Is This Still Backmail?

This is hypothetical - lets say I have information that is true, and someone out there really really does not want me posting it online. So lets say I go ahead and make a website exposing such information then proceed to rank that page on google for that person's name. I notify the person of what I have done, but do not ask for money, I just tell them what I did. If they reply back and offer me money to take the page down (which they inevitably will), can I take the money? Is this legal?

Honestly I am not worried about getting caught, the amount of money I will charge for the "site maintenance" will be relatively small, and I am sure the "victims" will not report me because of what they did.

Before you call me a dick, let me just say these people really deserve it.

I just would like to know if this is legal or not. I think if I just dont ask for the money I am in the clear, because I have the right to make the site, and I have the right to tell them. BTw, sorry I had to make this intentionally vague. Please tell me there is a legal way to go about this because I am about to make a shit load of money.

No it wouldnt be legal and you know this - If your "targets" are that bad then they will be able to discuss this with you while shagging you in the arse when sharing your cell!

Its blackmail not blackhat so dont mix the two together or try!

Laws a little trick with the global nature of the interwebs. Your dealing with Statutory laws that are dependent on where both parties are domicile or "permanent residence", and also your dealing with libel tourism in which plaintiffs choose to file libel suits in jurisdictions thought more likely to give a favourable result. Thats possible because you can see a webpage anywhere.

If your proven to be the "beneficiary" for those actions your in shit. The only legal "James Bond" way of possible getting away with it is with a series of common law "trusts" chained across various jurisdictions to keep you at "arms length".

So the answer no, your only chnace is he does nothing or is too poor to take action.

This day and age there would be loads of lawyers that beat you down on a no win no fee case also!

If you are sure that you are legally allowed to build and set up the website, then you could always go ahead, making sure that you use a hosting account registered to an address in Panama for example,
then contact the person anonymously via a 3rd party to tip them off (although this may not be needed, if they are trying to rank for their own name themselves they will quickly spot it...)

When they contact you, offer to sell them the website...

So you really ment it when you typed in the topic's name 'Is This Still Backmail?'

If you can't make a normal living online, stop.

I'm no lawyer, but I don't think it would be illegal if you simply sold the web site to them. Not get paid to take it down, but sold it.


Kind of like: it's illegal in most places to give money to a woman for sex, and she buys dinner with it. But it's not illegal for you to buy a woman dinner and you have sex.

You're treading a fine line. What you want to do involves blackmail and libelous defamation with the intention of reaping monetary benefit. If your intended targets have the means, they can sue your ass. I say that you are treading a fine line because internet defamation is difficult to prosecute due to statutes and laws varying from state to state, country to country, etc.

Given the potential liabilities, why in the hell would you even want to bother with such an endeavor? If your target truly deserves to be publicly humiliated why don't you just turn over the information you have to the proper authorities?

kireol said:

I'm no lawyer, but I don't think it would be illegal if you simply sold the web site to them. Not get paid to take it down, but sold it.


Kind of like: it's illegal in most places to give money to a woman for sex, and she buys dinner with it. But it's not illegal for you to buy a woman dinner and you have sex.

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So the first works out cheaper then

delmages said:

You're treading a fine line. What you want to do involves blackmail and libelous defamation with the intention of reaping monetary benefit. If your intended targets have the means, they can sue your ass. I say that you are treading a fine line because internet defamation is difficult to prosecute due to statutes and laws varying from state to state, country to country, etc.

Given the potential liabilities, why in the hell would you even want to bother with such an endeavor? If your target truly deserves to be publicly humiliated why don't you just turn over the information you have to the proper authorities?

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My targets (its not just one person, I know where to find a lot of dirt) have not necessarily broken the law, the only people to tell would be their friends or family, and I am not going to do that because I dont really want to ruin someone's life(although it would be a result of their own actions). They will get caught on their own eventually.

Megalomaniac Midget said:

Laws a little trick with the global nature of the interwebs. Your dealing with Statutory laws that are dependent on where both parties are domicile or "permanent residence", and also your dealing with libel tourism in which plaintiffs choose to file libel suits in jurisdictions thought more likely to give a favourable result. Thats possible because you can see a webpage anywhere.

