UPDATE, 9/15/2010:
BLOGGERS PAMELA D. HART OF "THE ORACULAR OPINION" AND LES CARPENTER, III OF "RATIONAL NATION USA," HAVE JOINED ME AWELL AS INFIDEL753 AND (O)CT(O)PUS OF THE SWASH ZONE IN BRINGING THIS UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR TO THE BLOGGING COMMUNITY'S ATTENTION.
Thanks, Pam, Les, Infidel753, and (O)CT(O)PUS.
UPDATE II:
ANOTHER CASE OF PHOTO ID THEFT. THIS TIME THE BLOGGER, "MATT ROSE" WHO CLAIMS HIS INDUSTRY IS "THE LAW" STOLE THE PHOTO OF A FORMER ROLLING STONE CONTRIBUTOR, MATT HOYLE, A PHOTOGRAPHER, AND PLACED IT ON HIS/HER BLOG, MAKING UP LIES ABOUT THE REAL MATT HOYLE IMAGE.
I will try to contact Mr. Hoyle and let him know about this unauthorized use of his image on a blog.
I have more to report on photo ID stealing by bloggers, but first I want to state very clearly:
This is not about censorship, bullying, or any other label some would place on what I've found out.
This is about DECEIT.
This is about taking someone's photo from the internet, pretending to be that person, and inventing a background for that stolen photo. I have found many blogs that have put up famous and almost famous film, teevee, and musician celebrity photos as their avatars. [Examples of this below.]* That's not as offensive, since most intelligent people would recognize that someone in the entertainment industry wouldn't be wasting his or her time ranting on a blog--IOW, no one who recognizes the celeb's photo would believe that person is behind the blogging. It's still a dishonest thing to do, for even a celeb is entitled to not have someone hijack his/her image and place it on a blog he or she would find offensive.
When a blogger steals a photo from the internet:--facebook, sodahead, or other social networking sites, that's more insidious. Because that person is not a celebrity, his or her photo will be identified with the blog to which it is attached, whether or not the blog agrees with his or her political philosophy.
Think of your own photo, say, being copied and stuck onto someone's blog and YOU are identified as the writer of vitriol and hate-speech, not to mention atrocious spelling and grammar. Now imagine your photo being pasted onto other like-minded political blogs with your image announcing to the blogsphere that you are a follower of all those other blogs--blogs that are the polar opposite of your political views.
That's exactly what happened to two of the people whose photos have been stolen and whom I've written about in two blog posts, HERE and HERE. I've found a third and notified her. Here's the blog that stole her image. And here is the woman's bio on a site that explains who she is and what her interests are--they do not match one thing that is listed in the profile of the blog that stole her image.
We have a pretty good idea of who is behind this petty larceny, and we've asked that the stolen photos be taken down. So far, we've been ignored.
Will the decent bloggers out there stand with us against this shameful deceit?
*Examples of stolen celeb photos on blogs:
)O( is a blog with the image of rocker Karen O as the "profile" of the blog. Does anyone believe that the rocker, Karen O, gave her permission for the blog ")O(" to use her image for this highly political blog?
Imagine The Impossibilities is a new blog, started this month with a photo of an actor, Sebastian Spencer as the profile of the blog owner. Again, is it fair to place Spencer's photo on a highly political blog with a post on President Obama backing the "masque?"
Frank the Thinking Man's blog is also known as "Is Your Glass Half Empty or Half Full" and his profile photo is actually a photo of Dana Delaney's husband. Who is Dana Delaney? Oh wait. Here she is. And does she know that her husband's image has been pasted into a rightwinger's blog?
That's just a sampling of photo ID stealing rampant on these blogs. Sadly, there is more--plagiarizing articles from news sources and comments on websites--and that, in addition to stealing photos, is a common practice on these fake blogs.
I think we bloggers need to stop supporting blogging dupery and chicanery. Debating issues and strongly expressing our opinions are what blogging is about.
Stealing other people's photos and plagiarizing other people's material is not.
Let's stand for something instead of accepting this sorry subterfuge.
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