Fifty Shades of Grey effect

The cold snap has continued into February, but it was reassuring to see the last remaining seconds of daylight
as I left the office (on time) this week.

This leads me seamlessly to struggle on under clouds which are 'fifty shades of grey' - a not at all forced link to maximise hits on Google.

That's right, the big news this week is the release of the 'most anticipated film of the year', Fifty Shades of Grey. I can only apologise to the naïve and innocent among you for the sentences that follow and any associated puns.

EL James's 2011 novel introduced 'mummy porn' to the masses, selling over 100 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 52 languages. It is now set to find an even larger audience as Jamie Dornan steps into the title role as billionaire Christian Grey, a man with a fetish for sadomasochism.

As the film hits cinema screens, the London Fire Brigade has reported that it has attended almost 400 emergency incidents caused by copycat lovers tangled up in compromising positions. To satisfy your curiosities, but save my own blushes, I won't say anything more than this: handcuffs, rings, vacuum cleaners and toasters!

It seems inevitable that with the success of the book and with the film likely to become an instant cult hit, it will play a part in legal proceedings in the future, from divorce to personal injury. Suggestions that a spoof 'Fifty Shades of Grayling' is now in production have not (yet) been confirmed.

Also dominating (sorry) the headlines this week has been the passing into law of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill. Part of the Bill focuses on online activity, particularly the use of the internet to cause harm or distress. I'm sure the increase of up to two years in prison for trolls who send abusive messages or material online will be universally welcomed.

Slightly more controversial is the recognition of 'revenge porn' as a criminal offence, meaning those who share private, sexual images of another person without consent and intending to cause distress may now face a prison sentence of up to two years. (See John van der Luit-Drummond's report.)

The law may lead to significant numbers of people being held to account, particularly the young who are more likely to use technology to communicate with such applications as Snapchat and Whatsapp.

As with internet trolls, the number of complaints will likely overwhelm the system put in place, both with the police and the CPS. Although laws already existed to tackle these crimes, very few convictions have been made. Several high profile stories about the dangers of having private photos stored online have kept these concerns in the public consciousness and the introduction of this new offence may go some way to making people think twice and exercise just a little more common sense.

The Ministry of Justice has launched a campaign to raise awareness of online safety alongside the UK Safer Internet Centre, Woman's Aid and Suzy Lamplugh Trust. 'Be Aware B4 You Share' is making use of Facebook and Twitter to target potential victims and offenders and to make revenge porn morally unacceptable.

How far the law now takes us is in the hands of those who enforce it, but this is a good step in the right direction, and one more towards the regulation of internet use.

Kevin Poulter, editor at large

#SJPOULTER @SJ_weekly 

editorial@solicitorsjournal.co.uk