US family's Christmas card photo used as advertisement in Prague - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

robyrob · 06-17-2009, 07:01 AM

Beware photos online: US family's Christmas card photo used as advertisement in Prague

An American couple was shocked to discover that their family's Christmas card photo was being used without their permission to advertise a supermarket's delivery service in Prague.

A freind of the Smiths was driving through Prague when he spotted this picture of her family splashed across a storefront advertisement.

Jeff and Danielle Smith sent a photo of themselves with their two young children to family and friends as a Christmas card, and posted the image on her blog and a few social networking websites.

Then, late last month, a friend of Mrs Smith's was driving in his neighbourhood in Prague when he spotted the Missouri family's smiling faces in the window of a local supermarket. He snapped a few pictures and sent them to a flabbergasted Mrs Smith.

"It's a life-size picture in a grocery store window in Prague - my Christmas card photo!" said Mrs Smith, 36, who lives in the St. Louis suburb of O'Fallon.

Mario Bertuccio, who owns the Grazie store in Prague, admitted that he had found the photo online. He said he thought it was computer-generated. When told it was a real photo - of a real family - he promised to remove it.

"We'll be happy to write an e-mail with our apology," said Mr Bertuccio.

The Smiths said they had not authorised anyone to use the pictures.

Mrs Smith has received 180,000 hits to her website since she posted the story about the well- ravelled snapshot. She said the photo wasn't used in an unseemly manner, it was just used to tell potential shoppers about the store's delivery service.

Mrs Smith said next time she posts a family photo on the internet, she will lower the resolution or add an electronic watermark to make it hard to reproduce.

"This story doesn't frighten me, but the potential frightens me," Mrs Smith said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...in-Prague.html

hilarious in one sense, but very scary in another

browneyes106 · 06-17-2009, 11:35 AM

I read about this a couple of days ago. It's kind of scary but maybe the store owner did think it was a computer generated photo.

06-17-2009, 07:01 AM	#1
robyrob certified wackball#3 Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Aug 03, 2003 Location: hiding under the third booth at Arnold's Posts: 58,200	US family's Christmas card photo used as advertisement in Prague Beware photos online: US family's Christmas card photo used as advertisement in Prague An American couple was shocked to discover that their family's Christmas card photo was being used without their permission to advertise a supermarket's delivery service in Prague. A freind of the Smiths was driving through Prague when he spotted this picture of her family splashed across a storefront advertisement. Jeff and Danielle Smith sent a photo of themselves with their two young children to family and friends as a Christmas card, and posted the image on her blog and a few social networking websites. Then, late last month, a friend of Mrs Smith's was driving in his neighbourhood in Prague when he spotted the Missouri family's smiling faces in the window of a local supermarket. He snapped a few pictures and sent them to a flabbergasted Mrs Smith. "It's a life-size picture in a grocery store window in Prague - my Christmas card photo!" said Mrs Smith, 36, who lives in the St. Louis suburb of O'Fallon. Mario Bertuccio, who owns the Grazie store in Prague, admitted that he had found the photo online. He said he thought it was computer-generated. When told it was a real photo - of a real family - he promised to remove it. "We'll be happy to write an e-mail with our apology," said Mr Bertuccio. The Smiths said they had not authorised anyone to use the pictures. Mrs Smith has received 180,000 hits to her website since she posted the story about the well- ravelled snapshot. She said the photo wasn't used in an unseemly manner, it was just used to tell potential shoppers about the store's delivery service. Mrs Smith said next time she posts a family photo on the internet, she will lower the resolution or add an electronic watermark to make it hard to reproduce. "This story doesn't frighten me, but the potential frightens me," Mrs Smith said. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...in-Prague.html hilarious in one sense, but very scary in another
	__________________ * firefox * AdAware * HiJackThis * CoolWebShredder * Spybot * SpywareBlaster * Spyware Terminator * * GeeksToGo * AntiVir * Avast antivirus * Housecall Online * Sysinternals Security Utilities * * ZoneAlarm * Agnitum-firewall * Comodo Firewall * AVG Anti-Rootkit * RootkitRevealer * ParasiteCheck * * Annoyances * FreeCodecs * Mikes-Hosts-File * GRC.com * MSAntispyware * DVD's * TradeList * myspace *

06-17-2009, 11:35 AM	#2
browneyes106 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Apr 01, 2008 Posts: 6,094	I read about this a couple of days ago. It's kind of scary but maybe the store owner did think it was a computer generated photo.