re: Keeping people from stealing others pics

Quoting ♥Lacey:“ The picture that was stolen was from a post. My pictures are set to private, but now with having a ... [snip!] ... me as my daughter is due in less than two months and I now don't feel comfortable posting her pictures for others to see.”

well, if you don't post pics in a thread in the forums and only make it visible to your parentank, you won't have to worry about that-- b/c only people you trust will be able to see your pics.

the basic reality is: picture theft is simply unavoidable on the internet (so long as it's visible on a screen it can be stolen simply by taking a screen shot (right click being disabled just makes it slightly more difficult, but anyone w/ the inclination can steal any image on the internet) ... it's just a matter of how much you care what people are doing w/ you pics.

personally, i realize there is a risk of my pictures being stolen, but i don't care at all.

i don't care if someone claims that they are me, that my son is theirs or not, etc.

largely, b/c they're just making up a lie and it has nothing to do w/ reality and it isn't a threat to me personally and therefore, is only offensive inasmuch as i let it offend me.

some anonymous person claiming that my son's photo is their son does not affect me. i know who's son it is. and i don't need to validate myself to anyone on the internet. i'm the one w/ the birth certificate, ssn, and so on.

i understand how it feels like a violation to a person who hasn't really taken in the thought that the internet is a HUGE public space and open to any crazy out there. the minute you post your photo on a publicly accessible space, you're opening yourself up to a massive audience of people. many of these people are good people and some of them are just lame pathetic individuals who use the anonymity of the internet-- hiding behind their computer screens, to take out all their sad issues via various forms of harrassment, theft, and just plain lame-ass behavior.

last thought: if you really don't want people claiming it's their photo when it's yours, just take the time to insert some sort of watermark using photoshop or some such program... otherwise, you'll have to accept that a public forum (such as BG) is open to those sorts of abuse and there isn't a whole lot you or i can do about it.