If your proven to be the "beneficiary" for those actions your in shit. The only legal "James Bond" way of possible getting away with it is with a series of common law "trusts" chained across various jurisdictions to keep you at "arms length".

So the answer no, your only chnace is he does nothing or is too poor to take action.

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This is neither libel or defamation.

defamation - "communication to third parties of false statements about a person that injure the reputation of or deter others from associating with that person"

Libel -"A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation."

I would only be publishing the target's own words, which I have the right to do, no false or even misleading statements. I am not asking if publishing the information is legal, because I know it is, I am asking the legality of taking money. I guess as mentioned, selling the website would be the best option.

I am going to do it. I am not going to get sued over $200. Plus, suing would only bring attention to the issue and destroy their reputation(rightfully so). Anyone remember the pedophile method? What I am doing is kinda similar, but far more legitimate. And $200 may not sound like a lot, but I have to do is find these people(which I already know where to look) register the domain, take a screen shot the damaging information(with they thought no one would see) and upload it to a web page. 5 minute job. Move on to the next person.

designsonline said:

If you are sure that you are legally allowed to build and set up the website, then you could always go ahead, making sure that you use a hosting account registered to an address in Panama for example,
then contact the person anonymously via a 3rd party to tip them off (although this may not be needed, if they are trying to rank for their own name themselves they will quickly spot it...)

When they contact you, offer to sell them the website...

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Sounds like a plan.

M1ndfluX said:

So you really ment it when you typed in the topic's name 'Is This Still Backmail?'

If you can't make a normal living online, stop.

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Who said anything about me not already making a living online?

if the information is true and backable, and you never outright ask for money. i don't see the issue. the worst that can happen is that they file suit against you, in which case, if your information is correct and you can prove it. you should be protected by some type of fair use reasoning. i guess you could just build the site, and put it up on flippa with a huge pricetag, see if they buy it, lol.

sounds to me like something best left alone though.

Yes it is blackmail..

Its fine bro, you make the site. Then you sell them the site.

The content is irrelevant.

As far as blackmail goes i would see it more as "Pay me, or i will make a site about you".

I think I have an idea as to what it is you're talking about (everyone seen those Chris Hansen specials?)

I am not a lawyer (just play one on TV) but there is generally no expectation of privacy if you happen to post publicly communications made on the Internet, and as long as you don't insert your own potentially untrue or defamatory statements - you'd be in the clear. Besides what sort of perv-o is gonna try to sue someone to stop them from posting their potentially illegal (transmitting harmful materials / illegal materials to a minor if they do transmit these things to a minor) actions on the Internet?

If this isn't what you're talking about, then I don't know anything about anything but maybe it's food for thought for everyone else.

TheInternetHustler said:

My targets (its not just one person, I know where to find a lot of dirt) have not necessarily broken the law, the only people to tell would be their friends or family, and I am not going to do that because I dont really want to ruin someone's life(although it would be a result of their own actions). They will get caught on their own eventually.


This is neither libel or defamation.

defamation - "communication to third parties of false statements about a person that injure the reputation of or deter others from associating with that person"

Libel -"A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation."

I would only be publishing the target's own words, which I have the right to do, no false or even misleading statements. I am not asking if publishing the information is legal, because I know it is, I am asking the legality of taking money. I guess as mentioned, selling the website would be the best option.

I am going to do it. I am not going to get sued over $200. Plus, suing would only bring attention to the issue and destroy their reputation(rightfully so). Anyone remember the pedophile method? What I am doing is kinda similar, but far more legitimate. And $200 may not sound like a lot, but I have to do is find these people(which I already know where to look) register the domain, take a screen shot the damaging information(with they thought no one would see) and upload it to a web page. 5 minute job. Move on to the next person.

Sounds like a plan.

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dude, your incredible naive about the legal system

He would have legal standing to bring the matter before the court for it to a adjudicate if its false or not. The legal system is more blackhat then BHW, they is no justice or common sense in a court of equity & many a person has been destroyed in the courts even though their naive "literal" interpretation of the law appears to be on their side.

Although it looks like the "law" is written in english, it is not. You actually need a quality law dictionary to decode the legal meaning of the words. Its designed as a trap.

