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Pittsburgh Couple Sues Google Over Photos Of Their House
from the that-sounds-familiar... dept
The term "the Streisand Effect" was coined back in 2005 in reference to Barbara Streisand's decision in 2003 to sue an aerial photographer who, in the process of photographing the entire west coast from a helicopter, took a photo of her house. Not only did she lose the case (and have to pay lawyers' fees), the photo of her house, that no one had paid any attention to, got a ton of traffic. If she had any claim at all (which she really didn't), it would have to do with her being a public figure. However, the situation is even more ridiculous when you're dealing with non-public figures.
Yet, here we are in a nearly identical story. Aaron and Christine Boring are a couple who live in Pittsburgh and apparently have freaked out that Google's "Street View" offering includes a photo of their home. In fact, they've sued Google claiming that the photos of their home violate their privacy and "devalue" the property. They also claim that it was trespassing because there was a clear sign saying that the road was a private road. Of course, as the AP article notes, most of the info is already public, including photos of the house which are available on the The Allegheny County real estate Web site. Of course, looking over the sets of photos, it looks as though the Google street view team may have driven up the couple's driveway a bit, which perhaps (just slightly) explains the complaint. Still, Google says that if anyone wants photos of their property removed, they just need to ask Google and prove that they own the property in question. No lawsuit needed. In the meantime, of course, just as with Streisand, the Google photos of the Borings' house are now widely available and getting a lot more attention. Apparently, the Borings don't listen to NPR.
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nice
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Anyone consider this:
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Looks to me...
EtG
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ha
"hey, check out this cool google street view thing."
"wow, neat thats really cool look up our house."
"dag, you can even see the pool good work google."
"Huh google has a lot of money I bet we could sue them and get some for ourselves"...
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Re: ha
Am I cynical?
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Re: Re: ha
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he he ha ha
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Re: Looks to me...
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as for their property, it looks like painted cardboard framed in with the cheapest wood they could find. i'd love to see the video of the drive onto their property. was there a sign there then?
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Re: he he ha ha
Killdozer?
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They haven't watered their yard in years, probably make meth in the those detached garages
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Devalue
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BTW, the images of their house have been removed from Google
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Boring
The real problem is playing into their hands by printing such nonsense.
Of course, the better stuff to write about is controlled by the media, which is controlled by the "right wing" (should be the "wrong wing"). That we won't hear about (like, how the
"surge" didn't really work; it was just manipulated to look that way).
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The reason behind the lawsuit...
Anyway... The lawsuit - which is taking place in... COMMONWEALTH of PENNSYLVANIA... Rather than asking that the pictures be removed - they will claim that their rights had been violated - and further this with emotional distress - because Google did not remove the picture! We'll just ignore the part about "requesting that Google remove these pics would effortlessly have resolved the problem...
Instead we'll file the lawsuit - and then CLAIM that they ignored our request for the removal... As we've seen soooooo many times on Judge Mathis... Where is the proof that you requested this... Uh-oh-Uh... I thought I had it but - I must of left it back at the shack where I sleep with my sister... Oops - did I say that out loud...
Ok - I'm wasting time with this crap - more time than should have been spent on this... Maybe we should file suit against these people for waisting our time with their DUMP!
Now I must drop a load to lighten up this BORING - blog!
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privacy shivevacy
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No Kidding!
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So fitting
Desperation is a stinky cologne. -Super Troopers
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Re: Boring
No way. They are jerks.
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Boring's house
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Excuse me?
I'm sorry, but I fail to see any value to this property, so devaluing it would be impossable.
And did I miss something? I can't seem to find the sign that says it's private property.
No wonder why they are suing, they have no money! To bad they had to choose Google to go up against, they're screwed.
"No really, my real estate agent told me that this was a 5 star home that is then envy of the neighborhood!"
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Re: he he ha ha
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Amazing
If I caught them doing this to me (and given the layout of my property, they'd have to do more than come up my driveway "a little bit" to photograph my home), I wouldn't sue them but the Google cameraman might get a little ass-kickin' for his trouble.
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I'm from the South and...
Google very clearly violated their privacy, although I think the home devaluation claim is fluff. Although I detest the lack of Internet privacy, I accept it, esp. because I can choose to not put private information on the Internet. But when people bring that lack of respect to my home, I will sue you... But only if the shots miss.
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Privacy?
to dig into the deep pockets of Google. Look at their property then read their claim. They claim emotional stress? Whatever emotional stress they are under it's due to other issues. Their property looks abandoned anyway....They should be prosecuted for this frivolous lawsuit.
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"Barbara Streisand"
Silly lawsuits.
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Pictures have been taken down from Google
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Seriously?
Google isn't to be blamed for their depreciating property value it is a lethal combination of a poor housing market and a HORRIBLE lawn! Get off Google's back, and put your time into putting some grass seed down. Not to mention the fact that there is a wooden board covering their front door without a stoop or step of any kind. Get over yourselves, if anyone wants to buy your ranch, they are going to go through a Realtor, not Google maps.
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i would be mad
I don't see where that has any public value. House aside. He went to far.
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Thats kind of like being a shoplifter walking out with stuff and then claiming that he would have gladly paid for it had he been asked.
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Re:
Except, that no, you're entirely wrong. Taking a photo of property is not illegal (it's not "shoplifting"). So, it's perfectly legal to put it up. In fact, there's no requirement that they should then have to take it down. Google doing so is because the company is being nice, not through some sort of legal reason.
So, you're basically 100% wrong on your analogy.
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Nice? I think not. So basically you are 100% wrong in your post, you dick. FU and have a good day.
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Re:
Er... you should try reading a bit before making such incorrect statements. The original comment was about Google just sending out regular photographing vehicles, which had *nothing* to do with trespassing. Almost all of the street view photos are taken from the street.
Whether or not this is trespassing is a separate issue than the comment I was responding to.
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