By Peter Berton
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A former attorney blames Apple Inc. for what he calls an addiction to porn that irreparably damaged his life and his marriage. According to Mark Christopher “Chris” Sevier’s complaint, Apple should be held accountable for failing to ship its mobile devices with adult content filters in place by default.
“The plaintiff is a victim of Apple’s product that was sold to him without any warning of the damage the pornography causes,” the complaint states. “But for the Plaintiff’s use of the Apple product, the quality of the Plaintiff’s life would have been much better and injury would have been avoided. The Plaintiff sustained these unwarranted damages in the course of using Apple’s product as designed. Apple’s product was not adequately equipped with safety features that would have otherwise blocked unwarranted intrusions of pornographic content that systematically poisoned his life.”
The so-called poisoning occurred after Sevier “accidentally misspelled” Facebook.com and ended up at Fuckbook.com, he asserts. The alleged typo, accomplished on a MacBook Pro, sent his life careening out of control on a path that led to the dissolution of his marriage, estrangement from his son and the loss of his law license, he testifies in the complaint.
In December 2011, Sevier, a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, was barred from practicing law in Tennessee due to “mental infirmity or illness” after his arrest for stalking country singer John Rich. In part, the stalking charge stemmed from Sevier sending Rich sexually suggestive emails.
“He may return to the practice of law after proving to the court by clear and convincing evidence that the disability has been removed and he is fit to resume the practice of law,” the Tennessee Bar Association ruled.
In his complaint, Sevier insists none of his aberrant behavior would have occurred had Apple merely installed automatic porn filters. In addition, he blames the proliferation of late-night TV sex ads and male-potency drugs on the presence of pornography on the World Wide Web. As if that were not enough, he compares internet porn to cigarettes and weapons, ultimately concluding that Apple has “hijacked great sex” by failing to install automatic porn filters.
The lawsuit demands the court issue a permanent injunction forcing Apple to install filters that may be turned off only upon written request containing proof the customer is of legal age and that he or she explicit admits pornography is harmful. Sevier also demands Apple issue a public warning about the dangers of pornography and “work in conjunction with the FBI” to “kill Backpage.com” and similar websites that allow adds for adult services. In addition, he seeks more than $75,000 to cover loss of income and medical expenses associated with his alleged addiction. If neither the court nor Apple is amenable to Sevier’s plan, he warns a class-action suit and criminal prosecution will follow.
“For anyone to suggest that the policy proposed by the Plaintiff is unnecessary or unreasonable would be a demonstration of the very arrogance itself which proves the necessity for safeguards to protect our hearts in the first place,” the complaint states. “The human heart is what is at stake.
“We need Apple and this Court to protect us from ourselves from developing intrusive sexual additions [sic] afforded like never before thanks to cyberspace and devices [sic] that allow us to connect to it. A filterless devise [sic] is the gateway to the harm that follows.”
So far Apple has not responded to the lawsuit.
