Hunter Moore
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Hunter Edward Moore (born March 1986) is an American convicted criminal from
Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
. ''
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'' called him "the most hated man on the Internet." In 2010, he created the revenge porn website
Is Anyone Up? Is Anyone Up? was an online pornographic website based on stolen and hacked photos that ceased operation in 2012. It allowed users to submit photographs or videos anonymously, mainly nude, erotic, and sexually explicit images. The site was close ...
which allowed users to post sexually explicit photos of people online without their consent, often accompanied by personal information such as their names and addresses. He refused to take down pictures on request. Moore called himself "a professional life ruiner" and compared himself to
Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...
. The website was up for 16 months, during which Moore stated several times he was protected by the same laws that protect
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. Moore also paid a
hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
to break into email accounts of victims and steal private photos to post. The
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
started an investigation on Moore in 2012 after receiving evidence from the mother of one of the victims. The site was closed in April 2012 and sold to an anti-bullying group. In February 2015, Moore pleaded guilty to felony charges for aggravated
identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was co ...
and
aiding and abetting Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets (encourages, incites) another person in the commission of a crime (or in another's suicide). It exists in a number of different countries and generally allo ...
in the unauthorized access of a computer. In November 2015, Moore was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, a $2,000 fine, and $145.70 in restitution. He was released from prison in May 2017. In 2022,
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
released ''
The Most Hated Man on the Internet ''The Most Hated Man on the Internet'' is a 2022 American three-part Netflix docuseries that covers the story of Hunter Moore and his website Is Anyone Up?, a pornographic site based on stolen and hacked photos, and the struggle to take the webs ...
'', a docuseries about Moore. Although Moore initially agreed to take part in the series, he then declined. The series reached No. 3 on the Netflix top 10.


Early life and education

Moore was born in March 1986 and he grew up in
Woodland, California Woodland is a city in and the county seat of Yolo County, California, located approximately northwest of Sacramento, California, Sacramento, and is a part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. The population was 61,032 at the 2020 United States ...
. He attended and was expelled from Woodland Christian School.


Is Anyone Up?

Moore started the website Is Anyone Up? in 2010. Moore stated that the site was originally intended to be a
nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, c ...
website, but after he and some friends received sexually explicit pictures from women they were involved with at the time, the site was changed, featuring revealing photos and videos of people who were not professional
models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...
, linked to their social networking profiles on
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or
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. Many of the subjects were outraged by inclusion on the site; in many cases the photos had been stolen from their hacked personal computers or shared without consent by former boyfriends or girlfriends as a form of revenge. Because of this, the site's content became known as " revenge porn". Moore reportedly responded to multiple
cease-and-desist letters A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...
with simply "
LOL LOL, or lol, is an initialism for laughing out loud and a popular element of Internet slang. It was first used almost exclusively on Usenet, but has since become widespread in other forms of computer-mediated communication and even face-to ...
" and would regularly argue that the law protected his activities. Moore claimed that the website attracted 30 million page views monthly as well as yielding $8,000 to $13,000 a month in ad revenue. In response to public bragging by Moore about the website,
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
named Moore "the Net's most hated man" and ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' called him "the most hated man on the Internet". Due to the site, Moore was banned from
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
. Moore eventually faced numerous lawsuits and an FBI investigation. He was also stabbed in the shoulder with a pen by a woman who had been featured on the site. Moore lived with his grandmother for a period of time while he feared he would be murdered in his sleep due to constant death threats. On April 19, 2012, Moore sold the website to an anti-bullying group run by former
Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...
James McGibney for $12,000. After it was sold all the pornographic material was removed, and anyone who looked for the website was redirected to Bullyville.com.


FBI investigation

Charlotte Laws Charlotte Anne Laws (Born May 11, 1960) is an American author, talk show host, animal rights advocate, anti-revenge porn activist, former Los Angeles politician, and actress (under the stage name Missy Laws). Laws is a former BBC News contribut ...
, the mother of one of the victims on the site, decided to track Moore down and conducted a two-year investigation where she compiled evidence from more than 40 victims and gave it to the FBI. In 2012, Moore and a hacker named Charles Evens (who went under the alias of "Gary Jones") were suspected of hacking-related crimes. ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...
'' stated that "on multiple occasions,
oore Oore is a village in Tori Parish, Pärnu County in southwestern Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Fin ...
paid Evens to break into the email accounts of victims and steal nude photos to post on the website isanyoneup.com." When it became apparent to Moore that news about his FBI investigation was beginning to surface to the public, Moore responded with "I will literally fucking buy a first-class fucking plane ticket right now, eat an amazing meal, buy a gun in New York, and fucking kill whoever alked about my FBI investigation I'm that pissed over it. I'm actually mad right now." Moore also threatened to burn down ''
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'' headquarters if they ran a story about his FBI investigation. They ran the story regardless.


Indictment

On January 23, 2014, Moore was indicted in a federal court in California following his arrest by the FBI on charges of
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
, unauthorized access to a protected computer, and aggravated
identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was co ...
. Many of these crimes were committed in an effort to obtain nude images of people against their will. Moore was released two days later from Sacramento County Jail on a $100,000
bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...
. He was allowed no access to the Internet, and was required by law to dismantle the archives he owned for the Is Anyone Up? database, while the FBI monitored him doing so. On January 24, 2015, exactly one year after Moore had last tweeted, tweets began to appear on his account making it seem like he had returned to the Internet. Moore's mother revealed that his account was either taken over or hacked, and he had nothing to do with the tweets.


Guilty plea

On February 18, 2015, Moore entered a guilty plea with the Central District of California U.S. Attorney's Office, in which he admitted to aggravated identity theft and aiding and abetting in the unauthorized access of a computer. In addition to his mandatory prison sentence, Moore also agreed to a three-year period of supervised probation, a $2,000 fine and $145.70 in restitution. He also received an order that he delete all the data on his seized computers. Under the plea, he would serve a minimum of two years in prison, and a maximum of seven years and a $500,000 fine. On July 2, 2015, accomplice Charles Evens pleaded guilty to charges of computer hacking and identity theft, confessing to stealing hundreds of images from women's email accounts and selling them to Moore. He also faced up to seven years imprisonment.


Conviction and sentencing

On November 16, 2015, Evens was sentenced to 2 years and 1 month imprisonment, as well as a $2,000 dollar fine and $147.50 in restitution. On December 2, 2015, Moore was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation while imprisoned. Moore was released from prison in May 2017.


Defamation judgment

On March 8, 2013, Bullyville founder James McGibney won a $250,000 defamation judgment against Moore, after Moore called McGibney a "
pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...
" and threatened to
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
his wife.


Netflix documentary

Moore and his website are the subject of a three-part
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
documentary, ''
The Most Hated Man on the Internet ''The Most Hated Man on the Internet'' is a 2022 American three-part Netflix docuseries that covers the story of Hunter Moore and his website Is Anyone Up?, a pornographic site based on stolen and hacked photos, and the struggle to take the webs ...
''. The end credits state that Moore initially agreed to feature in the documentary in person, but later declined to do so.


References


External links

*
Is Anyone Up?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Hunter American Internet celebrities American DJs 1986 births Hackers Living people People from Sacramento, California Criminals from California People from Woodland, California