Is It A Crime To Watch The Naked Erin Andrews Video? No, But It Makes You A Total Jerk
from the didn't-stop-the-NY-Post dept
You may have heard that some miscreant somehow surreptitiously filmed well-known ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews naked in her hotel room using some sort of pinhole spy camera installed the room. Obviously, this was incredibly illegal (apparently, the suspicion is that it was an insider at ESPN who knew which room she was in) and hopefully the person/people responsible are caught and punished. However, CitMediaLaw points out that some legal analysts are apparently claiming that it's criminal just to watch the video. But, that's not true. It makes you a terrible person, but it's not illegal. After talking about how a talking head legal analyst on CBS claimed it was illegal to watch the video, Carlos Miller checked in with a First Amendment lawyer who balanced the questions clearly:According to Photography is Not a Crime's legal analyst Marc Randazza (yes, I have a few, so take that, CBS), Bloom is talking out of her ass.As if to prove the point, apparently, the NY Post posted still images from the video -- and ESPN has responded by banning NY Post writers from ESPN. The Post didn't break the law, but that doesn't make it any less evil a move.
"That CBS analyst needs more legal education and less melodrama," the Florida First Amendment attorney said in an email responding to my question.
He also added that although it is completely legal to download and view the video, he didn't have much respect for anybody who would.
"Anyone who does download it is kind of an asshole," he said. "She did have an expectation of privacy. We live in a society where the sleazes and the lowest common denominator individuals seem to thrive. If we dried up their mud flats, they would die off.
"What I mean by that is that downloading the video is legal. but doing so is a douchebag move. I certainly won't be downloading it (although I personally would love to see her naked too)."
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: crime, erin andrews, video
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I do not think I am a jerk cuz I only watched the movie stream I did not download it :D
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Just Awful
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Just Awful
"I agree with you guys, this is a horrible thing to do to somebody. I hope the guy gets caught and spends several years in prison. Just disgusting.
However, I have been waiting for this video for a long time! I've already jizzed to it five times..."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Just Awful
Like, duh.
The quickest way to diffuse the situation would be for her to pose nude for 2 minutes and then be all like "here ya go" and put in online.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Just Awful
LMAO how do ya think they get on TV
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Just Awful
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The sad part
It's a shame that the fact that she's pretty has caused her to be victimized by all kinds of people: USC football players air-humping her, pinhole cameras, ESPN going out of their way to exploit her looks, etc. etc. etc. I'm not normally on board with the whole feminism thing, but I feel bad for this poor girl who clearly has some degree of talent.
Just not bad enough to not go download that video once I get off work...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: The sad part
I so needed that laugh. I just spent the last 2 1/2 hours in a boring ass tele-con. Thank you.
And of course I know you live for comments like this. :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: The sad part
The real question after watching this video is what can Dark Helmet do to CwEA?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Any minute now...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Any minute now...
K... anything else?
What, just that? Hmm.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Any minute now...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Any minute now...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Any minute now...
She really didn't need any additional popularity, and it's not like she seeks it out when she's not on camera doing her job. She's never publicly been very pleased with the erotic controversies surrounding her(the USC LB humping her, pictures of her eating a hot dog, allegations of flirting in the locker room, etc.), but she's not stupid; she knows a large part of her popularity is in her attractiveness. Nevertheless, she makes every effort to be prepared and attempts to focus attention on the sport, not on her, and to make it fun.
I read a few interviews with her, and she sounds really honest, passionate, nice, down-to-earth, and just generally appreciative of the games she covers. The more I read, the worse I felt. One recent interview even quoted her dad saying they thought the Playboy award honoring her for being the hottest sportscaster was amusing, but that she would never appear in the magazine for any other reason(believe that or not, but I did).
With the nature of this publicity and sports, I wonder if she'll ever really be able to do her job the same way again, and if she'll derive the same enjoyment of it. Hopefully she'll get over it, the crowds and atheletes will be classy to her, and the incident will be forgotten. She adds a fun, attractive, somewhat tongue-in-cheek element to watching while remaining a dedicated professional that makes it more enjoyable for many of us.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Any minute now...
Is she the right kind of crazy?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Any minute now...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Any minute now...
Erin Andrews did not.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Any minute now...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
HEY WAIT A MINUTE!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: HEY WAIT A MINUTE!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Naked...
By the way, all you drooling geeks, there's a million beautiful, intelligent ladies out there. Stop typing one-handed and leave the house to meet one...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Naked...
Fixed that one for you.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Naked...
You can DO that???
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
could be...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"the press release and the video's subsequent removal spurred tremendous interest in it online.... Two of the top four search queries on Google Search on July 21, 2009 were related to the video.[14]"
streisand effect hits again
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Some additional legal analysis
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Some additional legal analysis
Does your additional legal analysis on watching/downloading the video also happen to include a step by step procedural schematic on where to get said video, how to get it onto my screen, the best viewing sizes and formats, and how or where we might be able to get more of this type of video?
Otherwise I don't know if I want to click your link...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
TechPuritan is now, eh?
To me it appears to be karma. Yes, the invasion of her privacy is wrong and should be punished but the resulting interest is a result of the whole entertainmentsurface > newssubstance that exist in today's media.
The false indignity surrounding this is quite surreal.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
possible diffusion
and before you say, "but what if she doesn't have a tattoo?" does it matter? The point is to redirect it so the matter goes away. If it does surface again that the video is real, she could be coy and say, "I leave that to the perv's imaginations, like I always have."
but that's my 2 cents.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Horrible.
Anyway, I've reviewed the tape, and I'm pretty sure it's not her, but I want you to be the judge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hczaiM3LH0M
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Erin Andrews Hotel Video
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]