Fewer naked musicians online as Is Anyone Up? shuts down
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The name Hunter Moore could strike fear in the hearts of even the most tattoo-encrusted rock ‘n’ roller. His site, Is Anyone Up?, was an online museum of nakedness, posting -- in its year of existence -- hundreds of nude photos of band members from the middle and lower echelons of hard rock. As of this morning, it is no more.
The site’s domain has been taken over by a destination that calls itself BullyVille, and boasts that it is the ‘first anti-bullying social website and media platform.’ It should be noted, however, that one of BullyVille’s affiliated sites, CheaterVille, has raised some eyebrows itself, allowing users to anonymously post details of purported relationship indiscretions.
Nevertheless, Moore claims to have changed his tune in a letter explaining the closure. ‘The site was started for the scene and I tried to keep it that way as long as I could by supporting bands and giving them reasonable prices on ad space,’ Moore wrote. ‘The bills were getting too insane and I had to turn to the porn game for extra money but it’s too shady.’
In an interview with The Times last fall, Moore was defiant. Photos on his site were submitted anonymously by users, and the pictures were organized under general categories such as ‘girls,’ ‘guys’ and ‘band.’ The presentation was crude, and Moore didn’t sound too concerned about repercussions that his site might cause. ‘I understand it can hurt your reputation and your job and yadda yadda yadda,’ Moore said when asked about those who wanted a photo taken down.
Yet today, Moore wrote that policing the site began to be too much for him to handle. Moore told The Times that the site went to great lengths to prevent underage content from appearing. When photographs were submitted, they were sent to a cloud server where a post was automatically generated and had to await approval from Moore or one of his two volunteers. Only digital images were allowed, as Moore used multiple software programs to confirm when the photo was taken and whether it was real and undoctored, he said.
Moore then performed a quick background check on the subject -- those submitting had to provide a person’s full name and city -- and if anything was questionable or unverifiable, Moore said he contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
In explaining his desire to shut down the site, Moore wrote, ‘The site was a blessing for me and still is, but I am burned out and I honestly can’t take another underage kid getting submitted and having to go through the process of reporting it and dealing with all the legal drama of that situation.’
Moore said that he is moving on to be a party organizer and that he will be donating money to charity. No doubt, band members worried about appearing on his site can sleep a little easier tonight.
‘People I know are afraid that they might have a picture out, and scared of what he will do if he gets hold of it,’ Dante Phoenix, the Long Beach-bred guitarist of Picture Me Broken, said last fall.
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-- Todd Martens
Anderson Cooper moderates as Hunter Moore, right, is confronted by Melissa Riedel, center left, and Daveeda Smith, who appeared on Moore’s site. Credit: Ali Goldstein / Warner Bros.
