Hunter Moore

Hunter Moore (born March 9, 1986) is an American convicted criminal from Sacramento, California. Rolling Stone called him "the most hated man on the Internet."[1][2][3] In 2010, he created the revenge porn website Is Anyone Up? which allowed users to post sexual and explicit photos of people online without their consent, often accompanied by personal information such as their names and addresses. He refused to take down pictures on request.[2] Moore called himself "a professional life ruiner" and compared himself to Charles Manson.[4] The website was up for 16 months, during which Moore stated several times he was protected by the same laws that protect Facebook.[1] Moore also paid a hacker to break into email accounts of victims and steal private photos to post.[5] The FBI started an investigation on Moore in 2012 after receiving evidence from the mother of one of the victims.[4] The site was closed in April 2012 and sold to an anti-bullying group.[6] In February 2015, Moore pleaded guilty to felony charges for aggravated identity theft and aiding and abetting in the unauthorized access of a computer. In December 2015, Moore was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, a $2,000 fine, and $145.70 in restitution.[7]

Hunter Moore
Born (1986-03-09) March 9, 1986
Woodland, California, United States
NationalityAmerican
Known forIs Anyone Up?

Is Anyone Up?

Moore started the website in 2010. It featured revealing photos and videos of people who were not professional models, linked to their social networking profiles on Facebook or Twitter.[8] Many of the subjects were outraged by inclusion on the site, claiming the explicit photos had been hacked from their personal computers or shared with former boyfriends or girlfriends, and that the photos had been posted as a form of revenge. Because of this, the site's content became known as "revenge porn." Moore reportedly responded to multiple cease-and-desist letters with simply "LOL” and would regularly argue that the law protected his activities.[1]

Moore claimed that the website attracted 30 million page views monthly as well as yielding $8,000 to $13,000 a month in ad revenue.[2][9] In response to public bragging by Moore about the website, BBC named Moore "the Net's most hated man" and Rolling Stone called him "the most hated man on the Internet."[2][1]

Moore eventually faced numerous lawsuits and an FBI investigation.[10][11] He was also stabbed in the shoulder with a pen by a woman who had been featured on the site.[11][12][1]

On April 19, 2012, Moore sold the website to an anti-bullying group.[13] He posted an open letter explaining his decision.

FBI investigation

Charlotte Laws, the mother of one of the victims on the site, decided to track Moore down and conducted a two-year investigation where she compiled evidence from more than 40 victims and gave it to the FBI.[4]

In 2012, Moore and a colleague hacker named Charles Evens (who went under the alias of "Gary Jones") were suspected of hacking-related crimes.[14] The Wire stated that "on multiple occasions, [Moore] paid Evens to break into the email accounts of victims and steal nude photos to post on the website isanyoneup.com."[5] When it became apparent to Moore that news about his FBI investigation was beginning to surface to the public, Moore responded with "I will literally fucking buy a first-class fucking plane ticket right now, eat an amazing meal, buy a gun in New York, and fucking kill whoever [talked about my FBI investigation]. I'm that pissed over it. I'm actually mad right now."[14]

Moore also threatened to burn down The Village Voice headquarters if they ran a story about his FBI investigation. They nevertheless ran the story.[14]

Indictment

On January 23, 2014, Moore was indicted in a federal court in California following his arrest by the FBI on charges of conspiracy, unauthorized access to a protected computer, and aggravated identity theft.[13][15] Many of these crimes were committed in an effort to obtain nude images of people against their will.[13]

Moore was released two days later from Sacramento County Jail on a $100,000 bond. He was allowed no access to the Internet and was required by law to dismantle the archives he owns for the Is Anyone Up? database while the FBI monitored him doing so.[16]

On January 24, 2015, exactly one year since Moore had last tweeted, tweets began to appear on his account making it seem like he had returned to the internet. Moore's mother revealed that his account was either taken over or hacked and he had nothing to do with the tweets.[17]

Guilty plea

On February 18, 2015, Moore entered a guilty plea with the Central District of California U.S. Attorney's Office, in which he admitted to aiding and abetting hacking, and aggravated identity theft. Under the plea, he would serve a minimum of two years in prison, and a maximum of seven years and a $500,000 fine.[18]

