The racy contents of a storage locker rented by Paris Hilton are back on the Internet despite a court order enjoining the operator of the ParisExposed Web site from distributing any material that depicts the jailed heiress “in a state of undress.”

ParisExposed disappeared from cyberspace after Hilton sued Bardia Persa for invasion of privacy in January. Persa, identified in the complaint only as an “individual residing in an unknown location,” did not contest her motion for a preliminary injunction, which applied to “parisexposed.net.”

The storage unit contained a veritable treasure trove of Hilton-alia, including topless photos and personal letters. Co-defendant Nabila Haniss allegedly sold the property to Persa for $10 million after buying it at a foreclosure sale.

“This action seeks to enjoin perhaps one of the single most egregious and reprehensible invasions of privacy ever committed against an individual,” the complaint said.

But with Hilton's probation violation and incarceration putting her back in the spotlight, ParisExposed has resurfaced at “parisexposed.com,” which invites the public to experience the “unprecedented and UNAUTHORIZED release of the most personal, private, and outrageous display of images, photographs, documents and videos EVER SEEN.”

Persa could be held in contempt of court for violating the injunction. But court records show Persa has never retained counsel and Haniss's former attorney doubts such an individual even exists.

“I don't think it's a real person,” Robert Shiri told ABC News.

If ParisExposed originates from overseas, moreover, Hilton's injunction would be all but unenforceable. "As a practical matter, a U.S. court can't control a foreign operation,” one media lawyer said.

Hilton could take action to force the domain name “ParisExposed” off the Internet. But that wouldn't prevent the material from reappearing somewhere else.

The locker was rented from a Culver City, Calif., storage facility in the name of the moving company hired by Hilton to put some of her belongings there. After the movers failed to pay the rent, Public Storage auctioned off the contents to Haniss for $2,775.

“[B]ecause of the sensitive and confidential nature of the property, [Haniss] knew or should have known the foreclosure was inadvertent,” Hilton alleged in her suit, which also seeks compensatory damages and an award of the defendants' “ill-gotten profits.”

By Matthew Heller
6/15/07