Have some mixed feelings on this one.. GirlsDoPorn was a horrific operation, but is Pornhub really liable given that Section 2257 documents were submitted to them by GDP/GDT saying it was all consensual?
(Even though GDP/GDT was coercing victims into signing said forms)
RE: https://mastodon.social/@variety_feed/111624743747401845
@thisismissem maybe not liabale as in shared guilt, but liable as in: can pay damages from money earned. They should have done that voluntarily.
@janl yeah, that's certainly fair, but I think they could only do that after the criminal case was brought and settled?
Like, arguably anyone who did business with GirlsDoPorn & GirlsDoToys should be compensating victims in some way, but it also sets a bit of a weird precedent: how are you to know something you've received is illegal when you've been given documentation stating otherwise?
@thisismissem yeah, that’s a business risk. And for the courts to sort out for sure.
@janl like, as in sny media Production, the actors and actresses typically have zero rights over the finished media, unless their contract stipulates otherwise. In the case of GirlsDoPorn the people involved did some horrific things, but this only came out much later.
E.g., is the host of their website & domain liable for compensating victims? What about Reddit & Instagram who both hosted them?
@thisismissem with the legal uncertainties surrounding such hosting in the US and around the world I think it's important to consider both ethical and legal liability, but to clearly separate the two.
And the worst is that sometimes one might not be able to do the ethically right thing without fear of exposing themselves to legal consequence.
Governments need real legislative reform in these areas, it's not really something that should be just hashed out in courts, but unfortunately I don't think there's much push to see that legislation happen, so we will be stuck with these unintended consequences for, I imagine, the rest of my life at least.
But who knows? We're getting motion on things like drug reform, so I guess there is some hope.
