Emptyage

Is This Plagiarism?

An article on the “Twitter burglary” (which, for the record, is a silly story that is likely little more than coincidence) lifts a passage from my WIRED feature “I Am Here” and attributes it as a quote to the victim of the burglary. I initially came across it in the free UK daily Metro, and assumed that was the source, but a little digging has turned up the same story in the UK Telegraph and the INDenver Times (which seems to have simply reprinted the story from the Telegraph).

Here’s the passage as it appears in the Metro published on June 10, 2009:

When they finally returned home, they found their Arizona home had been broken into and looted.

Mr Hyman said: “My wife thinks it could be a random thing, but I just have my suspicions.

“Did I really want to tell the world that I was out of town?

“Because the card in my camera automatically added location data to my photos, anyone who cared to look at my Flickr page could see my computers, my spendy bicycle, and my large flatscreen TV all pinpointed on an online photo map.

“Hell, with a few clicks you could get driving directions right to my place - and with a few more you could get black gloves and a lock-pick delivered to your home.”

This is the passage in the Telegraph, also published June 10, 2009

Israel Hyman posted that he and his wife were “preparing to head out of town,” that they had “another 10 hours of driving ahead” and later, that they “made it to Kansas City.”

But when Hyman, who has approximately 2,000 followers on Twitter, came home, he found that someone had broken into his house.

Thousands of dollars worth of video equipment, which he used for his video business, IzzyVideo.com, had been stolen.

“My wife thinks it could be a random thing, but I just have my suspicions,” he said. “They didn’t take any of our normal consumer electronics.

“Did I really want to tell the world that I was out of town? Because the card in my camera automatically added location data to my photos, anyone who cared to look at my Flickr page could see my computers, my spendy bicycle, and my large flatscreen TV all pinpointed on an online photo map.

“Hell, with a few clicks you could get driving directions right to my place—and with a few more you could get black gloves and a lock pick delivered to your home.”

And here’s the passage as it originally appeared in my story published January 19, 2009:

The trouble started right away. While my wife and I were sipping stouts at our neighborhood pub in San Francisco (37.770401 °N, 122.445154 °W), I casually mentioned my plan. Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to announce to everyone that you’re leaving town without me, are you? A lot of weirdos follow you online.”

Sorry, weirdos—I love you, but she has a point. Because of my work, many people—most of them strangers—track my various Flickr, Twitter, Tumblr, and blog feeds. And it’s true; I was going to be gone for a week on business. Did I really want to tell the world that I was out of town? It wasn’t just leaving my wife home alone that concerned me. Because the card in my camera automatically added location data to my photos, anyone who cared to look at my Flickr page could see my computers, my spendy bicycle, and my large flatscreen TV all pinpointed on an online photo map. Hell, with a few clicks you could get driving directions right to my place—and with a few more you could get black gloves and a lock pick delivered to your home.

Note one sentence is (intentionally?) omitted in the story as it appears in the Metro and Telegraph, but that they are otherwise identical. I’m not quite ready to call it plagiarism, but whatever the explanation, it’s not cool.

(Also: big thanks to Greg F. who emailed me to let me know about this.)