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

Thu, Jul 23rd 2009 12:09pm — Mike Masnick

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.

"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)."

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.

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Filed Under: crime, erin andrews, video

52 Comments

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Shawn (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 11:44am

Banning Post writers from ESPN isn't a crime either and is a reasonable 'Up Yours!' response.

I do not think I am a jerk cuz I only watched the movie stream I did not download it :D
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yozoo, 23 Jul 2009 @ 12:12pm

Just Awful
I just cant believe people today, disgusting . . . anyone got a link?
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Ryan, 23 Jul 2009 @ 12:21pm

Re: Just Awful
I laughed at a comment made on a torrent of it on TPB that went something like this:

"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..."
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 12:29pm

Re: Re: Just Awful
Every female out there (if she's not a whale or a dog) should realize: if she's on TV--there's somebody (likely alot of somebodies) who want to see her naked.

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.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 12:33pm

The sad part
The truly sad part of all this is that she isn't that bad of a sideline reporter. She's got a decent voice, a clear camera presence, and (for whatever reason) the players seem to be willing to discuss her questions at some length.

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...
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Anshar (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 12:36pm

Any minute now...
the words "streisand effect" will actually sink in and people will stop calling attention to these things.
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 12:39pm

Re: Any minute now...
.... umm, yeah. And what's Paris Hilton famous for?

K... anything else?

What, just that? Hmm.
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Shawn (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 12:43pm

Re: Re: Any minute now...
Curing Polio?
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Lucretious, 23 Jul 2009 @ 12:45pm

so.....anyone got the link to the video?
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Dark Helmet (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 12:55pm

Re: Re: Re: Any minute now...
Inventing night-vision?
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Ryan, 23 Jul 2009 @ 12:55pm

Re: Re: Any minute now...
If you're implying that she may enjoy the additional exposure(heh) from this, I disagree.

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.
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Kevin Stapp (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:03pm

Good for ESPN. That's an appropriate response to the NY Post's decision to post pics from this video.
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Shawn (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:03pm

More to the point.. is it a crime to watch Erin Andrews while naked?
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:03pm

Re: Re: Re: Any minute now...
I takes the right kind of crazy to be truly famous...
Is she the right kind of crazy?
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Brian (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:06pm

Re:
Only if you video tape it with a pinhole camera
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:14pm

Re: Re: Re: Just Awful
"Every female out there (if she's not a whale or a dog) should realize: if she's on TV--there's somebody (likely alot of somebodies) who want to see her naked."

LMAO how do ya think they get on TV
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:16pm

For all the geeks out there that didn't know about the video and then downloaded it to see what Mike was talking about, that's 'The Masnick Effect'.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:17pm

HEY WAIT A MINUTE!
I just figured it out . . . Mike just wants to be google indexed on "Naked Erin Andrews Video" . . . you sly fox you!
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josh (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:27pm

Re: The sad part
OMG DH. I was nodding along agreeing with you. Then I read your last line.

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. :)
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Dark Helmet (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:29pm

Re: Re: The sad part
You have officially CwDH.

The real question after watching this video is what can Dark Helmet do to CwEA?
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:31pm

Actually, here is an interesting take. Without proof (model releases), there is no way to prove that the video in question isn't child pr0n. Undocumented sex videos are really bad things to have. There is no way to know the age of the people appearing in the video.
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Shawn (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:32pm

Re: HEY WAIT A MINUTE!
loooooooooots of T-Shirts ;)
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case, 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:33pm

Look at this silly response from a sport media journalist, here. He wants the internet regulated because of this.
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:36pm

Re:
Also a sign that the child porn scare has gone too far when hiding your porn can get you arrested.
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NullOp, 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:49pm

Naked...
It isn't a crime to watch it, but it's probably a crime to have it on your computer. It was most certainly a crime to record it!

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...
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Dark Helmet (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 1:56pm

Re: 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...in an internet chatroom or on adultfriendfinder.com"

Fixed that one for you.
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technomage (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 2:05pm

could be...
ESPN finally got it right, and coordinated something like this to increase their ratings. I think I would be looking at her ratings on ESPN and see if they have gone downhill recently. If they have, it is a good argument that this was staged in order to bolster her reputation. Someone made a comment about how women got in TV to begin with, well if what I said is true, she just proved that point, she just did it with Streisand Effect combined with Viral Video.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 2:10pm

Re: Just Awful
try searching video at bing.com
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 2:16pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Andrews

"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
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DJ (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 2:17pm

Re: Re: Any minute now...
The difference is that Paris knew the video was being taken. I don't know/care whether or not she likes the fact that it got leaked, but, again, she knew about it.

