Free for a Fee

Bollaert, 27, was arrested in December of last year and was charged with 31 felony counts of identity theft, extortion, and conspiracy for running a site that asked users to upload nude photos of victims along with their full name, age, location, and a Facebook link. Investigators said that when victims would ask Bollaert to take the pictures down, he would direct them to a separate website that he created, changemyreputation.com, where they would be asked to pay a fee, usually between $300 and $350. Bollaert himself said he made about $900 a month on advertising revenue from the site. The California government alleges he made more than $10,000 off of ugotposted.

Sites like Bollaert’s often believe they are protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which prevents operators of websites from being held responsible for the content posted by their users. Bollaert pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in January.