Sunday's onslaught of stolen celebrity nudes, dubbed by reddit as "The Fappening," has understandably pissed off a lot of people: celebrities, representatives, feminists, and privacy advocates (to name just a few). One title we wouldn't have expected to see associated with that list is porn site operator. But Mike Kulich, managing partner of SkweezMe.com, is so pissed he's offering a cash reward to catch the hacker behind the leaks.
"Consent is one of the keystones of the adult entertainment business," Kulich told Vice. "Regardless of what anti-porn organizations claim—for instance that we are all human traffickers and pimps—every girl that appears on film for any production company is there of her own free will. ... The adult industry feels very strongly about consent, which is why it has been heavily involved in our support for legislation banning revenge porn, which has become illegal in a number of states. Jennifer Lawrence's pictures were meant to be private and whoever hacked her computer or phone had no right to ever see those photos, let alone leak them to the world. We want this person brought to justice."
It's easy to be cynical and think Kulich's true intention might be to combat competition that could hurt his own revenue stream, but he says leaked celebrity nudes are "a flash in the pan. ... At the end of the day, I think users look at the pictures and say, 'wow,' and move on to something else."
There are still plenty of valid criticisms to be had against the porn industry, but this time, it's doing something right.
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[via Vice]
