In a twist of tale, the owner of a revenge porn site that has courted controversy is now asking Google to delete his own images and information from its search results. That's because these articles, he claims, used his pictures without permission.
The man in question is 28-year-old Craig Brittain, who once ran the now-defunct IsAnybodyDown.com. Brittain's notorious website used to post nude photographs of women without their consent or knowledge.
To pull down the images, Brittain would purportedly charge the victims a "take-down" fee via the site's "Takedown Hammer" and "Takedown Lawyer" services. Users were required to shell out anywhere between $200 and $500 for getting their images removed.
Earlier in January, the FTC banned the revenge porn website run by Brittain, ordering the trickster to delete the pictures he had gathered.
"The operator of an alleged 'revenge porn' website is banned from publicly sharing any more nude videos or photographs of people without their affirmative express consent, under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. In addition, he will have to destroy the intimate images and personal contact information he collected while operating the site," ordered the FTC at the time.
The victor has now become the victim, or so Brittain alleges. Getting a dose of his own medicine, Brittain has issued a takedown notice to Google under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, ordering the search giant to scratch off the articles in connection with the said ruling against him.
Brittain feels that these links are examples of "unauthorized use of photos of me and other related information. Unauthorized use of statements and identity related information. Unauthorized copying of excerpts from isanybodydown.com. Using photos which are not 'fair use.'"
While Brittain crying foul may have many smirking, the man has also issued an apology on his blog after the FTC order. He claims to have cleaned up his act and is starting fresh, so he submitted the request to Google for removing digital imprints of his notorious past.
It is likely that Brittain's takedown requests won't even be eligible for elimination even under Europe's "right to be forgotten ruling," which asks search engines to pull down "inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant" information ensuing via search results in the event they are requested by European Union citizens.
