Instigator Blog - Latest Comments in Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

dianagray — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:07:45 -0000

How can you find where the stolen avatar might be appearing? This one was stolen from Twitternot mine.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

ChineseGenderCalendar — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:34:30 -0000

Agreed. Sth should be done here.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

hypnosis/expert — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:04:04 -0000

Very good point. Some time we need a legislation to protect people's avatar as their brand.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

hypnosis-/weight~lossexpert — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:03:26 -0000

Very good point. Some time we need a legislation to protect people's avatar as their brand.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

hypnosisweightlossexpert — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:01:46 -0000

Very good point. Some time we need a legislation to protect people's avatar as their brand.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Dave Eaves — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:35:43 -0000

Check out rlk89, talk about a MrBabyMan rip off.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Ben Yoskovitz — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:26:53 -0000

Bret - I don't think anything is sacred anymore...sad, but true.

Now the guy above you doesn't think this is an issue. I don't think the sky will fall and the world will explode because someone copies on avatar, but I do believe the avatar was copied, it wasn't just a coincidence.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Bret — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:05:46 -0000

Ben, thanks for the informative post. I wasn't aware that some people have starting stooping sooooooo low. Stealing an avatar -- is nothing sacred?

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

C.Ash — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 03:39:36 -0000

No, its simply an ace of spades.
An extremely generic ace of spades.

There was even a Motorhead song about it.

Muhammad's avatar is about as original as his name is, and that's the long and short of it.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Ramkarthik — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:33:05 -0000

Ben Yoskovitz, Yeah I should try that. First I messaged her through mybloglog profile but she didn't reply. If you don't mind, here's the profile of the guy who added it to his name.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Ben Yoskovitz — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:29:25 -0000

@Ramkarthik: If that's the case you should reach out to Robyn Tippins. Do a Google search for her name / contact info, shouldn't be hard to find. She's the community manager at MyBlogLog.

@Crouchingpanda: It's not an ego thing whatsoever. But people do invest time in branding themselves, whether it's with a spade or anything else. You don't need a unique image or logo to use an image, brand yourself with it and benefit from it.

Was this case coincidence? I doubt it. The person's trying to leech off the leverage Muhammad's gained on digg - simple as that. That's what's lame.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Crouchingpanda — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:12:15 -0000

Come on, the example given is an ace of spades. You can't "steal" an ace of spades as an avatar for christ's sake. And its different. Noticably different, to the point where anyone who confuses the two needs an eyetest. They have different colouration, and even a different shape to them. The bottom example is straightline, while the first has a curvature to the tip.

Pedantic? You bet your ass, someone has to be. When it comes to intellectual property, unless you created it, you don't own it. You don't own, it can't be stolen from you. Immitated maybe, but immitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I do feel for people who have spent time to create their own avatar and had it used by others without their permission, but honestly, the example in the article could have been way better and less petty than "omg, this power user has an ace of spades avatar, now this nobody is using a (totally differently styled) ace of spades, THE THIEVING BASTARD!".

Get over your own egos.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

gdold — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 05:53:34 -0000

I made myself an avatar. Spent a fair bit of time on it. Someone nicked it. I created a better version. More people nicked it. I've now seen around ten people using my avatar. It's sickening!

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Ramkarthik — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:37:13 -0000

I guess this is much better compared to my case. Someone at MyBlogLog added my blog to their account before I did and now I'm not able to add mine. I mailed the customer service twice but got no reply till date. :(

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

pearl — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 16:35:20 -0000

this is really horrible.. its almost like someone stealing your identity! but I guess thats what the thieves do, they'll steal whatever they can!

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Ben Yoskovitz — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 15:47:58 -0000

@Carl: 'Nuff said I guess...you've hit the nail on the head, as sad as that may be.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Michael — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 15:35:10 -0000

Haha, very true Carl. I didn't even know this was an issue.

My old, broken tennis shoes got stolen the other day, so I guess if someone is willing to steal those, they would be willing to steal an avatar!

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Carl Mercier — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:28:35 -0000

When there's something to steal, it'll be stolen. That simple, unfortunately.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Ben Yoskovitz — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:11:35 -0000

@Blogging Mix: I don't think an Internet Police is feasible or reasonable, it's just too complex. Of course police forces are already online tracking criminals, but for stuff like avatar stealing or being rude in the blogosphere - you can't have a police for those things. People need to handle it somehow.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Blogging Mix — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 04:09:52 -0000

Stealing someone else's avatar is a bad practice. Some people even do this and assume the identify of their stolen avatar.

I really hope an internet police force is feasible..

cheers!

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Ben Yoskovitz — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:45:51 -0000

@TheMadHat: In that case it's definitely necessarily and critical to protect your brand by going after those that steal your avatar. Although the recourse is probably an email to the social media site where the stealing is taking place, in the hopes that they deal with it.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Laura — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:07:56 -0000

I've also seen people use the exact same avatar. I'd think that it would only benefit the avatar thief in the short run. In the long run he (or she) would be found out and would be worse off than before they "lifted" the popular avatar.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

TheMadHat — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:59:23 -0000

My logo and avatar are one and the same. Stealing it would not only damage my brand, but it would damage my reputation personally as well. I would take immediate action if this occurred.

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Ben Yoskovitz — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:18:12 -0000

@Mark: I agree with you regarding ownership, and this is where I'm not sure how much of your own brand is tied to your avatar. You can change them easily, you can't necessarily copyright them (unless you're using your logo), and they can be copied easily.

The value of a good avatar is standing out from the noise - giving people that quick visual cue. And once people identify you with your avatar, they're going to see it before they see the name.

I'm sure that's what this scammer is gunning for.

Thank you to everyone for their comments!

Re: Stealing Avatars: Identity Theft 2.0

Mat — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:09:45 -0000

While stealing avatars is clearly in poor taste, I feel that avatars - and the questionable choices people make for their pics - can often cheapen a site.

How to encourage your users to make avatar choices that are mature and representative of their personal brands, in such a way that they add, rather than detract from, your sites overall level of community and legitimacy?