Gothamist: Opinionist: When Baby Blogs Go Bad

Ace

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 12:29:51 -0500

and we still can't smoke in bars

statolith

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 12:11:07 -0500

#44: Why would you put personal photos up for all the world to see unless you didn't care what people did with them? I mostly agree with the sentiment of most of the commenters here, but can I just say how tired I am of hearing things like the above-quoted line? Sure, putting things online does come with some risk, no matter how many "all rights reserved" you slap on your site. But it's reasonable to put up content (be it photos, blog posts, o artwork, a website design, etc.) and still retain ownership of same. Putting stuff out there doesn't mean you should no longer care if someone uses your content.

nick

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:24:48 -0500

the baby blog is now password protected. looks like blog commenting can do some good!

Tom

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 10:33:45 -0500

As I was reading this post, I knew what every comment on this thread was going to be about. What in the world did you hope to accomplish with post? Honestly, I think it's probably someone who knows you, or reads your site, that saw it and probably wanted to mess with you. Taking the site down is easy if you can prove the images are stolen, but as long as they're on the internet, they could do anything with them... include posting them on kiddie porn message boards with details about where you're going to be. Good luck with that.

nick

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 10:12:04 -0500

i think we scared her off, guys.

Max

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 03:44:27 -0500

#24 has it. And holy god woman, please stop it with the desperate insistence that your baby isn't a hispanic trailer baby and was in fact born in Manhattan to college-educated parents, lives in park slope, and has everything he needs. You're being obviously racist, classist, and straight-up bourgeois lame.

ThePinkSuperhero

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:37:21 -0500

What is it with Mommy bloggers? The more I hear about all your drama, the more I'm convinced you all need to back away from your computers. Perhaps you could spend some time with your children, and chill out?

carolitajohnson

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 21:59:35 -0500

Why would you put personal photos up for all the world to see unless you didn't care what people did with them? Get a password-protected blog for use by you and your family. They do exist. Then go out and get yourself a "nail me" t-shirt, ha ha ha.

Jennifer

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 21:49:44 -0500

This is crazy. You want people to hide there kids and stories because someone might find you? People really live in this much fear? You really truly think you ask for it because you show a face on a website? I equate this with being raped and told you deserved it because you wore too short of a skirt. That is just crazy... The person stealing your photos was wrong. You did nothing wrong and that is the bottom line. I am appalled...honestly. You take an equal risk by showing up at a department store on any given day. There is no such thing as anonymous.

Edward Odell

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 21:28:15 -0500

looks like it was removed by Xanga...

BrooklynNative

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:49:54 -0500

Simple remedy - take the pictures off the internet and start from scratch with a password protected site for people who might be interested in your spawn's growing pains. We are bored ..... you are old enough to know better....

ck

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:10:17 -0500

Bottom line, though-That is a super cute kid. If I were a little crazier, I might be motivated to hatch some wacko fantasy site, too. Maybe you should be, uh, flattered.

Not Amused

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:52:30 -0500

Stop parading your kids off to the world ! There going to have enough to worry about growing up in this cold world as it is ! Don't add to the pressure .

Dave

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:23:28 -0500

Based on the other site's inconsistencies, you may not the only one whose pics were purloined. Somewhere out there most likely resides a young college girl with a pillaged MySpace/Facebook. Seriously, if you place a photo on the Internet, be prepared to have it turn up in unexpected places. Could be worse, they could've Photoshopped the little fellow into some very unpleasant predicaments. Any remember when private lives were private?

cgee

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:02:30 -0500

Margaret, getting the other site taken down is actually very easy. Assuming that you or your husband took the images appropriated by the other site, you are the owners of copyright in the images. Copyright comes into existence at the moment a work is created, and does *not* require registration with the Copyright Office (registration does provide certain benefits, however, but there are not relevant to your immediate problem). Since you own copyright in the images, you are covered by the DMCA, and can serve Xanga with a takedown notice. A DMCA takedown notice must follow a particular format, but it is really quite easy to prepare. By law, upon receipt of a proper DMCA takedown notice, Xanga must respond in a timely manner or it can lose its ISP liability exemption. If you have any questions about how to proceed, drop me a line -- I have done many of these, and have never had any major problems in obtaining compliance. Good luck.

liz

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:31:30 -0500

some nights I lay awake worried about that one stranger that might make our lives difficult one way or another much like what you have experienced, or worse. I am glad you wrote about this- I am thinking it might be time to make his site an invite-only site.

