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Celebrity lawyer threatens Google with $100 million suit over nude selfies

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TIME
TIME
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Ben Geier
Ben Geier
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By
TIME
TIME
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Ben Geier
Ben Geier
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October 2, 2014, 10:57 AM ET
Gov. Brown Signs Legislation At Google HQ That Allows Testing Of Autonomous Vehicles
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This post is in partnership with time. The article below was originally published at Time.com.

By Noah Rayman

A lawyer representing more than a dozen celebrities whose personal and sometimes nude photos were stolen and shared on the Internet issued a scathing letter to Google that accuses the tech giant of helping the images spread and threatens a $100 million lawsuit.

The letter, written by lawyer Marty Singer and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, calls Google’s conduct “despicable” for what it says is Google’s failure to remove the images and its “facilitating and perpetuating the unlawful conduct.”

Google (GOOG) did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment, though the firm has removed some images from its sites and links to the images from its search engine. Still, the letter says Google has not done enough. According to the letter, lawyers have asked Google more than a dozen times to remove the images from Google sites like BlogSpot and YouTube, but some of the images are still available several weeks after the initial breach.

Google “has acted dishonorably by allowing and perpetuating unlawful activity that exemplifies an utter lack of respect for women and privacy,” the letter says. “Google’s ‘Don’t be evil’ motto’ is a sham.”

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