NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] $5 $10 $20 $50 - How to Get Fake Credits on the Web
$5 $10 $20 $50 - How to Get Fake Credits on the Web
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000879.html
This isn't a saga of cosmic significance, but perhaps a cautionary
tale nonetheless. Earlier today over on Google+ (a great service on
which I've lately been spending far too much of my time), a user
posted a wonderful photo composed of four images of U.S. paper
currency, each apparently held up in Washington D.C., in such a manner
that half of the bills mated perfectly with the actual monuments
pictured on the reverse of those notes. Very impressive.
The poster labeled this "U.S. Bills mission complete." In short order
this posting became possibly the most widely shared I have seen in the
brief life of Google+ (now approaching 1000 shares last time I
checked), and is continuing to accumulate vast numbers of
congratulatory and laudatory comments. The speed with which this
image has been spreading through Google+ is extraordinary.
There's only one problem. Evidence suggests that despite the original
poster's description implying that he did the work of creating that
image, evidence strongly suggests that this was not the case.
In fact, it took me all of 30 seconds with Google's great Image
Search to find many exact copies of that image going back for years,
and pointing at the page of the original image's apparent creator,
dated 2008 and including a detailed discussion of how he had taken the
photos in D.C. that had such dramatic results ( http://j.mp/nkzP2s [flickr] ).
But as I quickly saw, any attempt to mention this fact on existing
Google+ threads associated with that photo were immediately swamped by
the continuing flood of new shares and comments oblivious to the
photo's apparent actual authorship.
As I said at the outset, this isn't a big deal in a relative sense
given the scope of Internet issues on our plates. But I find it
offensive when someone appears to claim credit for someone else's
work, and given the availability of tools like Google Image Search, it
doesn't take a lot of effort to conduct a quick check before triggering
an avalanche of incorrectly attributed sharing.
OK, I've gotta get back to Google+ now ...
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com