Fourth 'Fappening' celeb nude snap thief treated to 8 months in the clink

The last of the four hackers collared for stealing and leaking people's private nude photos from their online accounts back in 2014 has been sentenced to eight months' imprisonment. George Garofano, 26, of North Branford, Connecticut, was also sentenced to three years' supervision post-release as punishment for his role in " …

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

...but these sentences seem a little light to me. Especially if there is the option for early parole.

The embarassment and humiliation that this kind of invasion of privacy causes should draw a heavier penalty.

(And no I don't care if the 'celebrities' should have known better, not had nude snaps and so on and so on).

[Version 1.0]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

I think an "eye for an eye" punishment would work well, strip them down and publish their photos live on-line. Then allow anyone viewing the images to click on a button and pour pig-shit over them.

[NoneSuch]

The Wrong Quote

"The whole unsavoury incident underlines the importance of multi-factor authentication in protecting sensitive accounts."

Should be:

"The whole unsavoury incident underlines the importance of not taking photos of your junk and expecting it to never be seen."

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

Not sure how you'd manage an eye for an eye in these cases.

Edit: @Version1.0, how would you make sure they aren't secretly into that kind of thing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

They would have been less if it wasn't celebrities.

[h4rm0ny]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

They would have been less if it wasn't celebrities.

Maybe. But if they hadn't been celebrities the files wouldn't have been mass shared the whole world over and a media focus. I don't know if that makes a difference to how they should be sentenced.

[Danny 2]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

A little light? You know what US prisons are like, don't you?

Your post forced me to look at these photos and videos for the first time, and I assure you she has nothing to feel embarrassed or humiliated about. I've seen worse on French and Dutch beaches or in Finnish saunas. Adult nudity is not the major problem that Americans and Brits assume it is.

[walatam]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

Your post forced me to look at these photos and videos for the first time, and I assure you she has nothing to feel embarrassed or humiliated about.

One, you weren't forced and, two, you are missing the point. Someone stole someone else's property and published it. Embarrassment is not the issue. Finally, you can not assume what a person will find humiliating - you thinking it is OK does not make it OK for those who got hacked.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

They didn't get hacked kiddo, they got Phished, and a lot of us laughed our asses off.

You don't give up responsibility to privacy to a Corps. They should have known better and most of them did, it became free publicity, none of them will be claiming PTSD as a result..ok one did but BS.

That's what this is all about, stop thinking the Cloud is anything else but someone' else's BBS with huge...tracks of land. Go ahead and post your "private pics" on there...their Techs love it, until the playground gets accessed by someone with a borrowed swim pass.

[h4rm0ny]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

There shouldn't be a double standard for celebrities. If you argue that these people should be treated lightly because of whatever reason you want to blame the celebrities for, then you're normalizing and arguing for light treatment for all victims.

If it's humiliating and destructive for you or me (and yes - nudes and sex tapes seen by everyone I work with would be very damaging for example) then celebrities should be treated the same.

[BongoJoe]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

Didn't a famous pop star once, with a failing supposedly 'raunchy' book on her hands which failed to sell, report it to the authorities in order to have it banned so that the scandal of the work would drum up trade?

That failed too.

[Danny 2]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

(and yes - nudes and sex tapes seen by everyone I work with would be very damaging for example)

No, they are not, at least not to me. There are just so many nudes and sex tapes out there that I doubt any stranger would be interested in mine, or any relative would pass judgement.

You should spend an hour on a nudist beach, which you can do clothed normally contrary to public opinion, and you can look and look and look, and guess what, you only feel embarrassed for being clothed.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Walatam "Someone stole someone else's property and published it"

No they didn't steal anything, they got hold of a copy, no theft involved.

Given that the victims were all media targets and earn a living from selling their images then I would have said that the charge should have been copyright infingment at worst. I presume you agree as you are using the same false premiss of unlicensed copying being theft like other distributors.

The best way to avoid having your humiliating images viewed by people other than those you chose is to never take humiliating photos in the first place. Why some people think this is their right is beyond me but from passed experience here where opinions against perving got a load of downvotes I must be in the minority, to them I say "put it away it isnt big or clever"

[walatam]

Re: @ Walatam "Someone stole someone else's property and published it"

Surely the person that got hold of the photo's could not argue they were entitled to have them? The pictures / videos were not made public by the owner of the content so it is still theft for me (yes, we could argue about whether the celebs unwittingly made the content "public" but their intent would seem to be for the content to remain private). Is the issue of whether you are entitled to have something not at the core of theft?

