Craig Brittain, Individually; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment, 6714-6715 [2015-02375]

Agencies

• FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6714-6715]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02375]



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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 132 3120]


Craig Brittain, Individually; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order 
To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both 
the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent 
order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these 
allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 2, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/craigbrittainconsent online or on paper, 
by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Craig Brittain--
Consent Agreement; File No. 1323120'' on your comment and file your 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/craigbrittainconsent by following the instructions on the Web-based 
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Craig 
Brittain--Consent Agreement; File No. 1323120'' on your comment and on 
the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal 
Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment 
to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the 
Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 
5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melinda Claybaugh, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, (202) 326-2203, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for January 29, 2015), on the World Wide Web, 
at https://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before March 2, 2015. 
Write ``Craig Brittain--Consent Agreement; File No. 1323120'' on your 
comment. Your comment--including your name and your state--will be 
placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the 
extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at https://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the 
Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from 
comments before placing them on the Commission Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial 
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section 
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
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    \1\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/craigbrittainconsent by following the instructions on the Web-based 
form. If this Notice appears at https://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you 
also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Craig Brittain--Consent 
Agreement; File No. 1323120'' on your comment and on the envelope, and 
mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, 
Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 
(Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
D), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at https://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before March 2, 2015. You can find more information, 
including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the 
Commission's privacy policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission has accepted, subject to final 
approval, a consent order applicable to respondent Craig Brittain.
    The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for 
thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons. 
Comments received during this period will become part of the public 
record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will again review the 
agreement and the comments received, and will decide whether it should 
withdraw from the agreement and take appropriate action or make final 
the agreement's proposed order.
    From November 2011 to April 2013, Respondent owned and operated the 
Web site www.isanybodydown.com, on which he posted personal information 
and photographs of individuals with their intimate parts exposed.

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Respondent used three different methods to obtain photographs for 
posting on the Web site. First, he requested that submitters send him 
nude photographs of other people along with personal information about 
the subject of each photograph, including the subject's first and last 
name, city, state, phone number, and link to their Facebook profile. 
Second, Respondent obtained photographs by posing as a woman on the 
Craigslist advertising Web site and, after sending women photographs 
purportedly of himself, solicited photographs of them with their 
intimate parts exposed in return. When they did provide such 
photographs, Respondent posted them on his Web site without their 
permission. Third, Respondent instituted a ``bounty system'' on the Web 
site, whereby anyone could request that others find and post photos of 
a specific person in exchange for a reward of at least $100. Respondent 
posted the photographs and personal information he obtained without the 
permission of the subject of each photograph. In some instances, he 
added other personal information about the subjects based on his own 
research. In total, Respondent posted photographs and accompanying 
personal information of more than 1,000 people, the vast majority of 
whom were women. Respondent also advertised content removal services 
called ``Takedown Hammer'' and ``Takedown Lawyer,'' which promised to 
remove consumers' content from the Web site for a substantial sum of 
money. In fact, Respondent himself owned these services, thereby 
attempting to obtain money to remove the same photographs that he had 
posted.
    The Commission's complaint alleges two violations of the FTC Act. 
Count I alleges that Respondent unfairly disseminated photographs of 
individuals with their intimate parts exposed, along with personal 
information about them, for commercial gain and without the knowledge 
or consent of those depicted, despite the fact that he knew or should 
have known that the individuals had a reasonable expectation their 
image would not be disseminated in that manner. Count II alleges that 
Respondent deceptively solicited photographs from individuals of 
themselves with their intimate parts exposed by misrepresenting that he 
would use such photographs solely for his personal private use.
    The proposed order contains provisions designed to prevent 
Respondent from engaging in the future in practices similar to those 
alleged in the complaint. Part I prohibits Respondent from 
disseminating, through a Web site or online service, a video or 
photograph of an individual with his or her intimate parts exposed 
without: (1) Disclosing to the individual that he will disseminate the 
image through a Web site and for commercial gain; and (2) obtaining 
affirmative express consent in writing from the individual for such 
dissemination.
    Part II of the proposed order prohibits Respondent from, in 
connection with offering for sale any good or service, misrepresenting: 
(1) His collection, use, disclosure, or deletion of personal 
information; (2) his identity; or (3) the identity of those providing 
content or sponsoring advertising on a Web site. Part III of the 
proposed order prohibits Respondent from disclosing or benefitting from 
the images and personal information he obtained in connection with his 
Web site. Further, it requires him to destroy such images and personal 
information within 30 days of entry of the order.
    Parts IV through VIII of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Part IV requires Respondent to retain documents 
relating to his compliance with the order for five years. Part V 
requires dissemination of the order to all current and future 
employees, agents, and representatives having responsibilities relating 
to the subject matter of the order. Part VI ensures notification to the 
FTC of changes in Respondent's business or employment. Part VII 
mandates that Respondent submit a compliance report to the FTC within 
60 days, and periodically thereafter as requested. Part VIII is a 
provision ``sunsetting'' the order after 20 years, with certain 
exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the 
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the proposed complaint or order or to modify the 
order's terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-02375 Filed 2-5-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P