anon

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:10:10 -0500

oh dear god, she claimed he was.......hispanic?! the horror! your comment in defense of that statement does nothing to explain that sentence. get over yourself, you racist and entitled park slope mommy. how ignorant are you that you would put photos of your child up on the internet and be so shocked when someone does this? whether or not this happened, it's still dangerous and severely stupid to plaster your son's image all over a website.

amused

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:03:19 -0500

"My own response was less diplomatic, though, as a mother, no less understandable." Ok, skank. This is day 2 of me knowing that you STOLE my family's photos for your little faker melodrama. Thank god you are not a mother. You would make a terrible parent and are obviously a shitty human being in general. You stole pictures of my NEWBORN and claimed he was yours. You made up RIDICULOUS lies and need some serious therapy. What's really sad is that this story you made up is PATHETIC. In real life, that baby has two parents that are married and happy; he has a nice home and everything he needs. I pity any poor little trailer babies you may have in the future. Hee-haw-larious. Mom, is that you?

meanies

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:02:43 -0500

That's an interesting/creepy story that contains a lesson about the internets that some people have already learned, while others haven't. But what's more interesting is the hostility in a few of these comments. wow.

CD

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:01:53 -0500

Well, they were pretending the baby was a love child that was being raised in trailer-park conditions in Florida, when in reality that child is being raised in Park Slope by a mommy who can afford to jettison her career to raise her little dumpling (i.e. IN WEDLOCK, DAMMIT, to a man with a suitable profession for supporting a family of three in the degree of smugness to which it is accustomed).

also

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:00:54 -0500

One other thing: she said he was Spanish, not Hispanic. Does "Hispanic" somehow fit better with your sense of outrage?

ella

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:00:28 -0500

Ok, other people have said it before so this is not unique but does bear repeating. Everyone has blogs but YOU Are writing for your son, it's not your toddler typing away. Justify that one. and there's no reason in this day and age, esp as a blogger yourself, to be so ignorant about the public nature of the net. Aside from the fact that you find every sigh, laugh, fart and gasp of your child interesting (which most parents do and rightly so) does not make it public fodder. It's boring to most people and at the same time, creepily attractive to someone like the woman who stole your pictures (or worse!). Get some common sense, make an attempt to protect your kid and then come back to us ok?

Lilitu

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 17:27:04 -0500

I'm puzzled by the scare-bolding of "love child". Someone pretended to be proud of a baby she claimed to have had out of wedlock. OH THE HORROR.

eisor

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 16:03:30 -0500

probably a tad dain bramaged after watching the net get replaced at the Florida:Oregon game -- but what's with the links to .ca ads on her web site -- is Mags even in Gothamist range

g

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 15:56:54 -0500

C'mon guys. Sure she was a bit naive. But it must be frightening to see your family's pictures associated with someone else's website. If nothing, it's a good cautionary tale. Thanks for telling the story.

eiseor

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:58:30 -0500

i'm sensing a L&O ripped from the headlines during the May sweeps -- protect yourself and your family and quit your beeotchin

BrooklynNative

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:56:31 -0500

Why would you put pictures on the internet and then get all sorts of shocked when someone purloins it. Get real, in this day and age of identification theft and sexual predators you post pics of the son that you profess are for "well-intentioned strangers as well". My sister trained my nephew that even if someone he knew picked him up at school, he was not to get into the car without that person having the correct "password". I also think your elitist self-aggrandizing sense of entitlement may be showing through ......

pb

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:33:04 -0500

It looks like all those pictures are stolen--the girls in the bars are clearly in the US and the grammar, idioms and spelling indicate that this was written by someone who is English (fell pregnant, piccies, etc.) not someone who moved there recently. The person is clearly sick but the internet offers no privacy (see the New York magazine cover story a month or so ago). I'd do as the people above recommended and password protect your site and family.

red

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:32:51 -0500

I'm on both sides - yes its shocking and sad and scary that some girl is stealing your kids pictures and using them for some selfish reason, but her site is pretty funny, especially when there's not pictures of the baby she's all drunk and skinny. I sort of hope she continues on because this is better than dr. phil.

um and uh

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:13:58 -0500

I'd guess that more likely, she's warming up for some kind of heart breaker, wherein Dante gets terminal cancer or she looses her job or her whole family is suddenly destitute and she desperately needs diaper money.

