Athletes sue for being videotaped in locker rooms

Penn athletes are among those who are filing a lawsuit after locker room videotapes surfaced on the Internet. The Associated Press CHICAGO -- Athletes at eight universities say they were secretly videotaped in locker rooms and the tapes were sold through Internet sites advertising ''hot younger dudes.'' Louis Goldstein, one of the attorneys representing the athletes in a lawsuit, said he has eight tapes and believes the practice of secretly taping athletes in locker rooms is widespread. ''There's a whole industry,'' he said Tuesday. ''They send people all over the country to do videotaping.'' The tapes, with names such as ''Straight Off the Mat'' and ''Voyeur Time,'' came to light in April, when The Chicago Tribune reported that hidden-camera tapes -- including footage taken during a 1995 wrestling tournament at Northwestern University -- were being marketed online and by mail. The lawsuit, filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges invasion of privacy, unlawful use of the plaintiffs' images for monetary gain, and mail and wire fraud under federal law. The plaintiffs, who have been granted anonymity by the court, are described in the lawsuit as 28 ''John Does'' and ''unknown Illinois State University football players.'' The lawsuit says they are past or present athletes at Northwestern, Illinois, Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, Indiana, Penn, Iowa State and Michigan State. It names several companies, people and Internet service providers as defendants. The Internet is full of sites offering secretly made videos, many purportedly shot in women's rest rooms or health club locker rooms.