Conviction

In February 2015, Moore pled guilty to aggravated identity theft and aiding and abetting in the unauthorized access of a computer. In addition to his mandatory prison sentence, Moore also agreed to a three-year period of supervised probation, a $2,000 fine and $145.70 in restitution.[7] He also received an order that he delete all the data on his seized computers.[19] Moore was sentenced to 2 ½ years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.[20]

On July 2, 2015, Charles Evens pleaded guilty to charges of computer hacking and identity theft, confessing to stealing hundreds of images from women's email accounts and selling them to Moore. He faces up to seven years in a federal prison and was sentenced on November 16, 2015. Moore was sentenced in September.[21] By May 2017, Moore was out of prison.[22]

Defamation judgment

On March 8, 2013, Bullyville founder James McGibney won a $250,000 defamation judgment against Moore, after Moore reportedly called McGibney a "pedophile" and threatened to rape his wife.[23][24]

Personal life

Moore reportedly attended Woodland High School where he dropped out at a young age.[25]

Because of his controversy, the administrators of Facebook deleted any and all accounts that they suspect Hunter Moore has created on the website.[25][26]

References
  1. Morris, Alex (11 October 2012). "Hunter Moore: The Most Hated Man on the Internet". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  2. Hill, Kashmir. "How Revenge Porn King Hunter Moore Was Taken Down". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  3. "Revenge Porn Kingpin Hunter Moore Pleads Guilty, Faces Jail". NBC News. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
  4. Cadwalladr, Carole (2014-03-30). "Charlotte Laws' fight with Hunter Moore, the internet's revenge porn king". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
  5. Simpson, Connor. "Revenge Porn King Hunter Moore Arrested for Hacking Email Accounts". The Wire. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  6. ""Gary Jones" Wants Your Nudes". Retrieved 2018-03-31.
  7. "Hunter Moore Revenge Porn Victim Got a Whopping $145.70 in Restitution". Motherboard. 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  8. Zelmer, Emily. "Naked & Famous: How A Risque New Website Pushes Boundaries And Buttons". Alternative Press. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  9. Gold, Danny. "The Man Who Makes Money Publishing Your Nude Pics". The Awe. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  10. Laws, Charlotte. "I've been called the "Erin Brockovich" of revenge porn, and for the first time ever, here is my entire uncensored story of death threats, Anonymous and the FBI". XoJane. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  11. Dodero, Camille (2012-04-04). "Hunter Moore Makes a Living Screwing You". Village Voice. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
  12. Amanda Hess (5 December 2012). "Hunter Moore's Biggest Fan". Slate. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  13. Neil, Martha (24 January 2014). "'Most hated man on the Internet' is charged with email hacking to get photos for revenge porn site". American Bar Association. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  14. Dodero, Camille. ""Gary Jones" Wants Your Nudes". Village Voice. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  15. "FBI Arrests "The Most Hated Man on the Internet," Revenge-Porn King Hunter Moore". MSN. Archived from the original on 29 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  16. Ian McDonald: King of Revenge Porn’ Released to Parents, Now Grounded with No Internet, Fox 40, January 25, 2014/
  17. "No, Twitter, Revenge Porn Pioneer Hunter Moore Has Not Made A Triumphant Online Return". The Smoking Gun. January 24, 2015.
  18. Danielle Citron (18 February 2015). "Ding Dong, Revenge Porn King Hunter Moore Is Going To Jail". Forbes.
  19. Hamilton, Matt (25 February 2015). "'King of Revenge Porn' pleads guilty, faces up to 7 years in prison". latimes.com. Los Angeles Times.
  20. Abby Ohlheiser, Washington Post, December 3, 2015 "Revenge porn purveyor Hunter Moore is sentenced to prison"
  21. Rubin, Joel (2 July 2015). "In 'revenge porn' hacking case, man pleads guilty". latimes.com. Los Angeles Times.
  22. "Is Anyone Up? Founder Hunter Moore is back online, making music and writing a book". Substream Magazine.
  23. Dodero, Camille (2013-12-13). "How Revenge-Porn Publisher Hunter Moore Suffered $250,000 Worth of Payback". Gawker. Archived from the original on 2013-03-14. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  24. https://web.archive.org/web/20130327030040/http://bv.1110.cds.contentcolo.net/uploads/files/Executed%20Moore%20Judgement.pdf
  25. Dickson, EJ. "Daily Dot". Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  26. "Hunter Moore: IsAnyoneUp Founder Could Be the Most Hated Man on the Internet - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone.
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