"A unique crime fueled by technology." That's the
Illinois Supreme Court's description of the crime colloquially
known as "revenge porn." But it's also a phrase
suited for many of today's new, troubling technology-based
forms of mischief and mayhem. And the court's handling of one
crime fueled by technology may shed light on how other
technology-based crimes may be addressed, and litigated.
"Revenge porn" is an inadequate shorthand for the
crime at issue in Illinois v. Austin.
As the court explained, the Illinois statute covered broader
content than pornography and more motives than revenge.
Essentially, it criminalized the intentional non-consensual
dissemination of private sexual images. In the case at hand, a
woman who had access to her former boyfriend's internet cloud
archives publicized nude photos of the boyfriend's new
girlfriend. The criminal charge alleged every element of a
statutory violation: intimate and private photos, intentionally
published by the
