Doug Mirell, a litigation partner and expert in free speech, shared his legal perspective with The Washington Post regarding a sex tape that was part of the contents of a safe stolen from the home of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee in 1996. The release of the sex tape was a defining moment in how the Internet served as a platform for sharing intimate moments without consent and the way the world consumed sex, ultimately paving the way for privacy and revenge porn laws.

Excerpts: 

The case of Anderson and Lee’s tape being released without approval might have looked very differently if it were to unfold today, said Douglas Mirell. [...] The legal options against those who distribute sex tapes are much stronger today than they were decades ago thanks to enhanced laws around revenge porn, Mirell said.

“The principle that the incident seems to stand for is once the cat’s out of the bag, it’s tough to stuff it back in,” he told The Post. “That is essentially the reason the tape was never able to be unseen by the world.”

Read the full article here.

Resources

• The Washington Post