Comparing Google's actions to the NFL's alleged initial dismissal of video evidence the depicted a player abusing his fiance, a Hollywood lawyer says the search engine company has been perpetuating the abuse of women by failing to take down leaked nudes of celebrities in a timely manner.
It's still unclear which actors he represents, but Hollywood lawyer Marty Singer is threatening to sue Google for $100 million. Singer alleges he has sent Google several letters requesting the removal of the leaked images from Google on sites such as YouTube and Blogger, but the stolen picture still remain on the websites.
Singer has sent a letter, posted by PageSix, to Larry Page, Google CEO and co-founder, Sergey Brin, co-founder, and several other individuals at the top of the company. In the letter, Singer states the following:
While responsible providers like Twitter are immediately removing the images and suspending the offending user accounts, Google is perpetuating the despicable conduct of these habitual pervert predators -- including Blogspot accounts that have acted as some of the main display source, depository download locations, lists and links for the hacked stolen images -- by allowing them to continue to operate and post the images with impunity.
Singer claims smaller sites with fewer staff members have been complying with requests to remove the leaked images, doing so in just a few hours. If some of the victims were related to Google's top brass, the search engine company would move swiftly to squash the scandal, writes Singer in the letter:
[Because] the victims are celebrities with valuable publicity rights, you do nothing -- nothing but collect millions of dollars in advertising revenue from your co-conspirator advertising partners as you seek to capitalize on this scandal rather than quash it. Like the NFL, which turned a blind eye while its players assaulted and victimized women and children, Google has turned a blind eye while its sites repeatedly exploit and victimize these women.
Whether or not quicker action from Google would could have "squashed" the Apple iCloud scandal is a contentious matter, as the scandal continues to grab headlines. Howard Bragman, vice chairman of Reputation.com, says the victims of the iCloud leaks are doing whatever they can to control the damage that's already been done.
"I'm not a lawyer so I can't judge the merits of going after Google, but I know these women have been violated and are incredibly frustrated and want to do anything they can," says Bragman. "Anything they can do to get to a better result in respect to privacy online is important, but celebrities have to understand that they are the first line of defense against sort of thing."
