Crime & Punishment on the Internet: Should we forgive a thief?
This is a story of what not to do on the internet. It’s a story of theft, of law suits, of a community coming together to fight a common foe. It’s a story that I thought was over years ago (2006 is ancient history in internet time). It may yet turn out to be a story of forgiveness. But before we get to the story, let me share with you the email that prompted this post:
Brian,
My name is [Kevin C]. A few years ago you posted a photo about me stealing photos on the internet. I am looking for you to delete the photo on flickr:
(link withheld, here’s a screenshot)
What I did was extremely wrong and I was able to apologize to the other photographers and mend fences a week after the incident happened. I was younger at that time and much more immature than I am now after a few years. I’m not a photographer by any means – in fact I sold my last camera last year and have no intention of doing any photography work in the future.
However, the internet is not as forgiving and that image has sat at the top of Google results for my name for at least four years. In this time I have struggled to find adequate employment and do simple things like form new friendships with people in fear of them finding out my last name. It has been mentally draining on my psyche to say the least.
In 2010, I am looking to get a new start in life and looking for a second chance. I am asking for you to look into your heart and help me move forward in my life. This will give me greater peace of mind and help with future employment opportunities which will lead me to live a meaningful and fulfilling life which is what I want more than anything.
Thank you for your time and consideration, please write me back when you get a chance.
- [Kevin C]
It’s a very nice letter, and a lot nicer than what some of my photographer friends received from him when they blogged about him stealing their work in 2006. Back then he had a lawyer send them letters threatening a defamation lawsuit if they didn’t take down posts showing that he had stolen their photos. Of course they wisely responded by posting the threatening letters, resulting in a flood of attention to the matter that spread over the internet in dozens of blogs (see: Streisand effect).
Kevin felt the full wrath of the internet, and rightly so. He was blatantly taking credit for work he did not do, and then had the balls to sue those who called him on it. I commented at the time that this mistake would haunt him forever, and he’d likely have to legally change his name if he ever wanted to work in the creative industry. Looks like I was right, because here we are 4 years later and he’s still trying to recover.
Kevin’s email this morning asking me to help him put all this behind him stirred up a mix of feelings for me. One the one hand, I am not sure the punishment of a scarlet letter for the rest of his life is fair. We were all young and stupid once. I was actually guilty of plagiarism when I was young as well, but fortunately for me I learned my lesson in third grade, not in college.
On the other hand, he really should have known better. He wasn’t in the third grade, he was an adult, and should have the foresight of consequences. It was a real dick move, compounded by the fact that he stole from really high profile people with really high profile friends. By all standards he deserves to have a hard time finding work in a field where this sort of thing is not just embarrassing, but potentially a multi-million dollar liability for an employer.
Crime and punishment on the internet is a strange thing. There’s no judge, no sentence, no debt to repay. You’re judged by everyone, perpetually, forever.
Crime and punishment on the internet is a strange thing. There’s no judge, no sentence, no debt to repay. You’re judged by everyone, perpetually, forever. I don’t think that’s really a good thing. Maybe Kevin deserves the consequences he’s served in the last 4 years, but does he deserve them in the next 4? Or 40?
So I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with my little piece of his sins. I’m not sure it should be entirely up to me. His punishment was doled out by the community, perhaps the community should be involved in lifting it.
So what do we think, viewers? Should Kevin get a fresh start, or should the scars of lessons learned remain as a reminder and as a warning to others? Sound off in the comments.
(Please note that I have withheld Kevin’s full name in the hope that this post will not add anything more about him to Google. If you know his full name, please just keep it to first name only in the comments. I’ll edit it if you don’t)
everyone deserves a second chance
HELL NO!!!
As a hobbiest photographer I feel very strongly about this type of theft…My first reaction was maybe it is time to forgive and forget. BUT then I got to the part about him sending out the threats… It wasn’t some ill conceived error of youthfulness…….He was a calculating jack ass & thief, let the record stand!
