Order On MSJ
Order On MSJ
Order On MSJ
PIPER PETERSON,
JEANIE PETERSON,
Plaintiff,
MICHAEL MOLDOFSKY,
Defendant.
Between the years of 2004 and 2006, Plaintiff Piper Peterson and Defendant Michael
Moldofsky had multiple intimate encounters. During one of these encounters, Moldofsky
photographed Peterson while she was engaged in various sexual acts with two other people.
Sometime after the photographs were taken, Peterson and Moldofsky had a falling out. Following
the falling out, Moldofsky emailed some of the photographs he had taken of Peterson to Peterson’s
mother, Co-plaintiff Jeanie Peterson, ex-husband, ex-in laws, current boyfriend, boss, and
coworkers. As a result of Moldofsky’s actions, Peterson and her mother both claim that they have
suffered severe emotional distress. This matter is currently before the Court on the following
motions: (1) Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs’ Counts I, II, IV, and V and on
Defendant’s counterclaims (Doc. 32); and (2) Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment on
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Plaintiffs’ Counts I, II, IV, and V (Doc. 34).1 The parties have fully briefed the motions and the
I. Standard of Review
judgment is appropriate when the moving party demonstrates that “there is no genuine issue as to
any material fact” and that it is “entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”3 “An issue of fact is
‘genuine’ if the evidence allows a reasonable jury to resolve the issue either way.”4 A fact is
“material” when “it is essential to the proper disposition of the claim.”5 When making its
determination whether to grant summary judgment, the court must view the evidence and all
Initially, the moving party bears the burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue
of material fact.7 In attempting to meet this standard, the moving party need not disprove the
nonmoving party’s claim; rather, the movant must simply point out the lack of evidence on an
1
In his response to Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, Defendant stated that he “has withdrawn all of
his counterclaims.” Based on Defendant’s statement, the Court grants summary judgment in favor of Plaintiffs on
these claims. See Scotwood Indust., Inc. v. Frank Miller & Sons, Inc., 435 F. Supp. 2d 1160, 1171 (D. Kan. 2006).
2
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327 (1986).
3
Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c).
4
Haynes v. Level 3 Communications, LLC, 456 F.3d 1215, 1219 (10th Cir. 2006).
5
Id.
6
LifeWise Master Funding v. Telebank, 374 F.3d 917, 927 (10th Cir. 2004).
7
Thom v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., 353 F.3d 848, 851 (10th Cir. 2003) (citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-
23).
8
Id. (citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325).
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If the moving party carries its initial burden, the party opposing summary judgment cannot
rest on the pleadings but must bring forth “specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial.”9 The
opposing party must “set forth specific facts that would be admissible in evidence in the event of
trial from which a rational trier of fact could find for the nonmovant.”10 “To accomplish this, the
incorporated therein.”11 Conclusory allegations alone cannot defeat a properly supported motion
for summary judgment.12 The nonmovant’s “evidence, including testimony, must be based on more
II. Analysis
Counts I and II of Plaintiffs’ complaint allege that Defendant’s conduct constitutes the tort
of intentional infliction of emotion distress. Both sides have motioned for summary judgment on
these claims. In their motion, Plaintiffs, Jeanie and Piper, argue that they are entitled to summary
judgment because they have suffered severe emotional distress as a result of Defendant’s conduct.
In his briefing, Defendant contends that because his act of emailing photographs of Piper “engaged
in group sexual activities to a handful of relatives and friends of Piper” was not “sufficiently extreme
9
Garrison v. Gambro, Inc., 428 F.3d 933, 935 (10th Cir. 2005).
10
Mitchell v. City of Moore, Okla., 218 F.3d 1190, 1197 (10th Cir. 2000) (citing Adler v. Wal-Mart Stores,
Inc., 144 F.3d 664, 670 (10th Cir. 1998).
