Deposed Revenge Porn Jester Craig Brittain Tries To DMCA Censor Popehat, Adam Steinbaugh... And The FTC

from the Brittain:-'I-feel-I-still-have-more-reprehensible-stupidity-to-offer' dept

The DMCA takedown system is once again being abused by Craig Brittain. The recently deposed king inadvertent court jester of the revenge porn world -- defenestrated by the FTC no less -- has issued a new bogus takedown request in hopes of purging the internet of critical articles.

Brittain's takedown asks for the delisting of 23 posts from various sites, all of which have been denied by Google. Among the more scathing posts Brittain hoped to remove with his abusive request include those written by two of his nemeses, Ken White (of Popehat) and Adam Steinbaugh. Also listed: posts residing at Ars Technica, Gawker, Forbes, Huffington Post, GigaOm, Reddit, Salon, Vice and The Verge. Somehow, it appears that our own article on Techdirt about him may be the only one he didn't seek to take down. Gee, thanks, Craig!

To top it off, Brittain also requests -- wait for it -- that the FTC's press release concerning his settlement with the agency, along with details of the case proceedings, be removed as well.

But what takes it into truly surreal territory is Brittain's seeming inability to realize just how hypocritical his request is. For someone who made a living posting photos and contact information without permission (and made a further living pretending to be a "takedown lawyer" who could make the unauthorized photos and contact info vanish for the right price), he seems suddenly very sensitive about the use of photos and personal information. Or at least the use of his, anyway. From the takedown request hosted at Chilling Effects:
Unauthorized use of photos of me and other related information. Unauthorized use of statements and identity related information. Unauthorized copying of excerpts from isanybodydown.com. Using photos which are not 'fair use'.
[For whatever reason, Brittain claims the infringed item is a "book," which one must admit would be quite the conversation starter, ender and shatterer of friendships/marriages, should the now-dead "Is Anybody Down" website have been published as a glossy, hardbound coffee table-type book.]

Desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose, and for someone who only knew how to profit off the misery of others, a lifetime ban from exploiting both ends of a revenge porn website must be making Brittain very desperate indeed. You'd think he would have learned from the last time he sent out a bogus takedown request that the only thing that does is create more criticism. Brittain's name is irrevocably toxic and he can't seem to think of a better way to clean up his destroyed reputation than tossing a self-serving DMCA hail mary. With these 23 own-goals on the record -- along with a new wave of criticism headed his way -- Pustule Nickelback McHitler's Brittain's best bet at this point is probably to just exit the internet altogether.
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Filed Under: adam steinbaugh, censorship, copyright, craig brittain, dmca, ftc, photos, popehat, revenge porn, takedown


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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Feb 2015 @ 7:18am

    Desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose, and for someone who only knew how to profit off the misery of others...
    Maybe he's trying to learn to be self-sufficient by profiting off his own misery? Even Brittain, at this point, must know how repeatedly poking Ken White with a stick is going to turn out. [Insert pony joke here]

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    CanonicalKoi (profile), 24 Feb 2015 @ 7:19am

    Well, geez. Can't he just contact the "Takedown Lawyer" and get his rep all polished back up? (/sarcasm) Karma, dude, that's karma biting you right on the rear-end.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    That One Guy (profile), 24 Feb 2015 @ 7:34am

    Well, I know one person who would really like it if the moronic 'Right to be forgotten' was available in the US as well as the EU...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Feb 2015 @ 7:47am

    ...posts residing at...Reddit...it appears that our own article on Techdirt about him may be the only one he didn't seek to take down...

    I and a few others will be happy to submit this Techdirt post to Reddit.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Feb 2015 @ 8:18am

    DMCA needs a new butthurt clause.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Roger Strong (profile), 24 Feb 2015 @ 8:35am

    You just know....

    Somewhere, Craig Brittain is saying "That's it, no more Mr. Nice Guy."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jyjon, 24 Feb 2015 @ 9:29am

    He didn't try to censor you?

    Somehow, it appears that our own article on Techdirt about him may be the only one he didn't seek to take down.

    The Trolls are ignoring you?

    I guess Techdirt is no longer a playa in the fight against douchebaggery.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 24 Feb 2015 @ 9:49am

    Wait, he claims its from a book.

    ADAM!!! Get over here.
    The ONLY teeth the DMCA have is if you don't own the copyright and represent that you do.
    DOOOO-IIIIT.
    Copyfraud... MUHAHAHAAH

    One does have to wonder if his settlement has any terms about not trying to hide the crime, it would be lovely if he sunk his deal doing this.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    mr. sim (profile), 24 Feb 2015 @ 10:23am

    this man's behavior isn't any different than a lot of peoples behavior today. he has the "all about me syndrome", a disease caused by the fact that your mommy and daddy filled you with the belief that your special and deserve things.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Geno0wl (profile), 24 Feb 2015 @ 11:21am

    Open and Shut

    If this isn't an open and shut case of DMCA abuse I don't know what is. Yet not a single entity(Google or Popehate/Ars) will go after this guy for DMCA abuse.
    They need to do something about DMCA abuse in the future(or preferably NOW) before this kinda stuff gets really out of hand.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    The God Focker, 24 Feb 2015 @ 2:40pm

    Hahaha

    You are a weak, pathetic fool. I got your cookie.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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