In the preamble of the libel law the word "false" will have been defined, your a fuckn idiot if you think "false" will have the same meaning as the common english meaning of "false". And then to fuck with your head even more the word "means", that is used before the "word" to define it, is a trap

"means" within statutes implies a substitution of words, the subject does not need to be pre-defined & the objects need to be pre-defined, & any pre-existing definition of the subject is replaced by the objects. Are you confused now? Do you really think that by reading wikipedia you understand a law?

Your a fuckn idiot if you think a domain & website in some foreign country is going to save your ass, all they do is follow the money with subpoena's. Because the financial benefit is the crime.

laundrysoap said:

I think I have an idea as to what it is you're talking about (everyone seen those Chris Hansen specials?)

I am not a lawyer (just play one on TV) but there is generally no expectation of privacy if you happen to post publicly communications made on the Internet, and as long as you don't insert your own potentially untrue or defamatory statements - you'd be in the clear. Besides what sort of perv-o is gonna try to sue someone to stop them from posting their potentially illegal (transmitting harmful materials / illegal materials to a minor if they do transmit these things to a minor) actions on the Internet?

If this isn't what you're talking about, then I don't know anything about anything but maybe it's food for thought for everyone else.

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Your on track, although the pervs I am targeting arent necessarily pedos, but arent much better either. If I have proof someone is a pedo, I would have to report that, but I suppose I could target pedos and report them and make a site to sell to them(before they know they have been reported). I attempted to put it into action today with out success (made 2 sites so far but havent heard back from the people) I will try again, but instead of buying a domain for each guy, I will make a site for a certain city and just put up info for a bunch of people.

And the last guy who who posted who thinks Im a "fucking idiot", did I rape your mom or something? Because those personal attacks were out of no where. Just because your on the internet does not mean you have to be a duche.

It is fine to do as long as you have someone else submit it to your site, make sure its an image taken by a third party, and make sure its an image of the original image. Then you are clear to post whatever you want.

This post isn't legal advice and I give absolutely no assurance of its accuracy.

In other words, don't sue me if you get screwed plz.

It's also hard to know what applies to you because you haven't said where you live and where the people you're targeting live. If you're living in the US, there's no problem with publishing facts (if you obtained them in a legal manner)... but you'd have to be careful with how you worded things. E.g. don't state your interpretations of the evidence as fact.

Also, if what these people are doing is a crime, you could get screwed if you don't report it to law enforcement.

Check out the EFF's FAQ for some advice that mostly relates to the states: http://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/defamation

As for accepting money...

TheInternetHustler said:

I just would like to know if this is legal or not. I think if I just dont ask for the money I am in the clear, because I have the right to make the site, and I have the right to tell them.

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What you're trying to do isn't blackmail, it's extortion. If you're in the US, it doesn't matter that you're not straight up asking for money. It doesn't even matter that you didn't contact the person at all. You cannot accept an offer for money to take down the info. You're in an even worse spot because of the fact that you started this thread on a public forum and opened up the possibility for it to be used against you as evidence if you ever have charges pressed.

Talk to a proper lawyer before making a move, but I really think accepting money from, or selling your site to, your target is a very, very bad move.

lol. as someone said, simply illegal!
maybe it's not blackmail, although if you get sued,and someone from the counterpart manages to get in here on this forum and prove connection between you and the post, well, they surely can use your post here as proof of intentions to blackmail, which, planed as you put it in here, it's intentional.
Ok, for instance let's say this above never happens. you are still treading from invasion of privacy (the information you have is public domain or private?) to breaking and entering (even if you didn't literally broke into his/her house/office, still circumventing computer security is still breaking and entering), next to appropriation, or, if you are legally entitled to the info you say you have, and you have the obligation to withhold it from disclosure - misuse of trust to breaking internal regulations,etc... if this is not enough for you, then let's move on. If the person targeted is not a public figure/entity, you have no right of "Freedom of Press" or whatever you call it because the person is just a private citizen. you are not matter of the "shield law", etc. moving on, if the info gets in public domain, you're liable for damages caused and punitive damages, next, there is something called "right of image"; you're certainly walking into every statutory law I know in this matter.

bottom line; if you really want to "charge maintenance" on something, find and try another smart way, but, my advise is, just, throw it,get past it, and move along with you life.

my 2c thou.