GOOGLE 'deletes thousands of naked celeb pictures'...
Google responds to letter from 4Chan celebrity victims
demanding $100m in damages for allegedly failing to delete nude images
Google has replied to a letter written on behalf of a
dozen undisclosed female victims of the photo hacking scandal.
In it, they threatened to sue the company for $100million
for failing to delete private images of them.
Entertainment lawyer Marty Singer – who has previously
represented John Travolta, Charlie Sheen and more recently X-Men director Bryan
Singer – wrote to the internet giants demanding that the company pay damages
for “knowingly accommodating, facilitating, and perpetuating the unlawful
conduct” of the 4Chan thieves.
They have since responded to the letter, addressed to CEO
Larry Page and Executive Chairman Eric. E. Schmidt and titled ‘Google’s Repeat
Copyright And Privacy Violations In Connection with Hacked Photo Scandal’.
“We've removed tens of thousands of pictures ̶
within hours of the requests being made
̶ and we have closed hundreds of
accounts,” a spokesperson for Google told The Independent.
“The Internet is used for many good things. Stealing people’s private photos is not one
of them.”
In the body of the warning letter, Singer accused Google
of neglecting to “to act expeditiously, and responsibly to remove the images”.
“Google knows the images are hacked stolen property,
private and confidential photos and videos unlawfully obtained and posted by
pervert predators who are violating the victims’ privacy rights, yet Google has
taken little or no action to stop these outrageous violations,” he wrote.
“Like the NFL, which turned a blind eye while its players
assaulted and victimised women and children, Google has turned a blind eye
while its sites repeatedly exploit and victimise these women.”
The letter was sent after a third wave of private images
of famous women, including Cara Delevingne, were leaked on the internet.
A second wave of naked pictures, thought to depict female
stars including Kim Kardashian and Rihanna, emerged online just a week
previously.
The actresses Vanessa Hudgens and Aubrey Plaza, designer
and former child star Mary-Kate Olsen, and US soccer player Hope Solo were reportedly
among those vicitimised.
There were also new nude pictures purportedly of Jennifer
Lawrence.
Last month, over 100 household names were the target of
online thieves, who stole scores of naked photographs and intimate videos and
posted them on the website 4Chan.
Several of the images – in particular, two of Hunger
Games star Lawrence – quickly circulated on Twitter.
The original list had also included Olsen and Hudgens, as
well as Ariana Grande, Jessica Brown Findlay, Mary E Winstead, Mary E Winstead,
Cara Delevingne, Kate Bosworth, Selena Gomez, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst and
Kaley Cuoco.
The FBI and Apple are both conducting investigations into
the apparent widespread invasion of personal accounts thought to be connected
to the iCloud service.
A spokesperson for Lawrence said at the time: "This
is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and
will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence."
Justice and Grande both said that the pictures were fake,
although Lawrence’s spokesperson verified their authenticity.
Representatives for Upton said they were "looking
into" the authenticity of the intimate images.
Ricky Gervais went on a back tracking spree on the social
media site after he was criticised for 'victim blaming', while Emma Watson also
took to Twitter to voice her condemnation of the breach.
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