Since its launch on Dec. 30, reams of searchable photos have been posted, including an outdoor barbecue, a crowd at a Pearl Jam concert, a group of Army soldiers posing with actor Denzel Washington and a woman giving birth in an operating room.
A company news release named Brad Gosse of YourBrain Media Inc., based in Orangeville, as the site’s webmaster. The release quotes Gosse as warning users of P2P networks such as Limewire and Kazaa to be careful what photos they place in the shared folders of those applications.
If photos are in the shared folder "we will probably have them on our site sooner or later," Gosse said in the statement, adding that photos would be removed from the site upon request.
YourBrain Media Inc. describes itself as “adult entertainment for the World Wide Web. Making money for webmasters and affiliates for over 5 years," but the site yields no further information and contains almost no content.
However, Internet privacy and security attorney Parry Aftab said that Fitography.com could violate the terms of service of P2P networks, many of which prohibit the use of material on the networks for commercial purposes. Additionally, Fitography.com runs Google ads.
"If they are violating the law, Google may want to know about it," Aftab said, who works as a consultant to corporations regarding online security issues and runs WiredSafety.org, an online safety charity.
And, if photographs qualifying as child pornography are posted, the site’s publishers would be liable for producing and distributing the content even if they were unaware the material was on their site, Aftab said. She added that the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act also restricts commercial websites from posting personal identification information for people under the age of 13 without proper parental consent.
In Europe, laws such as the Data Protection Act in the U.K. require a person's consent before divulging information about, for example, their religion.
"I think [Fitography.com] should be very cautious about what it’s doing,” Aftab added.