Journalist arrested for 'lifting' photo from facebook account.

Keith

Keith

The best camera is one that still works!
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Interesting case and you have to love a journalist with a name like 'Grubb!'


Police have confirmed they arrested a journalist and seized his computer on Queensland's Gold Coast yesterday, after he published a story about a Facebook security flaw.

Detective Superintendent Brian Hay today likened the issue to receiving stolen goods, but refused to go into details of Fairfax journalist Ben Grubb's case.

"Let me give you an analogy. Someone breaks into a house and they steal a TV and they give that TV to you, and you know that TV is stolen, and you apply it to your own use ... that's receiving stolen property," he said.

"I'm not going to go into the details of the specifics of the case."

Grubb was arrested at the AusCERT IT security conference after he wrote the Facebook story for Fairfax.

"I've been arrested by Queensland Police for a story I wrote today. They've also seized my iPad," he said on Twitter yesterday.

His article told how a presenter at a pre-conference event gained access to privacy-protected photos in another person's Facebook account. The article was accompanied by a photo lifted from the account.

The article is still online but the photo has been removed.

The journalist has since written another story published online by the Sydney Morning Herald, where he describes feeling as though police had double-crossed him.

"I feel like I have been unfairly targeted," he wrote.

"Journalists must be able to report what they observe - that's what they've been doing for ages and so to see this kind of policing occurring is very alarming."

Grubb says his iPad is still being held by police and they told him they were making a complete copy of its data - "whether it related to this matter or not".

"I believed that, as a journalist, I had protections. But it seems not," he wrote.

"And to lose a device that contains not only private but work-related information is also another seriously alarming development for a journalist."

Police initially denied Grubb was arrested, but later said he had been detained for questioning. This morning, police media said on Twitter that he had in fact been arrested.

"Our bad @bengrubb was arrested for questioning briefly Our tweet last night was based on information provided at the time Apologies," they said.

Detective Superintendent Hay says he understands it is a sensitive case.

"But no-one is immune. I've worked in the CMC [Crime and Misconduct Commission], I've investigated police, corrupt officials - you name it," he said.

"They're unpleasant scenarios that we have to do, but no-one is immune - not cops, not politicians, not journalists."

The ABC has contacted Grubb for comment.
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about time the media were taught the lesson that they are not above the law. This guy even says he thinks he has special rights because he is a journalist. Well sorry chum, you don't.

Current big case in the UK is mobile phone tapping by the newspapers, speciffically The News of the World, who of course denied it. But now it turns out it's pretty common for them to be doing it and are being sued by celebs who the police have been informing that they were tapped. That's one of Rupert Murdoch's papers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11195407
 
So, was he arrested because he reported on a flaw, or was it because he carried out the flaw/loophole itself?
 
hunghang said:
So, was he arrested because he reported on a flaw, or was it because he carried out the flaw/loophole itself?
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Then used the image in his article to prove his point ... which obviously doesn't excuse it in the eyes of the law.

I'm not really a facebook fan to be honest though I do have a page ... nothing is safe on the internet IMO.
 
slow day for the police I guess.. this is a cheezy move on their part. A single image... c'mon it's not like stealing and reselling. Which I've experienced. Enforcement here could care less and the journal that stole the photo told me to take a leap...

Facebook has a flaw and he proves it. So he's the bad guy? Something's wrong with all of this or else there's more here. Regarding the fishing expedition on his personal computer... that's an abuse. Makes me glad I'm not subject to people sniffing thru my personal sock drawer or fridge. What next?

The story here for me is total abuse of police authority.

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update a fast search on the net for AusCERT conference : http://smarthouse.com.au/Home_Office/Security_And_Support/G9V5J8H4

looks like the police "gots some 'splainin' to do!"
 
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jan normandale said:
slow day for the police I guess.. this is a cheezy move on their part. A single image... c'mon it's not like stealing and reselling. Which I've experienced. Enforcement here could care less and the journal that stole the photo told me to take a leap...

Facebook has a flaw and he proves it. So he's the bad guy? Something's wrong with all of this or else there's more here. Regarding the fishing expedition on his personal computer... that's an abuse. Makes me glad I'm not subject to people sniffing thru my personal sock drawer or fridge. What next?

The story here for me is total abuse of police authority.
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I suspect he's someone who has rubbed the police the wrong way on previous occasions and they saw this as an opportunity to put some 'heat' on him.

They wouldn't do that sort of thing though would they? :D
 
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Keith said:
I suspect he's someone who has rubbed the police the wrong way on previous occasions and they saw this as an opportunity to put some 'heat' on him.

They wouldn't do that sort of thing though would they? :D
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heh.. police are like everyone else. Some are good, some are bad, some are cranky, some are out to make a name. I don't think either of these "gentlemen" will have fun as this evolves. Sometimes a chat is easier. "Could you take the photo off and put up a shot of a kitten instead please" might have been the route to go but now 'the machine' is in operation there's no stopping it until it's run it's course.
 
Just read-up on the story. They arrested him and took his iPad because the photo was equivalent to "stolen goods".
 
Wow. So...I've had photos downloaded from my Flickr account, and people have used them for use in different sorts of things --from screensavers to "decorating my wall"--, even though there is a clear Copyright setting in them at Flickr.

Anybody have this police dept's phone number?



This is insane, and just shows how far some people go, all out of ignorance. Both sides are to blame.
 
I wonder if the police also arrested pre-conference presenter who actually hacked into the Facebook account to gain access to the photo.
Or how about the conference organizers? Aren't they co-conspirators?
If the police have time to concern themselves with this, I can only assume that this part of Australia has virtually no crime.
 
was it maybe a sensitive private photo of some big shot?
Or what?
If it was just another blurry cat photo of a random teenager facebooker then what the hell.
If it was though something funky, then it would make me wonder what is going on in reality:
- why did the journalist not go for an innocent cat shot or holiday snap
- what is the police's real motivation.

It's a weird story, and maybe due to my unperfect English, but i can't read between those lines...
 
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