PORTLAND - An Oregon woman has filed a $3 million lawsuit against Yahoo!, alleging the Internet site failed to follow through on a promise to remove naked pictures of her from the Web.

Cecilia Barnes, 48, in her lawsuit filed Tuesday in Multnomah County, claims an ex-boyfriend started posting "unauthorized profiles" of her in December that included revealing photos. The profiles also included her e-mail address and work phone number.

Moreover, the former boyfriend engaged in online discussions in Yahoo! chat rooms, posing as Barnes and directing men to the profiles, the suit claims.

"Due to these profiles and online chats, unknown men would arrive without warning at plaintiff's work expecting to engage in sexual relations with her," the suit says.

Barnes sent Yahoo! a letter in January saying she did not create the profiles and wanted them removed. Additional attempts to get Yahoo! to remove them in February and March failed to prompt a response, claims the suit.

In late March, Mary Osako, the director of communications for Yahoo!, called Barnes after KGW Television in Portland prepared to run a story about the situation, the suit claims.

Barnes said Osako told her that Yahoo! would remove the information, but the pictures are still there, according to the woman's attorney, Thomas R. Rask III.

Federal law broadly protects Internet service providers from being sued over information placed there by third parties. But once Yahoo! officials agreed to help Barnes, they had a legal duty under Oregon law to follow through, Rask said.

A Yahoo! spokeswoman said the company does not comment on pending litigation.