ABSTRACT
The term ‘blackmail’ has been attached to a number of relations where one person extracts something of value from another with pressure. This chapter is limited to ‘pure’ or ‘informational’ blackmail: the sale of silence by someone who is otherwise free to disclose what he or she knows. 1 The case of character in a blackmail must number at least three: ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’. B (for ‘blackmailer’) is the holder of information that he or she threatens to disclose unless compensated. A is the person to whom B offers to sell his or her silence and is usually the subject of the information to be kept silent. C is the person or group of persons to whom B threatens to disclose the information, unless he or she and A reach an understanding or an agreement. C may be an individual, a group or the general public. 2 In this triangle, B is an intermediary who, depending on the legal regime, may advance or impede the flow of information concerning A to C.
