Attorney Marc Randazza hasn't been quiet about his hatred for so-called revenge porn sites. The copyright and First Amendment lawyer blogged last year that entities like IsAnybodyDown (or the now defunct IsAnyoneUp) frustrated him to the point where he'd represent victims pro bono. "I want to hurt them bad," he wrote. "If anyone out there has been scammed by these crooks, contact me."
The larger battle is still ongoing, but Randazza scored a small, initial victory this weekend. In a Friday decision [PDF] at the Clark County, Nevada district court, Randazza Legal Group secured a $250,000 defamation judgment against IsAnyoneUp site founder, Hunter Moore. This particular defamation case was not related to Moore's revenge porn activities, but it instead focused on statements Moore issued about James McGibney, the CEO of Bullyville.com.
Moore might be the Internet's most famous bully. And while he has intimidated many, McGibney did not take Moore's typical tactics lying down. Bullyville is an online forum against cyberbullying, so McGibney originally got involved with Moore when he convinced the revenge porn founder to shut down isanyoneup.com for a nominal fee in April 2012. Afterwards, Moore eventually focused one of his infamous online Twitter rants at McGibney, accusing him of pedophilia and child pornography possession (while also threatening to rape McGibney's wife). In August, McGibney calmly retaliated with a defamation lawsuit and restraining orders against Moore in two states. (A longer summary of the situation is available on McGibney's site.)
Randazza typically defends defamation cases, but was glad to take the plaintiff's side here as the cause was "just." In an e-mailed statement, he summed up the court's decision. "In this case, Hunter Moore falsely accused our client of possessing child pornography and engaging in child abuse. As you can see in the judgment, this was not just a situation where the plaintiff was merely upset by the defendant's words. We were required to put on evidence of damages, which we did. The court agreed that we proved up $250,000 in damages, which is everything we asked for on the client's behalf."
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