In 1999 I started a photoblog which I updated with some regularity until about 3 years ago. The photography was banal and I had poor technique but it was a fun project while it lasted.
This morning I received an abusive and somewhat threatening email with regards to a paragraph I had written on this website 3 years ago. The email threatens that I will be in a ‘world of hurt’ and ‘i hope you can afford the legal fees’ if the page still exists in 24hrs.
The page in question is an abstract photograph of the side of a building with no identifying features. The paragraph tells of an old lady who was seemingly abandoned there one summer for a period of time by her family. I state that this building has fallen on disrepair. No names nor no specific address are given.
I see now, that the page comes up quite high in google when searching for real estate for this area and I hear that they have been attempting to sell the building. Though they frame the offense as an offense against their family, I suspect it’s really about money.
I’m taking the email seriously and have contacted my web host to review the page in question to ensure I haven’t violated the terms of my service agreement. I plan to remove the paragraph in question but not the page itself.
Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? What recourse do I have if the abuse escalates? Seeing as I am in Taiwan, how do I deal with any legal challenges if they occur? With the paragraph removed do I still have the right to exhibit a photograph of this nature. Should I even be writing this?
My apologies if this is not clear, I am purposely being vague to avoid any cross referencing with this particular page.
If it were me I’d delete it or leave Taiwan. There are some nutty people out there and as you can see from the other posts here you get very little protection from the law in Taiwan.
There’s probably not much you can or should do, but just out of curiousity:
What country is the building in?
Did the person tell you what he/she found objectionable?
Did the person give his/her name?
Can you try discussing the matter calmly with the person to see what’s bothering him/her and if there might be a legitimate reason for his/her displeasure, regardless of how infantile his/her initial message was?
The photograph is in Canada of a building neighbouring property our family owns. He gave his mothers name and didn’t sign his name in the email. I did some research and found where he works and his phone number etc.
He finds objectionable the paragraph of a story of an old lady who was forgotten one summer by her family. I’m assuming that it was his grandmother.
I’m sensitive to to the email because webhosts in the US tend to react by suspending service when a dispute arises. I do allot of business through this account.
It’s good practice in life to avoid disputes whenever possible, whether you’re talking fistfights, litigation or nasty exchanges of other kinds, even if one may be within ones legal rights and the other person may be wrong. So you were right to remove the offending paragraph to defuse the situation. You may wish to send the guy a brief response, apologizing for having offended him, pointing out that you removed that language, and calmly letting him know that you meant no offense. Presumably that should be the end of it.
But save all correspondence with him. It sounds like he’s the one in violation of website policies, not you, and if he continues threatening you he’s the one that should have his account yanked, not you.
IF he doesn’t back off. Otherwise, if you can end it right now and move on to more productive activities, why escalate it, antagonize him, and risk embarking on a long, nasty, pain-in-the-ass exchange with some lunatic, that will only drain your time and energy?
[quote=“Mother Theresa”][quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Whoa! Call his boss!
HG[/quote]
IF he doesn’t back off. Otherwise, if you can end it right now and move on to more productive activities, why escalate it, antagonize him, and risk embarking on a long, nasty, pain-in-the-ass exchange with some lunatic, that will only drain your time and energy?[/quote]
Quoted for truth.
Save all correspondence. Contact his ISP. Call his boss. Threaten to sue him for harassment.
Or delete the paragraph and photo from your banal blog that you haven’t even bothered to update in three years. Seems obvious to me.
I deleted the page but didn’t reply to his email. I don’t mind swallowing my pride to avoid the hassle of confrontations but I’m not interested in entering into a conversation with someone who is either unbalanced or in a rage.
[quote=“kelake”]I deleted the page but didn’t reply to his email. I don’t mind swallowing my pride to avoid the hassle of confrontations but I’m not interested in entering into a conversation with someone who is either unbalanced or in a rage.
No further contact yet.[/quote]
I’d email him to let him know that you’ve removed the offending parts and that you’ve got a record of his correspondence that has now been passed to your extremely expensive and aggressive lawyer, who will be contacting him in due course.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]It’s good practice in life to avoid disputes whenever possible, whether you’re talking fistfights, litigation or nasty exchanges of other kinds, even if one may be within ones legal rights and the other person may be wrong. So you were right to remove the offending paragraph to defuse the situation. You may wish to send the guy a brief response, apologizing for having offended him, pointing out that you removed that language, and calmly letting him know that you meant no offense. Presumably that should be the end of it.
But save all correspondence with him. It sounds like he’s the one in violation of website policies, not you, and if he continues threatening you he’s the one that should have his account yanked, not you.[/quote]