I am deliberately avoiding the question of whether the photo's should have been taken in the first place as that seems, to me, to be a wider issue around whether any of us truly understand what we sign up for when we use a digital service. I would argue you distrust first but I know an awful lot of people who feel that life is too short for such cynicism and they are in the majority in this case. Should we not be pushing for the majority to be better protected and informed (and it is not the IT community that is best placed to do the informing - we do not speak the right language and have skills in areas that make us better suited to IT than public information and "Marketing").

[Just Enough]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

"she has nothing to feel embarrassed or humiliated about"

Congratulations. You win the dumbest statement in The Register's Forums for August 2018. A late entry, but one that swept aside all competition for it's breath-taking idiocy, cluelessness and sheer, oblivious missing of the whole point.

[GrumpenKraut]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

> Congratulations. ...

LOL (after noticing your handle, double LOL).

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

"Adult nudity is not the major problem that Americans and Brits assume it is."

I think that rather depends on the adult.

[LucreLout]

Re: I'm not a particularly draconian 'eye for an eye' person...

Your post forced me to look at these photos and videos for the first time, and I assure you she has nothing to feel embarrassed or humiliated about.

Wait... what?

So your view is essentially that her first phone call home should have gone something along the lines of "Hi Dad, it's me. Yes, I know the whole neighbourhood is downloading videos of me shagging on the internet, but really, it could be worse. At least I'm hot!" And you think that is relevant, or mitigates the offense?

The ladies in question may very well be some of the most attractive on the planet, but that doesn't mean they deserve / were complicit in / aren't utterly humiliated by having such intimate videos spread all over the planet. Forever. They're going to one day have to explain those downloads to their children, who doubtless will hear about them in the playground.

I can't imagine how humiliated and upset I'd feel if near on everyone I was ever going to meet for the rest of my life had seen pictures and/or video of me shagging. Certainly, I'd not think up to 18 months a fair and appropriate tariff.

[wayward4now]

THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

" They're going to one day have to explain those downloads to their children, who doubtless will hear about them in the playground."

Then their STUPID ASSED parents should never have taken the pics in the first place. Since when does society get blamed for the intellectual shortcomings of others??

[Anonymous Coward]

@ LucreLout

To answer your question, assuming you are not a celebrity who makes money from exposure then for you it would be humiliation for them it is payday.

Of course if you never allow dirty photos or video to be taken then you have nothing to worry about, if you do allow it then your reward is likely to be the very humiliation your are crying about.

Simply put if you dont want to look like a perv then do not act like one

[ivan5]

The whole unsavoury incident underlines the importance of multi-factor authentication in protecting sensitive accounts.

Maybe it should also teach the 'celebrities' not to take such pictures on their phones. If they want such pictures get a photographer and keep the SD card.

[sillyfudder]

ivan5,

I suppose you think that people whose email accounts get hacked should just have written messages on their shaven heads and let their hair grow?

Do you have this attitude to all victims of crime or just the ones where there is a salacious angle?

[Anonymous Coward]

Phished not hacked.

They or their assistant got fooled, got punked.

No one broke in here, no hacking.

Stop trying to make this into a major crime, no one was harmed.

Most if not all benefited in the end, Fame and financial boosts..

[ivan5]

sillyfudder

Since their accounts weren't hacked per se that part of your comment does not apply. I do agree that in the case of a true hack the hackers should be hung, drawn and quartered.

Also using a camera where you have control over the storage media is much safer than using cloud storage where someone can miss securing the storage so allowing everyone and their dog in.

There is security and then there is security - if you don't want your pics available to everyone look after the storage yourself.

[Danny 2]

You know what used to be safer than a camera phone? A camera. Either a digital camera or process the film yourself.

Jennifer Lawrence has breasts with nipples, she has a vagina too, how can she ever work in Hollywood again now we know that about her.

You know you can see Mary Poppins tits in S.O.B., don't you?

Nudity should be mandatory on sunny days.

[John Brown (no body)]

"Nudity should be mandatory on sunny days."

<1970's>That depends. I mean, take my wife...please, take my wife!</1970's>

[Fruit and Nutcase]

@John Brown (no body)

<1970's>That depends. I mean, take my wife...please, take my wife!</1970's>

"We are not amused" - says Mrs Brown

[Danny 2]

unsavoury incident?

"The whole unsavoury incident underlines the importance of multi-factor authentication in protecting sensitive accounts. ®"

I call bs. I've got three sets of nude / sexual photos and videos of three former lovers, strongly encrypted. Taken on their devices at their insistence, and I bet their copies aren't encrypted because none of them would listen to me when I lectured them on computer security.

