Blackmail

From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.

Blackmail is threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a monetary demand is met. This information is usually of an embarrassing or damaging nature. As the information is substantially true, revealing the information is not criminal, the crime is demanding money to withhold it.

Blackmail is similar to extortion, the difference being that extortion involves an underlying, independent criminal act while blackmail does not.

The word is derived from the word for tribute paid by English border dwellers to Scottish chieftains in return for immunity from raids. Such tribute was paid in goods or labour (reditus nigri, or "blackmail"): the opposite is blanche firmes or reditus albi, or white rent (denoting payment by silver).

Blackmail is also the name of a film and the name of a German band [1].

It is also the name of a classic Monty Python sketch starring Michael Palin. The sketch is a game show that presents compromising footage of certain people until they ring up to pay a televised amount to stop the presentation.