11
Adler, 144 F.3d at 671. While a district court may search for and consider evidence in the record that
would rebut the defendant’s evidence, “it is not obligated to” do so. Mandeville v. Quinstar Corp., 2000 WL
1375264, *3 (D. Kan. Aug. 29, 2000).
12
White v. York Int’l Corp., 45 F.3d 357, 363 (10th Cir. 1995).
13
Bones v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc., 366 F.3d 869, 875 (10th Cir. 2004).
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and outrageous” and the alleged distress that Piper and Jeanie have suffered “go far beyond what
any reasonable person would expect under the circumstances,” the Court should grant summary
judgment in his favor. For the reasons that follow, the Court denies both motions.
Desiring to restrict the number of fictitious claims and claims based on trivialities and mere
bad manners, “Kansas has set a very high standard for the common law tort of intentional infliction
of emotional distress or, as it is sometimes referred to, the tort of outrage.”14 To establish a prima
facie case of intentional infliction of emotional distress, a plaintiff must demonstrate: “(1)
defendant’s conduct was intentional or in reckless disregard of plaintiff; (2) defendant’s conduct was
extreme and outrageous; (3) there is a causal connection between defendant’s conduct and plaintiff’s
emotional distress; and (4) plaintiff’s mental distress is extreme and severe.”15
For a plaintiff to survive a motion for summary judgment, the Court must make two
threshold determinations: (1) that the defendant’s conduct may reasonably be regarded as so extreme
and outrageous as to permit recovery and (2) that the emotional distress suffered by plaintiff is of
such extreme degree the law must intervene because no reasonable person should be expected to
endure it.16 “Conduct is not extreme and outrageous unless it is regarded as being ‘beyond the
bounds of decency and utterly intolerable in a civilized society.’”17 The classic test for determining
14
Holdren v. Gen. Motors Corp., 31 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 1282 (D. Kan. 1998); see also Roberts v. Saylor, 230
Kan. 289, 293, 637 P.2d 1175, 1179 (1981) (discussing the various reasons why courts are reluctant to recognize this
type of action).
15
Roberts, 230 Kan. at 293, 673 P.2d at 1179.
16
See McGregor v. City of Olathe, Kan., 158 F. Supp. 2d 1225, 1242 (D. Kan. 2001)(citing Fusaro v. First
Family Mortgage Corp., 257 Kan. 794, 805, 897 P.2d 123, 131 (1995)); Smith v. Welch, 265 Kan. 868, 876, 967
P.2d 727, 733 (1998).
17
White v. Midwest Office Tech., Inc., 5 F. Supp. 2d 936, 953 (D. Kan. 1998) (quoting Moore v. State Bank
of Burden, 240 Kan. 382, 388, 729 P.2d 1205, 1211 (1986)).
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whether the relevant conduct is sufficiently extreme is to ask whether “the recitation of the facts to
an average citizen would arouse resentment against the actor and lead that citizen to spontaneously
exclaim, ‘Outrageous!’”18
Here, the threshold requirements are met. To begin with, the Court finds that an average
citizen could characterize Defendant’s conduct–emailing photographs of Piper that depict her
engaging in group sexual activities to Piper’s mother, ex-husband, ex-in laws, current boyfriend,
boss, and coworkers–as outrageous.19 Additionally, the Court concludes that a jury could find that
Plaintiffs’ emotional distress is sufficiently extreme. Among other things, both Plaintiffs have
sought counseling for the alleged stress caused by Defendant’s actions, which this Court has viewed
“as an indicator of the distress’s severity.”20 Furthermore, Defendant’s conduct is “so shocking and
outrageous as to give rise to an inference of severe emotional distress.”21 Accordingly, the Court
18
Fusaro, 257 Kan. at 805, 897 P.2d at 130.