The overwhelming, off-putting amount of self-published porn on the internet today strongly suggests nobody except stalkers would be the least bit interested in celeb photos.

Has anyone else here had sex with a millennial? I tend to think of millennials as the post internet porn generation, because in my experience they tend to have sex like porn videos.

In my day you did one position then stopped, they rotate every five minutes and do things without asking that we used to discuss for weeks. Sex used to mean a lot to us, for the younger ones it's more like tennis.

"I guess he's an X-box, and I'm more Atari" ~ Cee Low

I don't like X-boxes, I love Ataris. Ms Pacman was the first game character I came to.

[iron]

Re: unsavoury incident?

"In my day you did one position then stopped"

That was just you, I've always been one for multiple positions.

I'm wondering what a Cee Low is but based on the rest of that part of your comment I'm not about to Google it while at work.

[MachDiamond]

Re: unsavoury incident?

"That was just you, I've always been one for multiple positions."

Me too..... after a sandwich and a nap.

Seriously, I see what he/she means. Some seem like they have a timer running and when the bell dings, it's time to switch it up. I think it's better to go with the flow. If the session is one of those "pin her to the wall, ripped clothing, top of the voice interludes" staying to the current theme might be just the thing. Other times there might be a lot of things on the floor that were formerly on the dining room table or a kitchen counter. It doesn't have to be both for it to be good (flippin' mind blowing either for that matter).

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: unsavoury incident?

@Danny 2

Er.. how many independent data points do you have?

Enquiring minds . . . .

[caffeine addict]

Re: unsavoury incident?

Ms Pacman was the first game character I came to.

Well, that suddenly took an unexpected turn...

[Danny 2]

Re: unsavoury incident?

I'd explain but I don't want to "overshare".

Twelve year old me, Atari joystick pressed down on my groin for hours, it was an accident waiting to happen.

Oops, I overshared. Don't judge me if you have ever fancied Lara Croft!

In my day Ms Pacman was the best we got.

[Loyal Commenter]

Re: unsavoury incident?

Thanks for over-sharing there...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: unsavoury incident?

Dude I need something better than an UpVote for your post.

You know the kids don't even consider fifty year olds might comment on here right?

I'll be glad when Victim Culture gets erased by what's coming. It doesn't look good but hell....

Praise dec

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Re: unsavoury incident?

Sex used to mean a lot to us, for the younger ones it's more like tennis.

Anyone for Tennis?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_Girl

[LewisRage]

Re: unsavoury incident?

"former lovers, [...] I bet their copies aren't encrypted because none of them would listen to me when I lectured them on computer security."

And here we are wondering why they are ex-lovers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Correction

"The whole unsavoury incident underlines the importance of multi-factor authentication in protecting sensitive accounts."

Should be: The whole unsavoury incident underlines the importance of NOT PUTTING IMAGES YOU DON"T WANT world + dog TO SEE ANYTPLACE ON THE INTERWEB.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Correction

@AC

You make think shouting makes you right but it doesn't. It's just your opinion.

How do you respond if I said "underlines the importance of NOT PUTTING CREDIT CARD DETAILS YOU DON"T WANT world + dog TO SEE ANYTPLACE ON THE INTERWEB."?

You know like millions of people do with Amazon et al.

No doubt you would blame Amazon if they got hacked. But hey, your double standards are fine in your little world...

[Bernard M. Orwell]

Re: Correction

In order to make legal purchases from Amazon, you need to provide them with a credit or debit account identified by a series of numbers that are issued/protected (in theory) by a registered banking institution.

How does that compare to taking a nude selfie and storing it? You don't *need* to do that for any reason, do you?

The comparison is surely invalid?

[Footnote: If I did have to provide nudes in order to make purchases online, my credit rating wouldn't be good at all.]

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Correction

@Bernard

It's the principle we're talking about - the content is irrelevant.

Unless you are arguing that it's fine for nudes to be hacked (because people with different opinions to you deserve to be punished for doing things that you wouldn't dream of doing) but it's not ok for your Amazon account to be hacked, solely because it affects you. If so, it's not all about you.

For nudes, replace the word with something (digital) of yours that was private that you care about and didn't want publicised to the world.

[Bernard M. Orwell]

Re: Correction

"For nudes, replace the word with something (digital) of yours that was private that you care about and didn't want publicised to the world."

It's not fine for any digital media to be hacked, copied/stolen etc. and I'm not going to bite at your strawman argument about people with differing opinions to me, but I will try an example of some other digital media that might be seen in the same way...

