Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst, and Scarlet Johnhanson. The photos alleged to be theirs show them posing seductively for the camera, wearing next to nothing.
Although they were immediately seized and called to suspend, dozens of the photos are still circulating on the web. Some celebrities soon confirmed the authenticity of their pictures and expressed their resentful emotions on social networks.
Jennifer Lawrence's attorney announced the decision to file a lawsuit, also emphasizing that she has the legal ramification planned for anyone who spreads the photos.
"I was totally shocked, it is just unbelievable," said Kuroki Meisa, a famous Japanese actress.
"They decided to file the lawsuit, however, it is probably too late," said Paul Cheng, a California trial attorney, "they could claim that it was the invasion of Jennifer Lawrence's privacy, however, the most important part is the photos on the web cannot be taken back no matter what they get as the compensation."
According to Cheng, 97 percent of internet privacy cases were settled outside the court, and 3 percent of them went into the lengthy legal procedure.
Internet cases as a new genre were raised within the past 10 to 15 years. Therefore, law enforcement is not as mature as in other fields.
Currently, both the FBI and Apple are investigating widespread invasions in personal accounts thought to be connected with the iCloud service. Apple iCloud is under scrutiny as mass hacking raises security concerns.
"Apple is actually not in response for this intrusion on celebrities' account. By the moment that those stars put their personal information on to the cloud, they already given up their right to privacy," said Cheng. "Each time there is a Terms of Agreement Contract that Apple proposes to their customers when they set up their account, which most people would not read and click the 'I agree' option directly." Thus the customers will bear all risks.
For celebrities who are exposed under public eyes for the most of time, their right of privacy is not well protected compared with common citizens. Illegal massive invasions bring indelible stigmatization to the victims, sending waves of shock and threat to other celebrities in the industry.
"As long as the technology gets going, there is no 100 percentage security, so it is either you have technology, or forget about it, just don't take those photos," said performance artist Kenichi Ebina from "America's Got Talent."
The right of privacy is getting increasing attention in the American society where celebrities are a group of vulnerable targets. Followed by a bunch of paparazzi, almost every action of celebrities might be captured by the camera and deliberately interpreted in a scandalous way. ' Currently the right of privacy is monitored and enforced by the departments such as FBI and CIA. Last year, the state government of California passed the new revenge porn code, which prohibits one's ex-partners to shame or embarrass the pictured individual by sharing their sexually explicit pictures online without the consent of the pictured individual. This law had already been passed in 12 states in the United States.
"I'm not gonna take nude photos and have them on my phone, that would be my answer, you know, if it is the deal, you don't want the public to know about you, then don't, it is so easy to access right now, so you just have to be a little more discreet I guess," said Katey Sagal, a famous Hollywood actress.
The victims included renowned award winning actresses Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst, and Scarlet Johnhanson. The photos alleged to be theirs show them posing seductively for the camera, wearing next to nothing.
Although they were immediately seized and called to suspend, dozens of the photos are still circulating on the web. Some celebrities soon confirmed the authenticity of their pictures and expressed their resentful emotions on social networks.
Jennifer Lawrence's attorney announced the decision to file a lawsuit, also emphasizing that she has the legal ramification planned for anyone who spreads the photos.
"I was totally shocked, it is just unbelievable," said Kuroki Meisa, a famous Japanese actress.
"They decided to file the lawsuit, however, it is probably too late," said Paul Cheng, a California trial attorney, "they could claim that it was the invasion of Jennifer Lawrence's privacy, however, the most important part is the photos on the web cannot be taken back no matter what they get as the compensation."
According to Cheng, 97 percent of internet privacy cases were settled outside the court, and 3 percent of them went into the lengthy legal procedure.
Internet cases as a new genre were raised within the past 10 to 15 years. Therefore, law enforcement is not as mature as in other fields.
Currently, both the FBI and Apple are investigating widespread invasions in personal accounts thought to be connected with the iCloud service. Apple iCloud is under scrutiny as mass hacking raises security concerns.
"Apple is actually not in response for this intrusion on celebrities' account. By the moment that those stars put their personal information on to the cloud, they already given up their right to privacy," said Cheng. "Each time there is a Terms of Agreement Contract that Apple proposes to their customers when they set up their account, which most people would not read and click the 'I agree' option directly." Thus the customers will bear all risks.
For celebrities who are exposed under public eyes for the most of time, their right of privacy is not well protected compared with common citizens. Illegal massive invasions bring indelible stigmatization to the victims, sending waves of shock and threat to other celebrities in the industry.
"As long as the technology gets going, there is no 100 percentage security, so it is either you have technology, or forget about it, just don't take those photos," said performance artist Kenichi Ebina from "America's Got Talent."
The right of privacy is getting increasing attention in the American society where celebrities are a group of vulnerable targets. Followed by a bunch of paparazzi, almost every action of celebrities might be captured by the camera and deliberately interpreted in a scandalous way. ' Currently the right of privacy is monitored and enforced by the departments such as FBI and CIA. Last year, the state government of California passed the new revenge porn code, which prohibits one's ex-partners to shame or embarrass the pictured individual by sharing their sexually explicit pictures online without the consent of the pictured individual. This law had already been passed in 12 states in the United States.
"I'm not gonna take nude photos and have them on my phone, that would be my answer, you know, if it is the deal, you don't want the public to know about you, then don't, it is so easy to access right now, so you just have to be a little more discreet I guess," said Katey Sagal, a famous Hollywood actress.