"Revenge porn" is how the content of Hunter Moore's website, Is Anyone Up, is most always described.
Defunct since April, Is Anyone Up invited bitter ex-lovers to submit nude photos and videos of their former partners, along with that former partner's Facebook profile or other social media identity. This added burn allowed for the added humiliation of Google search results, and the possibility of further online harassment. Thing is, many of those photos weren't submitted by a cadre of spurned lovers, but a single hacker. Now the FBI wants to know if Moore is connected to that hacker.
According to the Village Voice:
The Voice has learned that the FBI's Los Angeles Internet Crime division has been actively investigating Hunter Moore and Is Anyone Up for months, according to four people who say they've been interviewed by the FBI about his now-shuttered site. The case's focus, according to those familiar with the investigation, was Moore's possible connection to a hacker who has repeatedly broken into the inboxes of countless victims, rifled through their attachments, and submitted the accompanying nudes to Is Anyone Up. (A Los Angeles FBI spokesperson would not confirm or deny such an investigation.)
When we contacted the FBI directly, the spokesperson said the same thing, that the bureau could neither confirm nor deny the Hunter Moore investigation.
Moore, who sold Is Anyone Up to a for-profit "anti-bullying" website last month, operated his site for 16 months, seemingly under the protection of The Communications Decency Act of 1996. According to the Act, Internet service operators — Facebook and the like — are not considered the publishers of user posts, and so not liable for content that breaks the law. A connection with the hacker could cause Moore's fortunes to turn, however. As the Voice notes, Chris Chaney, the guy who hacked Scarlett Johansson and other celebrities, faces 60 years in prison and $2.25 million in fines.
Moore said he sold Is Anyone Up because he was burnt out on child porn submissions and ruining people's lives. He seems a mite sensitive about the FBI investigation however, telling the Voice's Camille Dodero that he would burn down the publication's offices if it wrote about his FBI investigation. In the past, Moore readily admitted that many of the user submissions may be the product of hacks, but continually claims that even if he paid for the content, he's still untouchable. Looks like his claim is about to get tested.
Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about online privacy, then asks you to join her on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+. Because that's how she rolls.