19
See In re Thomas, 254 B.R. 879, 885 (D.S.C. 1999) (concluding that the defendant’s mailing of sexually
explicit pictures of his ex-girlfriend to her new fiancé was “so extreme and outrageous that it exceeded all possible
bounds of decency”); Lucas v. Lucas, 2008 WL 2696838, at *3 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. July 11, 2008) (declaring,
in a case involving a restraining order, that the defendant’s act of posting nude pictures of his wife on his car door
window where they could be seen by the public was egregious); McGowan v. O’Rourke, 918 A.2d 716, 719 (N.J.
Super. Ct. App. Div. 2007) (“The act of mailing graphic pornographic pictures to a third-party and implying that
they may be sent to the victim’s workplace and her son is egregious.”); Del Mastro v. Grimado, 2005 WL 2002355,
at *3 (N.J. Super. Ct. Ch. Div. Aug. 19, 2005) (stating that “the distribution of sexually explicit pictures of [the
plaintiff] in Christmas cards to approximately 100 of her family members . . . is sufficiently extreme to constitute
outrageous conduct”); see also Greenhorn v. Marriot Int’l Inc., 258 F. Supp. 2d 1249, 1262 (D. Kan. 2003) (finding
that the defendant’s exposure of himself to plaintiff was extreme and outrageous); Miller v. Bircham, Inc., 874 F.
Supp. 337, 341 (D. Kan. 1995) (same).
20
Nicol v. Auburn-Washburn USD 437, 231 F. Supp. 2d 1107, 1119 (D. Kan. 2002).
21
Land v. Midwest Office Tech., Inc., 114 F. Supp. 2d. 1121, 1145 (D. Kan. 2000) (citing Taiwo v. Vu, 249
Kan. 585, 596, 822 P.2d 1024, 1031 (1991)).
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As for Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, the Court also denies it. Questions relating
to intent, causation, and severity of emotional distress are for the jury to decide unless the issue is
so clear that reasonable persons could not differ.22 Here, despite the fact that the evidence
supporting Plaintiffs’ case is substantial and compelling, the Court concludes that it is not so one-
sided that a jury could not find in Defendant’s favor. Further militating against the Court granting
Plaintiffs’ motion is the fact that the Court has not discovered, and Plaintiffs have not pointed to,
even one case in this or any other jurisdiction that has granted a plaintiff’s motion for summary
judgment on an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim. As a result, the Court believes that
actionable where there is: (1) unreasonable intrusion upon the seclusion of another; (2) appropriation
of another’s name or likeness; (3) unreasonable publicity given to another’s private life; or (4)
publicity that unreasonably places another in a false light before the public.”24 Here, Plaintiff Piper
alleges two different theories of invasion of privacy: intrusion upon her seclusion, Count IV, and
publicity of matters concerning her private life, Count V. Both parties have moved for summary
22
See Prochaska v. Marcoux, 632 F.2d 848, 851 (10th Cir. 1980) (intent); James v. Rowe, 1989 WL 59044,
*3 (D. Kan. May 5, 1989) (causation); Breeden v. League Services Corp., 575 P.2d 1374, 1377-78 (Okla. 1978)
(severity of emotional distress).
23
Ratts v. Bd. of County Commissioners, Harvey County, Kan., 141 F. Supp. 2d 1289, 1323 (D. Kan. 2001)
(citing Rinsley v. Frydman, 221 Kan. 297, 303, 559 P.2d 334, 339 (1977)).
24
Finlay v. Finlay, 18 Kan. App. 2d 479, 485-86, 856 P.2d 183, 189 (1993).
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Plaintiff Piper claims that Defendant intruded on her privacy by emailing photographs of her
engaged in group sex to several people. In response, Defendant argues that he is entitled to
summary judgment on this claim because no intrusion occurred, as Plaintiff Piper knew of and
consented to his presence and his taking of pictures during the sex acts. Because the Court finds that
there “is no evidence of an intrusion as based on the manner in which the information is obtained,”25
To prevail on an intrusion upon seclusion claim, a plaintiff must establish two elements: “(1)
‘an intentional interference in the solitude or seclusion of a person’s physical being, or prying into
his private affairs or concerns, and’ (2) a reasonable person would be highly offended by the
intrusion.”26 The essence of this claim “is that an individual’s right to be left alone is interfered with
facilities.”27
Although Kansas case law and the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652B, which Kansas
courts usually rely on to define the parameters of a right to privacy action,28 do not directly address
the question presented here, what conduct constitutes an intrusion,29 there is relevant language that
25
Haehn v. City of Hoisington, 702 F. Supp. 1526, 1531 (D. Kan. 1988).
