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Comment by codesuela | Hacker News Reader

Blackmail, extortion, defamation, libel

How would they proof that the original comment wasn't libel? I doubt the have cross refrenced commenters IP addresses with the numbers listed. And if you relay libel (especially with malicious intent) it is still libel or maybe even blackmail.

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it would appear that they are attempting to hide behind free speech (creating an "artwork"). i'm certainly not a lawyer but this seems pretty transparent

Here is another "artist" who claimed free speech[1] so calling yourself an artist is not blanket protection against prosecution. Also libel is not covered under free speech although I too ANAL.

[1] http://betabeat.com/2013/01/2-girls-1-cup-creator-sentenced-...

maybe they want to be taken to court, and that's part of the performance? i like art, but i don't understand postmodernism

What if their database is empty?

Well, then charging $10 to view it would clearly match the definition of fraud.

Yes, but it's hard to prove. And they could stuff it with a few fake numbers so it's not technically empty.

aren't they charging 10$ to check for you whether your number is in the database, not 10$ for full database acess?

That's the point - they can safely pocket the 10$ and return "this number is not in our database".

Well, i assume they at least run a database query for giggles. I mean 10$ for a database query...SELECT Cash FROM USERS WHERE USERGULLIBILITY > 5 GO There's my 10$.

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