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August 10, 2004
Kobe Bryant's Accuser, Privacy and the Internet: No Harm, No Foul?
Tonight I was watching Anderson Cooper 360° on CNN; he interviewed a woman from Court TV who gave an update from the Kobe Bryant case. She talked about the accuser, saying she'd blown her chance of getting justice in criminal court by filing a civil law suit today. But what I found remarkable was how the reporter was so dismissive of the release of the accuser's name. The Colorado court accidentally revealed her name on a website, then took it down; the reporter from Court TV described this as a "minor" mistake, adding dismissively, "No harm, no foul."
It seems she's under the impression that releasing a rape victim's name on a court website for a brief period is not a big deal. But thanks to that one virtual indescretion, people ranging from fanatic Kobe Bryant supporters to porn peddlers to unscrupulous bloggers have all gone out of their way to advertise her name everywhere.
As I watched the interview on CNN, I jumped on my computer and googled a few obvious keywords. Within 10 seconds I had the woman's full name, along with half a dozen pictures of her staring at me. I then went to yahoo and searched for her name: I came back with 24,000 hits. That's not a minor breach of privacy, folks; the levee has broken and a flood of humiliation has engulfed the Internet.
No harm, no foul? From a jurist's point of view, perhaps, but from a privacy advocate's point of view, it's a travesty. In an age of 24-hour news channels clawing their way to the top and bloggers (including myself) publishing whatever they feel like, rape shield laws and the privacy they offer are more important than ever.
No harm, no foul, says the pundit? My foot.... -andy
Posted by acarvin at August 10, 2004 11:09 AM
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