Ok, I'll admit it. I was in a rut. Although I found numerous interesting tidbits through-out cyberspace, I could not find anything that piqued my interest enough to put aside the billable hours of a technology legal counsel for a few moments to blog about it. But, lo and behold, a college student with a sense of panache, an aspiration for humor, decent journaling skills, and access to PowerPoint and the Internet has become my muse.
For those of you that don't know, 2010 Duke graduate Karen Owens has assured herself a place in infamy by falling into the trap of e-mail. As reported on The Today Show and at Jezebel.com, Ms. Owens detailed her sexual exploits from her sophomore through senior years in a PowerPoint, thesis-esque piece titled "An education beyond the classroom: excelling in the realm of horizontal academics" Utilizing the wonders of PowerPoint, Ms. Owens chronicled her sexual exploits with thirteen different subjects and ranked them according to various criteria. She even include photographs and names of the individuals. Then, in what is an ever-increasingly normal act, she sent her thesis to some of her friends. They, in-turn, sent it to their friends, etc. etc. Within a short period of time, this thesis has gone viral, spread across the 'Net, and the full text (pictures and names) are quickly becoming household names. All in all, it is actually a well-documented look into the life of one student and her proclivities. It also reminded me of the Jessica Cutler blog from several year ago. The privacy litigation from that between law professor Robert Steinbuch and Cutler is still on-going. But, Ms. Owens' situation raises several pertinent issues to watch.
First, will be the inevitable suits from the men identified in the thesis for invasion of privacy and likely intentional infliction of emotional distress. The posting websites are likely protected on an easy out by Section 230, but Ms. Owens is going to be faced with this litigation. Granted, there will be some question as to the feasibility of suing her. Though, I am sure that several of the men, many of whom are athletes on the oft-lamented Duke Lacrosse team, have already contacted their counsel about filing for injunctive relief (to at least stem the current arterial flood of information), particularly those that ranked low. So we should watch these suits pop up with interest. Of note, is that at least one of these men is identified as playing for the Boston Red Sox. I don't know where he "ranked", but damage to his career might make for some significant damages in a lawsuit. If Ms. Owens receives any sort of monetary benefit from her actions, I would anticipate litigation to quickly follow. An interesting debate from my perspective would be the damages that can be claimed by someone that "ranked" high on the list. But, I digress.
Second, Ms. Owens may have an action against the individuals that disseminated her information. I can only imagine what this notoriety is doing for her life and attempts at a career. I can only assume that she will utilize this situation to launch a successful book deal, and will likely receive offers for further "research" from the ever-profitable adult industry. Nevertheless, she is going to be impacted and may file suit against someone.
Third, is the general issue arising from the use of e-mail to distribute private, albeit hilarious, information. The Internet has provided our society with quickest and easiest method of dissemination information. With that technology comes inherent risk. We have all sent the e-mail that we wish to retrieve. Heck, Outlook even gives you that option if you get to it in time. But, this young lady has (inadvertently, I'm sure) changed the course of her life for sure and the lives of others. The axiom that "you shouldn't post anything on the Internet that you don't want to see on the front page of your local newspaper" has never been shown more true. And current Internet law or privacy law does not adequately address, in my opinion, the scope of impact that something like a viral video can accomplish. The scope is simply too large. Invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress are designed and aimed at the protection of a small-scale dissemination. The scope of the Internet requires modification of the application of those underlying principles. The torts themselves remain the same, but their implication in privacy litigation must be re-evaluated and adjusted according to their impact.
Finally, I wonder if PowerPoint or its maker, Microsoft, will comment on the use of its name, repeatedly, through-out the many posts on this matter. They might consider Ms. Owens for a spokesperson role. She did manage to make a very nice presentation with their product.
But most importantly, look to see more posts from me as Ms. Owens' plight has stirred me (no-pun intended) from my work-induced, observational lethargy.
For those of you that don't know, 2010 Duke graduate Karen Owens has assured herself a place in infamy by falling into the trap of e-mail. As reported on The Today Show and at Jezebel.com, Ms. Owens detailed her sexual exploits from her sophomore through senior years in a PowerPoint, thesis-esque piece titled "An education beyond the classroom: excelling in the realm of horizontal academics" Utilizing the wonders of PowerPoint, Ms. Owens chronicled her sexual exploits with thirteen different subjects and ranked them according to various criteria. She even include photographs and names of the individuals. Then, in what is an ever-increasingly normal act, she sent her thesis to some of her friends. They, in-turn, sent it to their friends, etc. etc. Within a short period of time, this thesis has gone viral, spread across the 'Net, and the full text (pictures and names) are quickly becoming household names. All in all, it is actually a well-documented look into the life of one student and her proclivities. It also reminded me of the Jessica Cutler blog from several year ago. The privacy litigation from that between law professor Robert Steinbuch and Cutler is still on-going. But, Ms. Owens' situation raises several pertinent issues to watch.
First, will be the inevitable suits from the men identified in the thesis for invasion of privacy and likely intentional infliction of emotional distress. The posting websites are likely protected on an easy out by Section 230, but Ms. Owens is going to be faced with this litigation. Granted, there will be some question as to the feasibility of suing her. Though, I am sure that several of the men, many of whom are athletes on the oft-lamented Duke Lacrosse team, have already contacted their counsel about filing for injunctive relief (to at least stem the current arterial flood of information), particularly those that ranked low. So we should watch these suits pop up with interest. Of note, is that at least one of these men is identified as playing for the Boston Red Sox. I don't know where he "ranked", but damage to his career might make for some significant damages in a lawsuit. If Ms. Owens receives any sort of monetary benefit from her actions, I would anticipate litigation to quickly follow. An interesting debate from my perspective would be the damages that can be claimed by someone that "ranked" high on the list. But, I digress.
Second, Ms. Owens may have an action against the individuals that disseminated her information. I can only imagine what this notoriety is doing for her life and attempts at a career. I can only assume that she will utilize this situation to launch a successful book deal, and will likely receive offers for further "research" from the ever-profitable adult industry. Nevertheless, she is going to be impacted and may file suit against someone.
Third, is the general issue arising from the use of e-mail to distribute private, albeit hilarious, information. The Internet has provided our society with quickest and easiest method of dissemination information. With that technology comes inherent risk. We have all sent the e-mail that we wish to retrieve. Heck, Outlook even gives you that option if you get to it in time. But, this young lady has (inadvertently, I'm sure) changed the course of her life for sure and the lives of others. The axiom that "you shouldn't post anything on the Internet that you don't want to see on the front page of your local newspaper" has never been shown more true. And current Internet law or privacy law does not adequately address, in my opinion, the scope of impact that something like a viral video can accomplish. The scope is simply too large. Invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress are designed and aimed at the protection of a small-scale dissemination. The scope of the Internet requires modification of the application of those underlying principles. The torts themselves remain the same, but their implication in privacy litigation must be re-evaluated and adjusted according to their impact.
Finally, I wonder if PowerPoint or its maker, Microsoft, will comment on the use of its name, repeatedly, through-out the many posts on this matter. They might consider Ms. Owens for a spokesperson role. She did manage to make a very nice presentation with their product.
But most importantly, look to see more posts from me as Ms. Owens' plight has stirred me (no-pun intended) from my work-induced, observational lethargy.
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