No apologies for this question

Against my non-legal, legal advice, a friend wants to do the following: She wants to set up an ad on Craigslist for a guy (this is a revenge deal) for men seeking men. She wants to include a face pic and a penis pic. She wanted to include his phone number , but at least his email.

My non-legal gut tells me this is breaking the law. I would like someone who knows what they are talking about to confirm this. She has already figured out how to get an untraceable IP etc.

I am completely against his idea. I just need someone to tell me why this is (or should be) illegal. She has the right to use the pics because he sent them to her. I'm trying to talk her out of this.

Can anyone help?

Against my non-legal, legal advice, a friend wants to do the following: She wants to set up an ad on Craigslist for a guy (this is a revenge deal) for men seeking men. She wants to include a face pic and a penis pic. She wanted to include his phone number , but at least his email.

My non-legal gut tells me this is breaking the law. I would like someone who knows what they are talking about to confirm this. She has already figured out how to get an untraceable IP etc.

I am completely against his idea. I just need someone to tell me why this is (or should be) illegal. She has the right to use the pics because he sent them to her. I'm trying to talk her out of this.

Can anyone help? Originally Posted by ftime

Lets see... the terms cyber harassing and or cyber stalking come to mind..

And if she sent him any photos, using the logic she is using that the ones he sent her are fair game.. he could return the favor.. lets see.. embarrassing photos of him and his gear vs. a hooker ad with her photos, name, phone # and address....

And lets say she goes through with her idea and he finds out... what would stop him from going over to her place and hurting her?

Not possible in this case. She is invisible in real life. The question is this fictional woman doing anything illegal? Any photos she sent him aren't her. Looking for a legal answer. I'm not in favor of this. She wants to fuck with him. There it is.

lets see.. "fictional woman" so that means you are thinking about doing this.. and you are real.

research Cyber Stalking and Cyber Harassment and see if you want to risk this.

cause if you have a "friend" that wants to do this, there ways to have it lead back to no-where but I am not about to tell you this.

You've convinced me. What she is proposing is illegal. I will explain how she can get an untraceable email. I will tell her she will get busted and will walk backwards slowly. Sounds like a bad idea and is. You can only suggest things to people, don't get involved yourself and hope common sense takes over.

Does your friend live in Texas?

As a side note:

WHEN YOU POST IN THIS FORUM ASKING A QUESTION ABOUT THE LAW, PLEASE TELL US WHERE YOU LIVE. THAT WAY, WE KNOW WHAT LAW APPLIES.

Thank you.

You've convinced me. What she is proposing is illegal. I will explain how she can get an untraceable email. I will tell her she will get busted and will walk backwards slowly. Sounds like a bad idea and is. You can only suggest things to people, don't get involved yourself and hope common sense takes over. Originally Posted by ftime

common sense gets tossed out the window when people are mad... to quote a line from the movie "Clear and Present Danger" "Never make an important decision while upset"

there is a LOT involved in removing the digital prints left behind... an anonymous email is easy... but *IS* it untraceable as to what IP it was posted from?

other factors fall into place sure.. but the best course of action your friend has is to just walk away.

Untraceable email? Invisible person?
But starting from the beginning:
Outright criminal. At least in a few states that I'm aware of. Untraceable IP? A dream (or movie script). Guys I used to work with can find any of that in a couple minutes, faster than it takes to ping a cell phone location. Untraceable e-mail? Again, dreaming, all email accounts are tagged to an IP. And all smart phones have an IP as well. It might take a bit of effort to chase a burned email account, but it can be done. Craigslist policies contain specific comments on this type of thing and they will, and do, help police. And that also ignores that Craigslist readers have quick delete availability (so its pointless anyway). Granted the badges might spend zero effort on this though. But, the guy’s going to guess who set it up regardless of any actual proof (or will guess close enough – a close friend, etc.) so reciprocation could easily be a direct hit (or cause collateral damage). So why stir things up, especially if some folks are trying to stay under the radar. Last, no ones that invisible if someone else puts enough effort into having things become visible. Conclusion: To stay under the radar, you have to stay there.

This is in Texas. While an impossible to trace IP may somewhat be a dream, unless you're the NSA - it's very hard and not worth it in most cases. Without going into a long uninteresting story - for simple practical reasons - nobodies going to cooperate or not cooperate with the police. The question as it began - if a girl puts up an ad on Craigslist with a way to contact on men seeking men or whatever it is - wasn't put up by the guy in question and adds pics of him - has she broken the law. She wants to put up phone # and or email. Frankly - I think it's stupid and over the edge - but she does have ways of making me help her. That simple. Let's not freak on this .

