Ways You Might Be Breaking the Law (With Your Tech)
17. Snagging photos online
That photo of kittens doing karate might be perfect for your Facebook profile pic, but if you didn't take it, you can't, er, take it-- at least not without permission from the copyright holder. Too much hassle? Probably. So select from photos that already provide copy permission through a licenses from Creative Commons. You can use the search function on the organization's Web site to find works that are fair game.
Busted... by Technology
Always Turn Off Stolen GPS Units
It was only a matter of time before some numbskull criminal stole a GPS-equipped car or phone, but we didn't expect someone to steal live GPS units. A group of crooks in Lindenhurst, NY swiped 14 functioning GPS devices from the Town of Babylon Public Works. Understandably, authorities had no trouble tracking them down.
Security Cam Catches Tattooed Thief
We're not going to pass judgement on the type of tattoo you get, but you might want to think about what it says before you start getting into crime. Aaron Evans, a 21-year-old U.K. repeat offender, was caught stealing a car's GPS unit because the nearby CCTV captured the tattoo on his neck. It revealed his birthday and name...
Laptop Auto-Uploads Photo of Thief to the Web
This guy may be the unluckiest thief ever. Several laptops disappeared from a Vancouver, BC company; fortunately, one particular laptop was loaded with software that snapped photos when opened. The images of this guy were uploaded to Flickr. As a result, the man became a mini-Internet sensation, and he turned himself in, claiming he bought the laptop from a friend, at a local police station.
Things Not to Do After Stealing a Cell Phone
Gary Walker, an Ohio resident, stole a woman's phone while she had temporarily stepped out of her car to check a street sign. He proceeded to snap a shot of himself with the hot phone's camera. Later, when the victim went online and downloaded her data to transfer it to a new phone, Gary's mug popped up. The rest, as they say, is history.
HighTube
This 25-year-old Brit cultivator of cannabis decided to post videos -- under his real name -- of his cash crop on YouTube. English police saw the clips and he was soon tracked down and arrested.
Girl Recovers Stolen Mac By Remotely Activating Its Webcam
A White Plains, New York girl was the victim of burglary; over $5,000 worth of electronics, including iPods, a flatscreen TV, and a new Macintosh computer were stolen. A few days later, a friend noticed that the burglary victim appeared to be online, but called her to make sure. Because the stolen Mac was running Back to My Mac, the victim was able to log into the computer remotely and snap a picture of the thief. Turns out the thieves were "friends" who had visited the victim's apartment several weeks earlier.
Teen Arrested After Bragging About Arson on Security Cameras
A pregnant Los Angeles teen was arrested earlier after allegedly starting seven fires near her home. 19-year-old Amanda Gessner was caught after convenience store cameras caught her chanting, "The fire company is gonna be
mad at me!" She was certainly right about that!
Would-Be Voyeur Puts Spy Cam in Restroom, Leaves Video of Himself
An upstate New York man installed a camera in a unisex bathroom. The camera was discovered soon after installation, and police found he'd left a video of himself on the camera. Police are still looking for the man.
Forklift Tricks on YouTube
If you're going to show off your sweet forklift driving skills to your buddies, it's probably best to just do it in person. 20-year-old Australian Matthew Garry Ward uploaded a video of safety-violating forklift tricks to YouTube, and was reported to authorities after a coworker passed the video along to the boss.
Laser Pointer Shenanigans
Remember those time-sucking high school pep rallies where some loser would whip out a laser pointer and temporarily blind people in the bleachers? This 15-year-old genius from California, was arrested after shining his laser beam at a police helicopter.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
riverratxop812 said 4:46PM on 5-07-2009
Yo!
Reply
ashley said 5:19PM on 5-07-2009
Usually for fan fictions and YouTube videos, most people just state a disclaimer saying they own none of the characters and state the creator's name (and network company if it was a show). Many don't get taken down for that. I have written a few fan fictions and posted them online, saying I own nothing. It's not that big of a deal
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mrsmadiganxx said 5:42PM on 5-07-2009
As Ashley said, yeah, the fanfictions and stuff are not a big deal if you post a disclaimer.
Otherwise, I would have no interest doing the rest of the listed illegal things.
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rk0316 said 6:41PM on 5-07-2009
my friend was on youtube about a year ago and his friend posted a copyirghted 1 minute vidoe of a UFC fight and it was taken down by youtube my friend went nuts and thought he would get caught or tracked down so he deleted his youtube account. wil the FBI catch him now...so far he has heard nothing on the matter
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Is AOL Exempt? said 6:46PM on 5-07-2009
What about all those AOL news articles that end with huge copyright announcements (content may not be reproduced by any means or transmitted in any manner, yadda, yadda, yadda.) and are then followed by icons to "share this" or "e-mail this?" Those are blatant violations of the intent of the copyright statements, are they not?
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JC said 6:46PM on 5-07-2009
better lock me up now my god i used like 40 photos online and music i didnt pay for. OH NO im ruining this country and stealing pennies from billionaires. What would we do if the billionaries earn 100$ less on this years check...what are we going to do about me:(....
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karaokekoncerts said 5:46AM on 5-08-2009
Point taken, JC, but the problem comes when 3 million people are doing it. The article isn't REALLY about just YOU, but the MILLIONS of people that violate the law - knowingly and unknowingly. There ARE reasons for the laws - just ask an single mother who is an artist that MAKES THEIR LIVING doing photo shoots or paintings, or oldest son raising his siblings who's only way to earn a living to feed his siblings is to WORK as novelist or journalist, etc. The laws are about respecting people's jobs and hobbies. Don't feel so smug and free to rip off another human being. It's not cute, it's not funny and some of us hope that you do actually get caught so that you can understand HUMILITY.
Joey said 3:41PM on 5-08-2009
Wait, wait, does nobody know that you can lock photos before you post them on the internet?
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Piki said 5:22PM on 5-08-2009
I don't see how photo sharing and stuff like that is "disrespeting people's hobbies". You're just sharing and getting the word out. Actually, it's VERY respectful.
You can do anything on the internet. People need to learn to DEAL WITH IT. It's not going to change, people will always find ways to do these sort of things. They need to learn to take this to their advantage.
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npa202reboot said 7:17PM on 5-15-2009
It will all come down to the jurors. If a perspective juror receives WAGES or INVESTMENT INCOME from intellectual property, that alone MUST disqualify that person from being empaneled. All retirement plans invests in one or more entities that produce intellectual property, so it stands to reason that all who have retirement plans should be disqualified from selection upon voir dire. Unless the US Constitution be amended to allow IP crimes to be tried without a jury (the IP sector would glory in such), any conviction should be seen as tainted.
Reply