26
Robinson v. Bd. of County Commissioners of Rush County, Kan., 2007 WL 518829, at *6 (Kan. App. Feb.
16, 2007) (quoting Werner v. Kliewer, 238 Kan. 289, 294, 710 P.2d 1250, 1256 (1985)).
27
Finlay, 18 Kan. App. 2d at 486, 856 P.2d at 189.
28
Nicholas v. Nicholas, 227 Kan. 171, 192, 83 P.3d 214, 228-29 (2004); Dotson v. McLaughlin, 216 Kan.
201, 208, 531 P.2d 1, 7 (1975).
29
See O’Donnell v. United States, 891 F.2d 1079, 1083 (3d Cir. 1989) (stating that “the Restatement does
not define ‘intrusion’”).
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the Court believes indicates how the Kansas Supreme Court would rule on the issue.30 To begin
with, this Court, in a case where it was applying Kansas law, stated that intrusion claims are “based
upon the manner in which an individual obtains information.”31 Furthermore, in the case that the
Kansas Supreme Court first recognized a cause of action for invasion of privacy by intrusion upon
seclusion, the Supreme Court noted that an intrusion claim “does not require publication to be
actionable.”32
In addition to the relevant language, the Court also finds the holdings from our sister
jurisdictions instructive. Other courts that have confronted the issue presented in this case have held
that publication alone is not enough.33 The Court is persuaded by the analysis in those cases.
Therefore, based on the relevant language in the Kansas case law, the holdings in cases from sister
jurisdictions, and its own reading of the Restatement (Second), the Court concludes that under
Kansas law the disclosure of properly obtained information does not constitute an intrusion
sufficient to make out a claim of invasion of privacy under the theory of intrusion upon seclusion.
30
It is worth noting that both parties failed to provide the Court with cases that would assist it in its effort to
ascertain how the Kansas Supreme Court would answer the question presented.
31
Ali v. Douglas Cable Communications, 929 F. Supp. 1362, 1382 (D. Kan. 1996) (quoting Werner, 238
Kan. at 294, 710 P.2d at 1256).
32
See Froelich v. Adair, 213 Kan. 357, 360, 516 P.2d 993, 996 (1973).
33
See, e.g., Barker v. Manti Tekephone Co., 2009 WL 47110, at *3 (D. Utah Jan. 6, 2009) (applying Utah
law and declaring that it is the “affirmative physical intrusion, eavesdropping, investigation, examination or prying
that constitutes the tort, not any subsequent sharing of the information”); In re Trans Union Corp., Privacy Litig.,
326 F. Supp. 2d 893, 901 (N.D. Ill. 2004) (applying Illinois law and stating that “is clear from the Restatement
comments [that] it is the intrusion itself that creates liability, not any subsequent publication or disclosure”);
Anderson v. Black, 2005 WL 2716302, at *4 (W.D. Okla. Oct. 21, 2005) (applying Oklahoma law and opining that
“[p]ublication alone is insufficient to constitute an intrusion upon seclusion”); Hill v. MCI Worldcom
Communications, Inc., 141 F. Supp. 2d 1205, 1210 (S.D. Iowa 2001) (applying Iowa law and concluding that the
“disclosure of properly obtained information does not state a claim for invasion of privacy under the theory of
intrusion upon seclusion”).
