extortion for dirty videos?

[sminak]

Georgia

I recently skyped with a man in a very dirty nature, and he recorded the session without my permission. Now he is threatening to post the video on the internet unless I continue to send him dirty videos. Is this extortion? Is there anything I can do to stop him?

 

[quincy]

Georgia

I recently skyped with a man in a very dirty nature, and he recorded the session without my permission. Now he is threatening to post the video on the internet unless I continue to send him dirty videos. Is this extortion? Is there anything I can do to stop him?

There is nothing you can do to stop the man from posting the video on the internet. You have very little expectation of privacy when you use Skype.

I recommend you cut off all contact with the guy, definitely do not send any more videos unless you want them, too, to be published publicly and, if/when the video surfaces on the internet, request of the website that it be removed. That may or may not work.

Good luck.

 

[STEPHAN]

Do you have any idea where he is located?

 

[Just Blue]

Georgia

I recently skyped with a man in a very dirty nature, and he recorded the session without my permission. Now he is threatening to post the video on the internet unless I continue to send him dirty videos. Is this extortion? Is there anything I can do to stop him?

How old were you when these videos were made?

 

[quincy]

How old were you when these videos were made?

Good question, Blue! If sminak is a minor and the man has encouraged sminak to send "dirty" videos, the man should be reported to the police.

Following are two links, one to Skype's Terms of Service (which sminak has violated by sharing inappropriate content with the man), and the second to WomensLaw.org with Georgia's Statute 16-11-62, Unlawful eavesdropping and surveillance (which the man might have violated):

http://www.skype.com/en/legal/tou-usa/

http://www.womenslaw.org/statutes_detail.php?statute_id=6175#statute-top

On the WomensLaw site, 16-11-62(6) could apply.

I tossed off my first response rather quickly, without considering other possibilities.

 

[The Occultist]

Just curious: if the man is in the US but not in Georgia, would Georgia law apply to him? And does your answer apply to other various subjects such as permission to record the conversation (person A recording from a one-party state while person B resides in a two-party state)?

 

[quincy]

Just curious: if the man is in the US but not in Georgia, would Georgia law apply to him? And does your answer apply to other various subjects such as permission to record the conversation (person A recording from a one-party state while person B resides in a two-party state)?

For recording laws, a person needs to consider the state with the more restrictive laws - so if a caller from a one-party state wants to record a call to a person in a two-party state, the caller needs to get permission from the person in the two-party state. Otherwise the caller has violated the law.

For a civil action like invasion of privacy, either state could claim jurisdiction - the state with the person who invaded the privacy of another or the state with the person whose privacy was invaded. It depends on all sorts of facts and factors as to which state would be the smartest in which to file a suit.