Is Blackmail illegal?
For starters, since you sent him the photographs, you "gifted" the photographs to him. He thereby legally owns a license to those photographs and can do with them as he wishes. It would be no different if you have given him a CD and he gave the CD to a friend. However, it would be illegal for him to use those pictures as leverage to get you to do (or not to do) something against your will. That is, in fact, "blackmail". But, keep in mind, blackmail charges are difficult to prove as it is a "he says - she says" case. You would need a considerable amount of evidence in order to prove that he tried to use those pictures against you. You would certainly need a recorded phone call (check into the legality of recording him in your state without his permission. It may be just as illegal to record him against without his permission as it is for him to black mail you) a written letter, or at least someone to testify that they heard him black mail you.
Why is blackmail illegal?
I've seen this question posted several times on here. But I still don't understand it, or at least the explanations given just don't satisfy me well enough. I don't understand why it is considered such a corrupt concept that the law needs to get involved. People often say that it's a way of "stealing" from a person. If it was, I'd see where the law would need to get involved. But I just can't see it as stealing. Think about it... Person x catches person y doing something he shouldn't be doing. Person x tells them that they will expose the information of what they are doing to person z, which will result in the damaging of person y's reputation or career, unless they pay person x a sum of money or something the-like. Basically they've got person y stuck between a rock and a hard place, but it's still their fault ultimately. If person y decides to pay the man, I don't see how this is stealing. In my opinion, stealing is a person taking someone else's money without them knowing, or with them knowing, but NOT giving it to them willingly. They have to take it from you. In blackmail the person agrees to give the money to keep the other person quiet. I don't see how this is stealing. Basically I think the law is unjustly protecting a person from a series of their own bad decisions. Both what they did wrong originally, and their decision to pay a blackmailer. I don't see how these "victims" as they call themselves, deserve protection from their own idiocy. Why should the government hold someones hand because they are being taken advantage of while they themselves refuse to resolve the issue? It's human nature, people take advantage of each other all the time in various ways, both big and small. Being blackmailed is just a personal issue that I don't see justice in the law helping someone out of. If someones life was actually being threatened, it would be a different story of course. If it was something beyond the person being blackmailed's own stupidity, maybe. Sure, I will agree that blackmailing someone isn't the right thing to do. But I think people should know better, when you're caught, you're caught. They shouldn't give in to the demands. If they do, they should accept themselves as the one to blame and face the consequences of it.
Is Blackmail always illegal?
I have a friend who was getting calls from her married landlord. She started recording the calls and during a few of them he offered to trade sex for rent and also asked her to have sex or three-ways. She is moving and is nervous that he will hold a grudge for her turning him down like no security deposit etc..is it illegal if she tells him she has the tapes and to leave her alone?
What is the legal distinction between accepting hush money (legal) and blackmail (illegal)?
It largely boils down to who initiates it and whether there was a threat.Please don’t tell anyone about our affair. Here’s $5 if you agree.If you give me $5 I won’t tell anyone about our affair. Otherwise I’ll squeal.The strange case of Denny Hastert: The other reason why his indictment is so disturbingTo see how tricky this kind of situation can become, let’s first consider two straightforward hypotheticals: Suppose Individual A calls a lawyer, and tells the lawyer his story. The lawyer calls Hastert, and tells him he wants to talk to Hastert’s lawyer. The two lawyers then negotiate a settlement, in which, in exchange for a payment, Individual A agrees to sign a release, waiving any legal claims he has against Hastert. Such an agreement would certainly include a non-disclosure provision, making the payment contingent upon Individual A’s promise not to disclose the existence of the agreement. All this is perfectly legal, which means the agreement would be enforced by court orders if necessary. But of course the whole point of the agreement is to make it unnecessary for any legal action to ever be filed. In effect, Hastert and Individual A are entering into a contract to bury evidence of Hastert’s crime, in exchange for money.Now suppose Individual A calls Hastert up and tells him, “if you don’t pay me $3.5 million, I’ll call a press conference and announce that you molested me when I was your student. But if you pay me, I promise to keep quiet.” This is extortion, which is a serious crime. (By the way, if Hastert agrees to this arrangement and then reneges, Individual A can’t go to court to enforce the agreement, because criminal contracts aren’t legally enforceable.)On one level, the distinction between these two situations is perfectly clear, as Richard Nixon used to say. On another, it’s troubling that we allow people to buy silence regarding their crimes, as long as the appropriate paperwork is drawn up first.
Would blackmail play be illegal? BDSM?