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In the present case, Plaintiff does not allege that the photographs that were distributed were
taken against her will or were otherwise wrongfully obtained;34 rather, she merely claims that the
distribution of the explicit photographs constitutes an intrusion. As stated above, this contention
is contrary to Kansas law, as the act of distribution does not constitute an intrusion sufficient to
make out a claim invasion of privacy under the theory of intrusion upon seclusion. As a
consequence, Plaintiff has failed to establish the first element of this claim and her claim must fail.
Accordingly, the Court grants Defendant’s motion for summary judgment on this claim and denies
Plaintiffs’.
Plaintiff Piper also argues that the distribution of the explicit photographs violated her right
to privacy because it publicly disclosed private facts. Defendant contends that he is entitled to
summary judgment on this claim because he emailed the pictures to only five people, which he
claims is an insufficient number to satisfy the “publicity” requirement of this tort. The Court
disagrees with Defendant’s contention and for the reasons that follow denies both Plaintiffs and
To succeed on a claim of publicity given to private life, a plaintiff must show that the
defendant gave publicity to a matter concerning his private life that is of a kind that “would be
highly offensive to a reasonable person” and “is not of legitimate concern to the public.”35 A matter
is considered publicized when it is communicated to “the public at large, or to so many persons that
34
See Simons v. Con-Way Central Express, Inc., 2003 WL 22848939, at *3 (D. Minn. Nov. 17, 2003)
(applying Minnesota law and ruling that the plaintiff’s voluntarily disclosure of information precludes his claim that
an intrusion has occurred); C.L.D. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 79 F. Supp. 2d 1080, 1083 n.1 (D. Minn. 1999) (same).
35
Werner, 238 Kan. at 295, 710 P.2d at 1256 (quoting the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652D).
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the matter must be regarded as substantially certain to become one of public knowledge.”36 Thus,
if a plaintiff can put forth proof of either a single communication to the public or a communication
that is substantially certain to become known by the public, he will satisfy the publicity requirement
Based on the parties’ submissions to the Court, it appears that the only question that must
be resolved for this claim is whether the publicity requirement has been met. In their briefing, both
of the parties seem to suggest that the Kansas courts have established a numerical threshold for
determining whether a communication has been publicized. After reviewing the cases cited, the
Court disagrees that such a threshold has been set. In each of these cases, the presiding court merely
held that the publicity requirement was not met based on the facts presented; the court did not
In addition, the Court disagrees with Defendant’s contention that comment a of the
Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652D, which states that “it is not an invasion of the right to privacy
. . . to communicate a fact . . . to a single person, or even to a small group of people,” controls this
issue. The Court is not persuaded that the Kansas Supreme Court would follow comment a in a case
involving the transmission of sexually explicit material over the Internet. To begin with, unlike the
cases that have quoted comment a, this case does not involve a traditional form of communication,
such as paper mail37 or an oral conversation.38 This distinction is significant because the Internet
enables its users to “quickly and inexpensively surmount[]” the barriers to generating publicity that
36
Werner, 238 Kan. at 296, 710 P.2d at 1256.
37
See, e.g., Werner, 238 Kan. 289, 710 P.2d 1250.
38
See, e.g., Frye v. IBP, Inc., 15 F. Supp. 2d 1032 (D. Kan. 1998); Dominguez v. Davidson, 266 Kan. 926,
974 P.2d 112 (1999).
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were inherent in the traditional forms of communication.39 Furthermore, the Court finds significant
the fact that comment a was published at a time when few, if any, contemplated the fact that a single,
noncommercial, individual could distribute information, including personal information, “to anyone,
anywhere in the world” in just a matter of seconds.40 Today, unlike 1977, the year that the American
Law Institute officially adopted the Restatement (Second),41 due to the advent of the Internet, “the
barriers of creating publicity are slight.”42 Consequently, as is true of the existing Kansas case law,
the Restatement offers little to no assistance to the Court in its effort to resolve the present matter.