judy

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:11:24 -0500

"Suddenly, my Manhattan born Park Slope boy was Hispanic and living in trailer conditions somewhere in Florida. His college educated, former school teacher, stay-at-home mom replaced with a party-girl teen who wears shirts that say "Nail Me"." This is the funniest thing I have read all week--if not EVER! I sooo want a t-shirt that says "nail me."

nick

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:52:53 -0500

and 15 has done it! he's summed it up perfectly.

adam

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:50:58 -0500

I just read some of the comments you left on that site. I would reccommend that you calm down and let his roll off. don't take it too seriously. It could just be some schizophrenic, seriously, who knows? Think about how pointless it would be to call them a dirty whore

uws

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:45:21 -0500

how do we know you didn't steal the pictures of dante and put it on your site? i agree with the posters above. get a password protected site otherwise, get over it. you obviously have a strong need for attention on the internet, hence this post on gothamist. stop wasting all of your time online posting every single look your son makes and actually spend time WITH him. geesh.

bk

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:44:52 -0500

This should be a wake up call to all that have detailed personal blogs. I am sorry to see this happening to you. It looks like this girl's "twin sister" is also doing similiar things with photos of someone else's kids. It may be a joke, but it's definitely sick!

adam

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:43:51 -0500

I would bet that the supposed photos of herself on that xanga site are from someone else also. It is probably just some wacko grabbing pics from the internet and creating something fake. I'm sure this happens all the time. Take this as a lesson. The internet is near anarchy and if you don't want personal pictures getting out there, stick to photo albums (the ones you can touch). I sympathize though, I would feel very strange if this happened to me

Steve

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:25:05 -0500

You're foolish and naive to put your blog on the internet openly as you did. It is possible to create a blog which requires a login password that you can provide to friends and family.

nick

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:24:02 -0500

why on earth would you keep a public blog with so many photos of your baby? seriously.. i would really like to hear you try to justify the risk you present by giving specific locations of where you take the kid. just so you can show relatives baby pictures? get a private photobucket account. i hate to sound like an old fogey, but the internet really ISN'T a safe place. i think a pathetic girl stealing baby pictures is small beans compared to what could happen. i am somewhat "tech-savvy" and would be happy to help you set up your blog with password protection so just family members could see it. i've used a real email address with this post, so feel free to email me. i've had a friend stalked (LITERALLY STALKED) by an old teacher of his, and it began the same way... he stole pictures from his myspace and facebook and started a fictional xanga account. so like, wake up and do the right thing. he seems like a great kid and i can see why you'd want to show him off to the world, but you've really got to sit and think about everybody who might stumble across that website.

Lucy Blackburn

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:02:35 -0500

You describe the posts you left on the copycat site as not "family friendly." Just read them - They were ridiculous. I respect Gothamist's comment policy - so I'll offer you constructive criticism. Get Over Yourself.

mags

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:54:38 -0500

To clarify, there's nothing wrong with being Hispanic, or anything else for that matter. I was just struck by how she reinterpreted his dark complexion and features. I found it odd how that I look at my son and see clearly the mixture of my husband and myself, while she can see something else entirely.

Steven

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:54:05 -0500

Why not make your blog "Friends Only"?

Tone

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:52:54 -0500

"Suddenly, my Manhattan born Park Slope boy was Hispanic and living in trailer conditions somewhere in Florida." Funniest. Sh%t. Ever.

Danny

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:51:11 -0500

Thanks for plugging your site. Wait! That's my Park Slope baby! Why are you calling him "Jonas?" His name is Bethany.

ML

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:44:47 -0500

The photos of your son were stolen and stories about them were invented - what makes you so sure that the photos of the 19-year-old girl are not stolen as well? (myspace?) Sounds less like a teenage girl's "sick fantasy" and more like one person playing mix-and-match with a photos from a whole bunch of sites. But you mentioned twice that this person is claiming your son is Hispanic. Um... so? Stealing photos = bad. Claiming child is Hispanic = irrelevant. They do have "Manhattan born, Park Slope living" Latinos after all.

mikey k

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:41:19 -0500

there's really nothing stopping anyone from doing this, but you could watermark your photos.

JC Funk

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:38:41 -0500

That's some post-existential business right there. Is there even such a thing as identity anymore? I mean really!

Lucy

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:31:01 -0500

Hey Margaret - You chose to put your personal life on the web. And then you chose to put pictures of your child on the web. Copyright your photos or deal with it. The scenario you've described is harmless - and quite honestly - funny. Have a laugh.