Craigslist prankster guilty, fined $75,000

Remember the case of "Craigslist prankster" Jason Fortuny? Probably not, so I'll refresh your memory. In 2006 Fortuny thought it would be a hoot to pretend to be a hot woman looking for a bondage session via Craigslist, and after posting an ad to that effect, he collected the 178 depraved responses he got and summarily posted them online, including photos, email addresses and phone numbers.

That got Fortuny a lot of publicity back in the day, and it also got him a lawsuit in 2008, as one of the victims (who remains anonymous in court filings) sued for a variety of claims, including "copyright infringement, public disclosure of private facts, and intrusion upon seclusion."

Now that case has been concluded, with the verdict rendered for the plaintiff and $74,252.60 in damages levied against Fortuny.

We may never know if Fortuny's defense -- that he had fair use to publish the photographs in question and that once he was emailed by the plaintiff he had taken his own private information public -- would have held up. Fortuny filed a letter with the court in July outlining his defense, but he had chosen to represent himself as counsel. He then failed to show up for the most recent hearing and the court entered a default judgment against him.

Fortuny has previously asserted that the court in question -- in Illinois -- didn't have jurisdiction in the matter since Fortuny lives in Washington state, and that seems to be his defense strategy at this point. Any attempt to collect the damages would give Fortuny a chance to have his case heard in Washington courts, where this whole process would likely have to begin again from scratch... at least as long as Fortuny doesn't set foot in Illinois, that is.