David Portnoy runs a sports and humor blog entitled Barstool Sports, which the Boston Globe calls a "popular and controversial" website. Late in the week of August 8, 2011, Portnoy posted a picture of toddler child Benjamin Brady, son of New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady and model Gisele Bundchen. The picture was taken by a paparazzi photographer while the family were vacationing at a beach. The toddler was naked in the picture, with genitals exposed.

According to Boston's Weekly Dig and Deadspin, Portnoy, among other things, referred to the child's genitals as a "howitzer." This prompted widespread condemnation and outcry. Portnoy also created a series of t-shirt designs depicting the nude toddler with an actual howitzer in sexually suggestive positions.

Portnoy initially received a cease and desist letter from a modeling agency that represents Gisele Bundchen, which Portnoy claims he ignored. Following this, according to the Globe and The Smoking Gun, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley dispatched police officers to visit Portnoy's home in Milton, Massachusetts on Friday, August 12, 2011. Portnoy describes the encounter on his website, saying that the police were "friendly, non threatening and basically just said they were getting lots of complaints . . . and it would be in the best interest of everybody involved if I’d just take [the photographs] down." Attorney General Coakley told the Globe that her office had  received several complaints about the photographs and that the photographs were "troubling, to say the least."

Portnoy complied with the request to remove material, and AG Coakley has indicated that she views the matter as closed.

George Gillespie of Ohio filed suit on September 16, 2005 against two chat room users who allegedly humiliated him in AOL chat discussions.  The defendants, Bob Charpentier and Mike Marlowe, lived in Oregon and Alabama respectively at the time the suit was filed. Gillespie also sued AOL for allowing the alleged harassment to occur.

According to Law.com, Gillespie alleged that the chat room participants "acted in an outrageous manner, which they knew or should have known would cause serious emotional distress to the plaintiff . . .  The Defendants' conduct was so extreme and contemptible as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency."  Gillespie also alleged that Charpentier and Marlowe intruded into his "private affairs" and claimed that Marlowe  drove from Alabama to Ohio to photograph his home (for posting on the web) and/or to file a change of address form with the local post office in order to disrupt his mail.  Marlowe denied traveling to Ohio.

On January 30, 2006, AOL moved to dismiss the suit or stay it for improper venue. Judge Christopher J. Collier dismissed the suit against AOL on February 14, 2006, but the grounds for dismissal are unclear. Charpentier, acting pro se, filed a response and sought to reserve the right to file a $125,000 countersuit against Gillespie.  Following an oral hearing, the court dismissed Charpentier from the suit.  The case docket indicates that the court entered a default judgment against Mike Marlowe on April 28, 2006 in the amount of $221.80.

On February 20, 2008, an anonymous plaintiff sued Jason Fortuny in Illinois federal court for copyright infringement, invasion of privacy through the publication of private facts, and intrusion, after Mr. Fortuny allegedly posted his photograph and personal information on the Internet.

Mr. Fortuny, a now-famous Internet "troll" who was featured in an August 2008 New York Times article, performed a notorious "Craigslist Experiment" in 2006, in which he posted a fake ad on Craigslist pretending to be a woman seeking a “str8 brutal dom muscular male” for sex. According to the New York Times, over one-hundred men responded, providing photographs and contact information. Mr. Fortuny allegedly posted this material to his blog, RFJason, and Encyclopedia Dramatica (described by the New York Times as "an online compendium of troll humor and troll lore"). Mr. Fortuny disputes posting the photographs and contact information to Encyclopaedia Dramatica.

One of the men who responded to Mr. Fortuny's prank filed the Illinois lawsuit, claiming that Fortuny violated his copyrights and invaded his privacy by posting his photograph and personal information. The complaint seeks $75,000 in damages and requests an injunction requiring Mr. Fortuny to remove the photograph and contact information from his website.

Mr. Fortuny is representing himself in the lawsuit. On July 11th, 2008, he filed a letter that the court treated as a motion to dismiss. The motion, in which Mr. Fortuny challenged the court's jurisdiction over him and the substance of the plaintiff's claims, is pending.

Before filing suit, the anonymous plaintiff sent Mr. Fortuny and his web host a DMCA takedown notice. Mr. Fortuny sent a counter-notification, and his host restored the material. Please see our related database entry, Doe v. Fortuny (Correspondence).

Update:

4/9/09 - The court entered a default judgment against Fortuny, requiring him to pay $74,252.56 in damages, attorneys fees, and costs.