Erin Andrews did not.
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DJ (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 2:20pm

Re: Naked...
Leave the house?!?!?!?
You can DO that???
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Sam Bayard, 23 Jul 2009 @ 2:32pm

Some additional legal analysis
I posted some additional legal analysis on watching/downloading the video, as well as hosting it, on the Citizen Media Law Project site -- http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2009/news-flash-watching-erin-andrews-video-perverted-not-illegal
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 2:34pm

It's not illegal to film naked people in their hotel rooms (even their homes) if there's no audio. Please read the law Mike.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 2:46pm

Re:
Well unless the video is of a sexually explicit nature, it wouldn't matter anyway. Just being naked isn't enough to be criminal.
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DJ (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 2:53pm

Re:
Your'e a f****ing idiot. I feel ashamed that I'm even granting you the honor of being replied to.
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Esahc (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 2:57pm

Re: Re:
Unless you live in the US
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Dark Helmet (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 3:05pm

Re: Some additional legal analysis
"I posted some additional legal analysis on watching/downloading the video, as well as hosting it, on the Citizen Media Law Project site -- http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2009/news-flash-watching-erin-andrews-video-perverted-not-illegal"

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...
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Clueby4, 23 Jul 2009 @ 3:36pm

TechPuritan is now, eh?
I don't find it surprising in the least print entertainment going after tv entertainment on this one.

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.
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tygreen101, 23 Jul 2009 @ 3:37pm

possible diffusion
Personally, I think if she would have said, "It's a really good fake. I commend the creater, but you didn't include my tattoo", that the matter would have gone away very quickly. Because of the media attention, everyone wants to see it.

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.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 3:44pm

Re: Re: Re: Any minute now...
Ummm, Paris signed a model release and profits from the movie. Erin Andrews did not.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 4:30pm

YET!!!
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dan (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 5:51pm

Re:
I finally found the thing, most of the sites I’ve seen are scams but they’re streaming the video over at http://408passion.com/watch282.html (it’s free but I have no idea how long it’ll stay up obviously)
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dan (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 6:09pm

Re:
I finally found the thing, most of the sites I’ve seen are scams but they’re streaming the video over at http://408passion.com/watch282.html (it’s free but I have no idea how long it’ll stay up obviously)
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ToySouljah (profile), 23 Jul 2009 @ 7:12pm

Re: Re: Re: Any minute now...
Actually, I didn't know who she was until I read about this...lol. I don't really watch ESPN since I'm not really big on sports. I've always respected women for everything they have to offer and of course their body is a part of that. Now, the way these images were acquired is highly disrespectful to her privacy, and the people responsible should be punished. If she had posed for Playboy or something then it would be a completely different story, but she really should consider it since the pics are out...might as well make them artful and shot by a pro.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Jul 2009 @ 7:34pm

Horrible.
I've seen the video about a couple dozen times, and I find it dispicable that the picture quality is so poor.

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
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John Doe., 23 Jul 2009 @ 7:37pm

Makes me a jerk? lol what a joke lol, I am the biggest then.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Jul 2009 @ 8:07am

*fap* *fap* *fap* *fap* *fap*.....
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Jul 2009 @ 9:39am

Well, I guess we can reliably say that ESPN and Erin Andrews are not firmly in the "if you don't have anything to hide, you shouldn't be worried about cameras" way of thinking.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Jul 2009 @ 9:46pm

Re: Re:
Yes, everyone that knows the law are idiots because the laws were never updated...
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Alexa Schnurr, 26 Jul 2009 @ 2:09pm

Re:
I will send some of it to you if you want. It's great
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Majdi, 4 Sep 2009 @ 5:10pm

Erin Andrews Hotel Video
Who want the video? I have a copy, but nothing special in it
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Dan, 10 Dec 2009 @ 7:22pm

I watched it and it does look staged to me.
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