In diversity cases where the district court lacks guidance on an issue, it “must predict the
course that [the state supreme court] would take if confronted with the issue.”43 In making its
prediction, the court can look at “the policies underlying the applicable legal doctrines, the doctrinal
trends indicated by these policies, and the decisions of other courts” to ascertain how the state
In regards to the tort of publicity of private facts, it is well established that the purpose
behind recognizing the tort is to protect an individual from the unwarranted distribution of private
facts.45 To ensure that this purpose is not undermined, a growing number of jurisdictions have
39
Meyerkord v. Zipatoni Co., 276 S.W.3d 319, 325 (Mo. Ct. App. 2008).
40
Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844, 850 (1997); see also Blumenthal v. Drudge, 992 F. Supp. 44, 48 (D.D.C.
1998) (“[The Internet] enables people to communicate with one another with unprecedented speed and efficiency
and is rapidly revolutionizing how people share and receive information.”).
41
Daigle v. Shell Oil Co., 972 F.2d 1527, 1545 (10th Cir. 1992).
42
Welling v. Weinfeld, 866 N.E.2d 1051, 1059 (Ohio 2007).
43
See Vanover v. Cook, 260 F.3d 1182, 1186 (10th Cir. 2001).
44
Daitcom, Inc. . Pennwalt Corp., 741 F.2d 169, 1574-75 (10th Cir. 1984).
45
Rawlins v. Hutchinson, 218 Kan. 295, 304, 543 P.2d 988, 995-96 (1975); Prosser & Keeton on The Law
of Torts (5th ed. 1984) § 117, p. 858.
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adopted flexible standards for determining whether publication has occurred.46 One standard that
has been adopted by many courts throughout the country is the confidential relation standard, a
standard that holds that the publication requirement may be met when the defendant discloses
private information to people with whom the plaintiff has a special relationship with.47 The Court
finds that this trend of flexibility is instructive on the question of whether a court can find, consistent
with the Restatement’s dictates, that the distribution of private information to a small group of
Cognizant of the purpose behind recognizing the tort of publicity of private facts, the trend
in sister jurisdictions, the prevalence of the Internet, and the relative ease in which information can
be published over the Internet, the Court concludes that Kansas does not, as a matter of law,
preclude a privacy claim simply because the defendant communicated the private fact to a small
group of people. Courts must look to the context of the communication–e.g., its medium and
content–before makings its determination. With this in mind, the Court turns to the facts of this
case.
Here, Defendant emailed sexually explicit material to a handful of Plaintiff Piper’s family
and friends. While the Court agrees that it is unlikely that Piper’s mother will distribute the
incriminating photos to the public, the Court cannot, as a matter of law, say that her ex-husband, or
any of the other recipients for that matter, will not. With one simple keystroke, a recipient of the
46
See McSurely v. McClellan, 753 F.2d 88, 112 (D.C. Cir. 1985) (applying Kentucky law); Hill, 141 F.
Supp. 2d at 1212 (applying Iowa law).
47
See, e.g., McSurely, 753 F.2d at 112; Hill, 141 F. Supp. 2d at 1213; Chisholm v. Foothill Capital Corp., 3
F. Supp. 2d 925, 940 (N.D. Ill. 1998).
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email could, at least theoretically, disclose the pictures to over a billion people.48 Therefore, in light
of this fact, the Court finds that a genuine issue of fact exists as to whether the contents of the email
are substantially certain to become public knowledge. Accordingly, the Court denies both parties’
Plaintiff Piper’s claim for attorney fees stemming from the California proceeding. Plaintiff Piper
has not raised a claim seeking compensation for those fees. Therefore, because no claim has been
made, the Court need not issue an order addressing the matter. As a result, Defendant’s motion is
denied.
Accordingly,
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 32)
I, II, IV, and V of her complaint; Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 34) is hereby
IT IS SO ORDERED.
/s Eric F. Melgren
ERIC F. MELGREN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
48
See Internet World Stats, World Internet Users: June 30, 2009,
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm (last visited Sept. 23, 2009) (estimating that there are over 1.6 billion
Internet users).
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