Celeb has a wedding in secret, much fuss is made of it in the media. Celeb refuses to give out pictures because privacy. After fuss dies down, Celeb does exclusive deal with tat magazine to release pictures. Later, pics are stolen by hacks and sold to lots of other magazines....

Celeb goes to court to sue hack and other magazines....because privacy!

Can we not see the hypocrisy involved? Happy to get naked for cash on screen, but "embarrassed" when pics emerge elsewhere having been pirated like any other digital media.

[Anonymous Coward]

Alert: CAPS is shouting syndrom

CAPS is not shouting, if you feel pain when you read caps that is because you are a sickpuppy, find help elsewhere.

[cat_mara]

Pics or it didn't happe-- oh, wait...

... that's what got them in this mess in the first place, isn't it? Ahem.

8 months and 3 years probation just because he had to see fuzzy cam-phone images of Ms Lawrence's norks? My heart bleeds. I, on the other hand, was able to see them, 30 feet tall and covered merely by a thin layer of blue paint, courtesy of my local multiplex. It's a funny old world, innit...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Pics or it didn't happe-- oh, wait...

I, on the other hand, was able to see them, 30 feet tall and covered merely by a thin layer of blue paint, courtesy of my local multiplex. It's a funny old world, innit...

I was thinking the same thing. I'm not defending the actions of the perps here, or making any comment on the sentences they got. However, it has to be said that at least some of the victims here are no stranger to publicly distributing photos and/or videos of themselves without their vest on.

[Mark 85]

Re: Pics or it didn't happe-- oh, wait...

However, it has to be said that at least some of the victims here are no stranger to publicly distributing photos and/or videos of themselves without their vest on.

I think the difference is that for the vids and photos distributed publically, they get paid. The others they didn't.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Pics or it didn't happe-- oh, wait...

She was paid for one and not for the other, that's the distinction. This is about profit, not decency.

[Danny 2]

Gymnophobia:

An abnormal and persistent fear of nudity. Sufferers of this phobia experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. They may worry about seeing others naked or being seen naked, or both. Their fear may stem from anxiety about sexuality in general, from a fear that their bodies are physically inferior, or from a fear that their nakedness leaves their bodies--and their personalities--exposed and unprotected.

"Gymnophobia" is derived from the Greek "gymnos" (naked) and "phobos" (fear). The word "gymnasium" comes from the Greek "gymnasion" (a place for athletic exercises) and the Greek "gymnasein" (to train naked).

[GrumpenKraut]

Re: Gymnophobia:

And your point is?

[Adrian 4]

Re: Gymnophobia:

That 'the greeks had a word for it'.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Gymnophobia:

I have no fear of nudity but then again also I dont want to take pictures of myself naked and then expect everyone else to rush around covering up what I freely exposed.

To me these cases of pervs loosing control of their imagery are just more examples of society decay.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Gymnophobia:

The Greek "gymnasein" (to train naked)

This is interesting, and my next visit to the gym will be too

[MachDiamond]

Two factor not relevant

They got phished and would have given up everything needed to log into the accounts. Nothing online is secure if you are Jennifer Lawerence or another celebrity of that level. Lots of people will be gunning for access to those accounts once they are known to exist to root around and see what's in them. Lots of the time it will be a phone back up with the contact details for a whole load of other A-List celebs.

When you are a target, don't paint a bullseye on your back and pick up a bucket of cynicism whether it's on sale or not. "You are calling from where?" "I don't give out that information over the phone or in response to an email" Hmmmm, the return address is a .br domain and the sender claims to be from Apple. I smell Halibut.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Two factor not relevant

If your bank credentials got phished, your bank would be quite within its right to tell you that their security was blameless - you were the one who gave away your details.

Pity the same doesn't apply to the "victims" in this case. But no, it's always someone else's fault....

[Gustavo Fring]

SURELY

JL could have hunted them down and shot a flaming arrow thru their back? And the others , in appropriate ways ....

[Anonymous Coward]

celebgate, gamergate, tishgate

I wonder how many kids have any idea about the first time when it was a hotel and the scandal had absolutely nothing to do with water. This [thing that people do] is depressing.

[Anonymous Coward]

So why don't the authorities

prosecute those who let inappropriate photons reach their retinas, like they do with other forms of nudity?

Ah yes, because there would be an outcry that looking at pictures, however distasteful and against some people's beliefs, and possibly illegal, isn't inherently wrong.

[Breen Whitman]

I just remember her huge beef curtains.