To summarize, a would-be photographer created his professional portfolio (including Flickr, his own website and on forums) using photos stolen from other photographers. From what I gather, he was notified by one of the victims back in February, but never did anything about it and took down the photographs he was contact about. Subsequently, tThe victim posted about it. The thief then hired an attorney to send a "cease and desist" letter. From there, the blogmob formed. <Note: Thanks to Jonathan in the comments for straightening this out for me>
It doesn't appear anyone was monetarily damaged. The thief didn't try to sell the photo, but did use them to enhance his own professional image. It does appear that, as of a couple days ago he still hadn't taken down the photos from all the sites he'd posted them on.
Apparently he apologized on the phone to two victims that tracked him down prior to filing legal proceedings. He posted an apology on the main comment thread and perhaps on at least one site where photos were stolen from.
So, those are the basic facts. Now, let's look at his punishment.
The top results on Google for his name come up with the plagiarism issue.
Blogmobbers apparently contacted magazines that he'd claimed to have published with to advise them that the photos may be plagiarized.
His personal information - name, address, phone number - were published.
His website and myspace page are off the air.
He has been ridiculed and shamed before the blogosphere to the point where it is unlikely a career in photography will be possible.
Does the crime equal the punishment? I, personally, think it does. The blogmob probably should have stopped once he apologized publically, but actions speak louder than words - why aren't all the offending photos down? Why hasn't he apologized personally (at least by email) to everyone he stole from? His attitude in his apology is "Wow, I made a mistake, sorry, now make it go away."
I do agree with Chris Garrett that the blogmob is scary and that it is only a matter of time before they are set on someone truly innocent. Where I disagree, however, is that Chris discounts the amount of time and effort many of the blogmob put in to checking out the facts and getting hard evidence. My faith is that the blogmob is smart enough to smell out when they are being duped and will turn on the people misdirecting them.
Having dealt with plagiarism issues for so long I've seen many cases of worse plagiarism not create a mob. The difference is that, in this case, the plagiarist attempted to C&D the victim.
To call it a stupid move would be an understatement. He knew he was a plagiarist and that the statements were true. Yet he still sent in a lawyer to get the post removed. Then it blew up in his face.
I believe that the mob justice went too far in some places, especially after he apologized, but everything that took place was brought about by his actions.
Also, one minor correction to the story. When the victim contacted the plagairist back in Feb regarding the stolen photos, the plagairist did remove them. To my knowledge only one victim contacted him and he did remove the photos.
The post on the issue, however, remained.
Posted by: Jonathan Bailey | August 11, 2006 11:46 PM | Permalink to Comment