Forgiveness is letting go of hope for a better yesterday. The weight is on him but it is also on you. If he has learned the lesson you intended to teach, why keep teaching it to him? Why continue the suffering?
Forgiveness is one thing, retroactively removing all evidence of it happening is another.
My other concern is that if he was so completely dishonest in the past, how can I trust that he’s now reformed? In my experience, those who lacked integrity in the past still lack it in the future. When we get screwed by those types of people, we always wish there had been some warning from those who were screwed in the past. The reason this was posted years ago was to serve as a marker to watch out for this guy, I’m not sure that has changed.
If he misbehaves again, then chances are he’ll be caught again. Criminal records have the advantage of showing that the individual has atoned for his actions. The Internet is not so forgiving. I think, at the very least, you should post the letter with the picture you’re not holding. It would give it a sense of the timeliness of the whole thing.
To me, it’s not that there’s a record of his past actions, but that the record has no sense of time having passed. He might as well have stolen the pictures yesterday. Yes, I know that there’s a posted date, but if you were a prospective employer, would you be that careful in reviewing the google search? I think he deserves at least an update pointing out that things have changed.
Really, you should just replace the picture with the letter. It’s even better than your original post – it’s a confession. It’s also more accurate for today.
This article kind of ruins any chance of him achieving his goal, doesn’t it?
This whole article kind of ruins any chance of him achieving peace, doesn’t it?
Well I think he had his second chance & blew it when he threatened people by threatening a defamation lawsuit.
Yes that was 4 years ago but what kind of human does that when hes clearly in the wrong in the first place?
The question that should be asked is ‘does one nice letter mean that he has changed ?’
What is he likely going to do (remembering that actions speak louder than words) if you don’t remove it?
I say do the strange thing by saying no then going by his response to your action then judge him.
if he does nothing, then take it down, if he threatens to sue then add to it.
my 2 cents.
Even if you do remove the post, the Internet does not forget. Nearly everything is archived somewhere.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Reddit by BArmstrong: PFFFF. You got exactly what you deserved. You knew at the time there would be consequences, and chose to ignore them. In the words of heavy weapons guy: “Cry some more.”…
Screw this guy. People stealing artwork/photography etc. are the lowest of the low. He knew full well what the consequences for this were, and did it anyway. Then had the balls to threaten the original creators of the works. This wont hurt his chances working at the local fast food joint where he belongs.
It is so sad to witness how so many people are NOT quick to forgive and move on….. Everyone has done something in their lives (whether still in the closet or not) and will definetly at some point in their lives wish that someone will FORGIVE them regardless of how small or large the offense (in God’s eyes there is no such thing as a small or large offenses sin is sin-Which is why I love and respect God so much- Never does GOD JUDGES like HUMANS…Which brings me to Mr. Johnston….
Mr. Johnston had a store, a teenager named Brian (15-17) stole food, soda etc. from Mr. Johnstons store…EVERYBODY jumped on Brian with no Mercy….Brian was arrested, however being too young to go to jail, he was sent to reform school for boys… a few years later Mr. Johnston’s own son was arrested for ROBBERY……Mr. Johnston cried and pleaded for the police, courts and the PEOPLE the son robbed to have MERCY on his son (it seemed to have never dawned on Mr. Johnston, that just a few year before, he was RELUCTANT to have MERCY for someone else’s child) anyway to no avail charges was placed and Mr. Johnston’s son went to prison where he is still until this day.
Now many of you on this page may not ever need MERCY and FORGIVENESS, because I am sure from what I have read that YOU ARE PERFECT and your crimes (I mean sin) are small…however, there may come a time in your life whereas you may need someone to have MERCY and Forgive a family member (Husband, Wife,Children, grand etc.), or a close friend…So being that there is no Mercy or Forgiveness for Kevin…I am sure that when that time in your life comes, and it will come, when you need FORGIVENESS and MERCY….YOU ALL will REMEMBER KEVIN – RIGHT!
Case Closed.