Bristol Company's Bee Media Ltd shut down its website after learning that an internet site was posting the infamous topless pictures of Kate Middleton under the company's name. The site was registered under the same name as the Bristol Company on 14 September with Nominet.
The original company Bee Media Ltd is a digital marketing website that helps other companies with marketing strategies on the internet. The company's owner, Oliver James told thisisbristol.co.uk that the news was "disturbing," adding that "I'm not sure off hand how to find out what's going on with the registrant details but will try to contact the registration service and find out how Bee Digital has been associated with it."
The website has been taken down since, with a message that informs visitors, "This page is closed due to an article posted in a Bristol newspaper linking it to a website containing content in breach of French privacy laws. In short, the website mentioned in the article has nothing to do with this page or its owners and we were unaware of its existence until today," as posted by thisisbristol.co.uk
Last week, a judge in a French court ruled to block the French gossip magazine "Closer" from publishing its issue which revealed topless pictures of Kate Middleton sunbathing on a vacation in France at a private residence.
According to the injunction issued, the Closer had to relinquish all copies within 24 hours to the court. In addition, the gossip magazine will be fined with $13,100 per day if it fails to handover all the published pictures by Friday. The injunction also forbid the magazine to sell or republish any of the pictures.
The court ruling read as reported by the Associated Press: "These snapshots which showed the intimacy of a couple, partially naked on the terrace of a private home, surrounded by a park several hundred meters from a public road, and being able to legitimately assume that they are protected from passers-by, are by nature particularly intrusive...They were thus subjected to this brutal display the moment the cover appeared."
Lawyer for the royal couple, Maud Sobel told the Associated Press that royal family "welcome the judge's ruling," calling it "a wonderful decision... We've been vindicated."
It is still unclear whether the royal couple will file a similar suit against the Italian gossip magazine "Chi" The Italian magazine is owned by the same company which owns the French "Closer," Mondadori group, which is in turn owned by former Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The pictures appeared in the Monday's issue of "Chi"
The Royal family filed suit against the French gossip magazine, "Closer," for publishing the pictures, which the French court called a "brutal display of private moments," as reported by the Associated Press.
According to Radar Online, the royal palace released a legal statement as follows, "legal proceedings for breach of privacy have been commenced today in France" by the royal couple, which they described as "grotesque and totally unjustifiable."
"The complaint concerns the taking of photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge whilst on holiday and the publication of those photographs in breach of their privacy," a Royal Spokesman told the New York Times.
The French tabloid magazine took pictures of the couple sunbathing while vacationing at the private residence of the Queen's nephew Viscount Linley, Château d'Autet. The royal family is sued the magazine for invasion of privacy.
Royal officials have confirmed that the pictures are authentic and say that legal action against the magazine was under consideration. The Royal house berated the magazine saying that publishing the private pictures was "grotesque and totally unjustifiable," and not to mention an invasion of privacy, as reported the Associated Press.
St. James's Palace official in London told the AP, "Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them...We feel a line has been crossed with their publication."
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