"Revenge Porn" Bill Makes It a Crime to Be a Dick
Senate Bill 255, better known as the "Revenge Porn" bill was passed by the California Senate Yesterday, effectively ruining every means I have of ever getting over my ex-girlfriend. The niche porn genre, which saw a dramatic rise with the increasing accessibility of video recording devices, depicts amateur performers engaged in sexual acts without the understanding that the recorded material would ever be made public, and in some instances, without knowledge that they were being recorded at all.
The bill states the following:
Any person who photographs or records by any means the image of another, identifiable person without his or her consent who is in a state of full or partial undress in any area in which the person being photographed or recorded has a reasonable expectation of privacy, and subsequently distributes the image taken, where the distribution of the image would cause a reasonable person to suffer serious emotional distress would constitute disorderly conduct subject to that same punishment.
The bill received one "no" vote from Senator Leland Yee (D-SF) (we do things a little differently here in San Francisco), who expressed concerns that the bill may interfere with free speech rights.
Which to be fair, he may have a point.
In case you didn't know, Kim Kardashian Paris Hilton Montana Fishburne people are basically rubbing jizz on themselves and filming it now to get famous. And then vehemently, in a way that borders on offensive, denying that it was ever their intention to have that video ever go public (tune in @ 22:48 to hear about the Farah Abraham debacle). If you watched the Kim Kardashian tape, you literally saw her sucking the fame out of Ray J's dick. And by the way, why is it that fame is the only trait transferable via jizz? I'd gladly let a carpenter jerk off into my eye if it meant I could build my own coffee table.
While on the hole I agree with the bill, it does seem there are some legitimate concerns it raises, and the ACLU and EFF agree. Considering how low people are willing to stoop to manufacture celebrity, it wouldn't surprise me if those same people turned around and used this law to literally criminalize people who never intended malice when the media in question was released.
The bill will take effect immediately once signed into law, and those convicted under it could face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine according to the AP.
In the meantime, never forget:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGzlugB3Z1Q