For basic rules for states I’m familiar with:
Missouri Statue 565.090
1st offense Class A Misdemeanor.
2nd offense (with 1st offense anything), Class D felony
Kansas Statue 21-3438
1st offense Class A Misdemeanor.
2nd offense (with 1st offense same statue), Level 7 felony
For both states, these escalate if there's other stuff happening.
Every state has something similar.
Jon can speak for Texas, perhaps in Chapter 33 (if my brain is still awake on a Sunday eve)
Seriously, use a fire extinguisher and put the fire out that's under your friend.

This is in Texas. While an impossible to trace IP may somewhat be a dream, unless you're the NSA - it's very hard and not worth it in most cases. Without going into a long uninteresting story - for simple practical reasons - nobodies going to cooperate or not cooperate with the police. The question as it began - if a girl puts up an ad on Craigslist with a way to contact on men seeking men or whatever it is - wasn't put up by the guy in question and adds pics of him - has she broken the law. She wants to put up phone # and or email. Frankly - I think it's stupid and over the edge - but she does have ways of making me help her. That simple. Let's not freak on this . Originally Posted by ftime

here is a thought.. if this guy knows who he sent those photos to, and suddenly a craigslist ad pops up with same photos, the odds of it coming from whoever he sent them to is very HIGH!

the fewer the people he sent it to , the greater the odds he finds out who.


As to the untraceable email and or IP Gmail accounts can be spawned, and killed off so fast it is not funny. I can create one, send out email, then kill it in under 5 minutes.

yes it contains the IP of the connection I am on.. who said it was MY connection? And even if the site I use records MAC address's and machine names (the client) hmmm lets see.. a usb wifi adapter is about 10-12 bucks, (tosses it into the bayou) there goes THAT MAC address... machine name? easily changed, (can we say Fdisk, Format, Re-install?)

anyone who has any wired and wireless networking skills with some Linux background with a penchant for being devious can get away with what this guy is proposing.

But is this person worth the effort?

There are other means of revenge. One thing she can do is order him a subscription to a gay porn magazine and have it sent to his place of work.

He will protest that he didn't order it or whatever, but the damage is done.

ftime's question is simple: Is it a crime under Texas law if Person A posts an ad using Person B's image and contact information, with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate, or threaten Person B?

The answer to the question is "yes." The Texas statutes prohibiting stalking and harassment probably apply here. But there's a relatively new statute which is right on point:

Texas Penal Code Sec. 33.07. ONLINE IMPERSONATION.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person, without obtaining the other person's consent and with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate, or threaten any person, uses the name or persona of another person to:
(1) create a web page on a commercial social networking site or other Internet website; or
(2) post or send one or more messages on or through a commercial social networking site or other Internet website, other than on or through an electronic mail program or message board program.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person sends an electronic mail, instant message, text message, or similar communication that references a name, domain address, phone number, or other item of identifying information belonging to any person:
(1) without obtaining the other person's consent;
(2) with the intent to cause a recipient of the communication to reasonably believe that the other person authorized or transmitted the communication; and
(3) with the intent to harm or defraud any person.
(c) An offense under Subsection (a) is a felony of the third degree. An offense under Subsection (b) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the actor commits the offense with the intent to solicit a response by emergency personnel.
(d) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
(e) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the actor is any of the following entities or that the actor's conduct consisted solely of action taken as an employee of any of the following entities:
(1) a commercial social networking site;
(2) an Internet service provider;
(3) an interactive computer service, as defined by 47 U.S.C. Section 230;
(4) a telecommunications provider, as defined by Section 51.002, Utilities Code; or
(5) a video service provider or cable service provider, as defined by Section 66.002, Utilities Code.
(f) In this section:
(1) "Commercial social networking site" means any business, organization, or other similar entity operating a website that permits persons to become registered users for the purpose of establishing personal relationships with other users through direct or real-time communication with other users or the creation of web pages or profiles available to the public or to other users. The term does not include an electronic mail program or a message board program.
(2) "Identifying information" has the meaning assigned by Section 32.51.

See Tex. Penal Code § 33.07.

Tomorrow's News Headline:

"Texas Authorities Arrest Thousands of Backpage Hookers Using Other People's Pictures"

You heard it here first =)

hookers for using other peoples pictures. Now that's funny.
Thank you SJ to a straightforward answer to my first question.

And BTW - with the help that got here, I've managed to kill that idea. Still looking for good revenge scams.
My rule is - I can be a scumbag - but it needs to be both legal and funny.