nowthatsfuckedup.com
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nowthatsfuckedup.com was a controversial shock website depicting corpses in kill zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. It existed from February 2004 until April 2006, when it was shut down under Florida obscenity laws.
Often known by its initials NTFU, It had an initial focus on user-contributed amateur pornography until it adopted a novel business model whereby U.S. military personnel, unable to use their credit cards due to the point-of-sale being located in high-risk regions and wary of repercussions from their superiors, could gain access to the site's content in exchange for proof of military employment for free memberships. The first pictures submitted were soldiers posing with tanks and other harmless situations. As word spread of the free admittance, so-called trophy photos, or graphic depictions of corpses and other disturbing imagery direct from the kill zones in Iraq and Afghanistan began to be submitted. The site took on an idea of "bodies-for-porn."[1]
After receiving national publicity, proprietor Christopher Wilson was arrested on 301 total charges, 300 misdemeanors and one felony, under Florida obscenity laws. Wilson hired the high-profile First Amendment law firm of Weston, Garrou,[2] & DeWitt[3] as well as received legal assistance from the American Civil Liberties Union and others; they eventually worked out a plea bargain with prosecutors. Under the deal, Wilson agreed to the closure of his business and not to work on any adult websites for five years, and pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges. The website operated for 90 more days, accepting logins from existing subscribers, before being taken over by the Polk County Sheriff.[4]
Wilson now runs documentingreality.com, which specializes in war footage and death photos (both celebrity and non-celebrity).
See also
[edit]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Casualty of Porn Archived 2010-04-10 at the Wayback Machine, rollingstone.com
- ^ "Firstamendment.com". Archived from the original on 2009-02-28. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
- ^ "Clydewitt.com". Archived from the original on 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
- ^ Wilson Will Avoid Jail In Plea Deal Archived 2016-04-03 at the Wayback Machine, Theledger.com
References
[edit]- Andén-Papadopoulos, Kari (2009): «Body Horror on the Internet: US Soldiers Recording the War in Iraq and Afghanistan» Media, Culture and Society, Vol. 31(6), 921–928.
- Eastbayexpress.com
- George Zornick, The Porn of War, The Nation October 10, 2005 (web only)
- Dana Wilhoit, "War, Porn Web Site Creator Arrested" The Ledger October 8, 2005
- John Oates, "Porn and Gore man arrested", The Register October 10, 2005
- Rolling Stone, casualty of porn, December 5, 2005
- Firstamendment.com
- CNN.com
- Theage.com