ADDISON, Texas — The attorney representing the woman who sued revenge porn site PinkMeth.com for posting nude photos of her without permission says its operators will shortly have their website taken down.
In a settlement with VeriSign, which was named as a party to the privacy invasion suit, PinkMeth.com will be placed in a registry lock and hold, according to Texas attorney Jason Van Dyke. (Registry lock and holds effectively place domains on hold and prevent them from appearing in the root zone file.)
"The registry lock and hold will be in the near future — possibly tonight," Van Dyke told XBIZ.
The Texas woman at center of the suit is Shelby Conklin, who said that she won't be able to obtain a career in law enforcement as a result of the postings on PinkMeth. She even said that she fears sexual assault and has "felt compelled to borrow a firearm from a family friend to protect herself against the possibility of a sexual assault in her own home."
PinkMeth includes photos mostly of young females supplemented with their Facebook and Twitter links. Labeled "revenge porn" or "involuntary porn," the genre has picked up steam in the past two years because of its huge traffic base.
In Conklin's case, the pictures featuring nudity were obtained through Facebook.
Van Dyke, who is representing Conklin free of charge, said that his sole desire in the case is to see those responsible for PinkMeth.com "affirmatively identified and brought to justice."
Van Dyke also noted that PinkMeth's operators can't claim fair use of any of the images they have misappropriated on their website because the illegal publication of child pornography and adult pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2257 can never be lawful.
"The persons responsible for the content of PinkMeth.com have obtained unauthorized access to the photographs of numerous women without their consent and without conducting any sort of age verification with respect to the women whose pictures they post," Van Dyke said. "This behavior is not just perverted; it is creepy, sick and probably criminal.
"Free speech rights are not without their limitations when it comes to pornographic materials. A number of laws exist to prevent the exploitation of children and to ensure that individuals are not depicted in a pornographic manner without their consent."
Conklin has asked for a temporary restraining order against Tucson-based Katz Global Media, the parent company of PinkMeth.com, PinkMeth.org and PinkMeth.net. A hearing on the TRO is set for Wednesday.
Conklin also seeks punitive damages of more than $1 million for intrusion on seclusion, public disclosure of private facts, appropriation of her name and likeness and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Operators of PinkMeth were unreachable at post time. However, the website includes a banner message that says, "Follow us on Twitter and stay updated — in case something happens, we will announce it there."
UPDATE (Dec.6, 7:45 p.m. PST): PinkMeth.com is not accessible.
