Today's technology allows us to do some pretty amazing things. It allows us to do some pretty stupid things, too - and sometimes just plain mean and nasty things.

With mobile phones, tablets, and other devices equipped with cameras, the potential for mischief is limited only by the imagination of people who use those devices. From middle- and high-schoolers using their cell phones to "sext" one another to people creating fake profiles to "revenge p*rn," another craze that's making headlines, things are showing up in the online world that most of us never dreamed would show up, or if we did dream it, it was only in our worst nightmares.

This Discussion Board will focus on revenge p*rn, which goes by several other names: "non-consensual p*rn," "cyber-exploitation," just to name a couple. The typical sequence of events is that one person in a romantic couple is persuaded (sometimes pressured) to send nude and/or sexually suggestive photos to the other, typically with the understanding that the images will be kept private and that the couple's love will burn eternal. Then real life intrudes, the couple splits up, and the person possessing the images posts them on any number of web sites, often with names, addresses, places of employment, and other information. The potential for harm arising from the careless or malicious posting of intimate images is well-established - there are numerous stories of people committing suicide in the wake of such postings and the social ostracizing they produce.

Imagine going through a painful break-up with your significant other, whom you formerly trusted. Then imagine, soon after, discovering that your ex has gone to a variety of websites and posted "revenge p*rn" photos showing you nude and/or in sexually explicit situations. What do you do? And even though women are usually the victim, that doesn't mean that men are not at risk. So this is something that everyone should be concerned about.

Review the WSJ article, the California law, North Carolina's law, and, if you are able to load it, the Nightline segment discussing this phenomenon. Some of you may have also heard that some social media websites, such as Twitter, Red*it, and Facebook, have adopted policies regarding the posting of nude photos without the consent of the subject.

What can/should be done (from a legal perspective) about revenge p*rn or "cyber-exploitation?" As a spokesperson says on the Nightline segment, the law is way behind technology and the new and creative ways it can be mis-used. Additionally, there are First Amendment concerns as well. If the photos or videos are deemed to be legally obscene, whoever posts them can be prosecuted under existing anti-obscenity laws. If the photos are images of minors, whoever posts them can be prosecuted under existing child p*rnography laws. But what about everything else that is being posted? How will that "consent" angle work on social media sites? If you "consent" to send the images to your significant other initially, does that mean you have consented for them to be forwarded somewhere else? Do the victims have any recourse? Against whom? If you are a victim and live in a state that does not have any type of revenge-p*rn law, can you file a suit in a state that does? (NC's revenge p*rn law went into effect Dec. 1, 2015. It is still pretty early to see what kind of impact it will have.) Since this is a relatively recent development in the legal landscape, there are sure to be appeals of the various convictions on any number of grounds: First Amendment, void-for-vagueness, overbreadth - just to name a few. How do you think those appeals are going to turn out?

Do you think that the increased attention this phenomenon is getting in the news will make the problem worse?