Buff
12-04-2002, 08:27 PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...hletes_videos_1 (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021204/ap_on_re_us/athletes_videos_1)
CHICAGO (AP) - A federal judge has ordered eight companies and three people to pay $506 million to 46 college athletes secretly videotaped in the buff, with the images sold over the Internet.
The athletes had sued over the footage. After the defendants failed to show up in court since at least 2000, a federal judge granted the students a default judgment.
The videotapes were made in locker rooms, rest rooms and showers during athletic competitions on several campuses and sold through Internet sites advertising "hot younger dudes."
"We look at this judgment as the court system sending a signal to the sexual predators that they're not going to get away with this," said attorney Cindy Fluxgold, who represents several of the athletes.
U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras' Nov. 25 decision grants each of 46 athletes $1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. The remainder of the $506 million award will go to court costs and attorneys' fees.
Kocoras also ordered the defendants to surrender the videotapes and get out of the business of making and selling them.
The tapes, with names such as "Straight Off the Mat" and "Voyeur Time," first came to light in 1999, when the Chicago Tribune reported that hidden-camera videotapes, including footage taken during a 1995 wrestling tournament at Northwestern University, were being marketed online and by mail.
A wrestler at the match noticed a towel-covered camera case in the locker room and a camera was discovered inside.
No criminal charges were filed in connection with the tapes. Illinois has since enacted a law making it illegal to secretly film anyone in locker rooms or bathrooms.
Fluxgold said Wednesday that the 46 athletes represent a fraction of the hundreds of men caught on tape, many of whom have not been identified. The lawsuit alleged invasion of privacy, unlawful use of the plaintiffs' images for monetary gain, and mail and wire fraud under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Among the schools involved were Northwestern, Illinois, Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, Indiana, Penn, Iowa State and Michigan State.
Kocoras' judgment was entered against Franco Production, Franko Productions, Rodco, Hidvidco, Hidvidco-Atlas Video Release, AMO Video, Atlas Video, Gamport/Earthlink, and individuals Daniel Franco, George Jachem and R.D. Couture.
CHICAGO (AP) - A federal judge has ordered eight companies and three people to pay $506 million to 46 college athletes secretly videotaped in the buff, with the images sold over the Internet.
The athletes had sued over the footage. After the defendants failed to show up in court since at least 2000, a federal judge granted the students a default judgment.
The videotapes were made in locker rooms, rest rooms and showers during athletic competitions on several campuses and sold through Internet sites advertising "hot younger dudes."
"We look at this judgment as the court system sending a signal to the sexual predators that they're not going to get away with this," said attorney Cindy Fluxgold, who represents several of the athletes.
U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras' Nov. 25 decision grants each of 46 athletes $1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. The remainder of the $506 million award will go to court costs and attorneys' fees.
Kocoras also ordered the defendants to surrender the videotapes and get out of the business of making and selling them.
The tapes, with names such as "Straight Off the Mat" and "Voyeur Time," first came to light in 1999, when the Chicago Tribune reported that hidden-camera videotapes, including footage taken during a 1995 wrestling tournament at Northwestern University, were being marketed online and by mail.
A wrestler at the match noticed a towel-covered camera case in the locker room and a camera was discovered inside.
No criminal charges were filed in connection with the tapes. Illinois has since enacted a law making it illegal to secretly film anyone in locker rooms or bathrooms.
Fluxgold said Wednesday that the 46 athletes represent a fraction of the hundreds of men caught on tape, many of whom have not been identified. The lawsuit alleged invasion of privacy, unlawful use of the plaintiffs' images for monetary gain, and mail and wire fraud under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Among the schools involved were Northwestern, Illinois, Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, Indiana, Penn, Iowa State and Michigan State.
Kocoras' judgment was entered against Franco Production, Franko Productions, Rodco, Hidvidco, Hidvidco-Atlas Video Release, AMO Video, Atlas Video, Gamport/Earthlink, and individuals Daniel Franco, George Jachem and R.D. Couture.