While BDSM contracts are nice, they rarely mean anything when it comes to holding up in court. If that were the case BDSM contracts like that would make slavery legal... lol. You can always claim that the contract was signed under duress. As with most BDSM play there has to be an incredable amount of trust. When I submitted to my Master I turned over my life completely. I had to trust that He wouldn't liquidate my finances and take off, for instance. Let's say the person you're doing the blackmail play with is married and having an affair with you. You can have someone follow to take pics of you two in compromising situations, have hidden cameras in your home... and then set a scene for coorocing a certain behavior or action from your subject by showing them the evidence and threatening to send the photos to their spouse/employer/church. They have to absolutly trust that you aren't going to actually do this later on if the relationship goes sour. And you have to trust that they don't freak out and get you in trouble with the law.
Student may blackmail teacher? is this illegal? (MORE INFO)?
hi. my friend, he has a usb with our teachers personal stuff in it, and he took it with him, cuz he found it. he showed me pics of her, and some 'immature" pictures of her and some other people. and it has like family pictures, friends, etc.. he's makes these weird noises saying shes beautiful, etc. And he like im using this just in case of black mail.. then he's like ahh,i would never do that to her! and the thing is, I TOOK THE WHOLE THING ON VIDEO. and it's proof. idk if i should tell her about this. what should i do? MORE INFO; he said he found it 1 year ago, and he probably wont do anything. and he maybe give it to me. should i still tell her? what do i do.
Is blackmailing illegal? Why?
Under English criminal law... "A person is guilty of blackmail if, with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another, he makes any unwarranted demand with menaces; and for this purpose a demand with menaces is unwarranted unless the person making it does so in the belief—http://...(a)that he has reasonable grounds for making the demand; andhttp://...(b)that the use of the menaces is a proper means of reinforcing the demand.""Menaces" means threats.So blackmail is illegal in England. It is not obvious that blackmail should be illegal. Some libertarians believe blackmail is just a type of contract and should be legal. We make it illegal because we think that making unreasonable demands reinforced by improper threats should be illegal.These examples may help understanding...Consider this example. You owe me 100 dollars. I say "Unless you repay me the money in fourteen days, I'll tell all your friends that you do not repay your debts." So we have a demand and a threat, but no crime because the demand is reasonable and the threat is proper.Consider this example. A woman works as a schoolteacher. To supplement her income she stars in porn videos. She happens to owe you $100. You say "Unless you repay my money in seven days, I shall send one of your porn videos to your school principal. Then he will fire you." Here the demand is reasonable but the threat is improper, so it is blackmail.Consider this example. A woman works as a schoolteacher. To supplement her income she stars in porn videos. She owes you nothing. You say "Unless you give me $10,000 in seven days, I shall send one of your porn videos to your school principal. Then he will fire you." Here the demand is unreasonable and the threat is improper; obviously a classic case of blackmail.In a criminal trial it would be for the jury to decide, having examined all the evidence, whether the demand was reasonable or not, and whether the threat was proper or not. I hope this helps and I hope you can follow my arguments.
Should blackmail be legal?
I disagree completely with Clayburn Griffin . Even if the information is obtained through legal means, threatening to reveal it unless money is given is called extortion. Extortion is illegal, and with good reason. It basically makes someone your slave to give you money whenever you want, lest you reveal the secret. Yes, true, the person has a choice not give in. But that's like saying that someone who has a gun pointed at them has a choice to not give in to the person pointing the gun at them. While the consequences of having the secret revealed might be less than those of being shot with a gun, the concept is the same: the person is "strong-arming" the other person with threat of harm (whether physical or personal) in order to get money that they otherwise don't deserve. It's essentially robbery.So all blackmail should be illegal, whether the information is obtained legally or illegally.
Is it illegal to blackmail someone who broke the law but was not caught?
It is scary how many people have no idea how the legal system works. Those who say blackmail is always illegal are right. Those who say it is illegal not to report a crime are, except in a few rare circumstances, absolutely wrong. There is no legal obligation to report a crime. (You cannot, however, affirmatively aid a person who you know has committed a crime, e.g., by hiding the person or destroying physical evidence.)
Is it illegal to blackmail someone in Massachusetts?
Educated answers only please. In Massachusetts is it illegal to Blackmail someone, Is blackmail and extortion the same in MA? Example. Man finds that a business owner has cheated on his wife and has documentation proving so. The man demands payment for his silence, If payment is not sent the sensitive information is delivered to those who would care. Illegal? Blackmail or Extortion in MA? What ramifications if it is illegal.