Streisand effect 

The Streisand effect is a phenomenon on the Internet where an attempt to censor or remove a piece of information backfires, causing the information to be widely publicized. Examples of such attempts include censoring a photograph, a number, a file, or a website (for example via a cease-and-desist letter). Instead of being suppressed, the information quickly receives extensive publicity, often being widely mirrored across the Internet, or distributed on file-sharing networks.12 Mike Masnick said he jokingly coined the term in January 2005, “to describe [this] increasingly common phenomenon.”3 The effect is related to John Gilmore's observation that "The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it."4

Contents

Etymology

The term Streisand effect originally referred to a 2003 incident in which Barbra Streisand sued photographer Kenneth Adelman and Pictopia.com for US$50 million in an attempt to have the aerial photo of her house5 removed from the publicly available collection of 12,000 California coastline photographs, citing privacy concerns.671 Adelman claims he was photographing beachfront property to document coastal erosion as part of the California Coastal Records Project.8 Paul Rogers of the San Jose Mercury News later noted that the picture of Streisand’s house was popular on the Internet.9

Examples

Andy Greenberg of Forbes mentions three prominent incidents as examples of the Streisand effect:10

Other examples

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Canton, David. "Today's Business Law: Attempt to suppress can backfire", London Free Press, November 5, 2005. Retrieved July 21, 2007. The "Streisand effect" is what happens when someone tries to suppress something and the opposite occurs. The act of suppressing it raises the profile, making it much more well known than it ever would have been."
  2. ^ Mugrabi, Sunshine. "YouTube—Censored? Offending Paula Abdul clips are abruptly taken down.dead link, Red Herring (magazine), January 22, 2007. Retrieved July 21, 2007. "Another unintended consequence of this move could be that it extends the kerfuffle over Ms. Abdul’s behavior rather than quelling it. Mr. Nguyen called this the “Barbra Streisand effect,” referring to that actress’s insistence that paparazzi photos of her mansion not be used."
  3. ^ “Is Leveraging the Streisand Effect Illegal?”, techdirt.com, July 13, 2006.
  4. ^ Philip Elmer-Dewitt. "First Nation in Cyberspace. Time International, 6 December 1993, No. 49. See also Wikiquote:John Gilmore.
  5. ^ California Coastal Records Project - Image 3850 - "Streisand Estate, Malibu"
  6. ^ Steve Brown (May 30, 2003). "Streisand Sues Environmentalist Photographer for Website Photo". CNSNews.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-25.dead link
  7. ^ Since When Is It Illegal to Just Mention a Trademark Online?, techdirt.com
  8. ^ The Smoking Gun
  9. ^ Rogers, Paul (2003-06-24). "Photo of Streisand home becomes an Internet hit". San Jose Mercury News, mirrored at californiacoastline.org. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
  10. ^ a b c Andy Greenberg (May 11, 2007). "The Streisand Effect", Forbes. Retrieved on 29 February 2008. "The phenomenon takes its name from Barbra Streisand, who made her own ill-fated attempt at reining in the Web in 2003. That's when environmental activist Kenneth Adelman posted aerial photos of Streisand's Malibu beach house on his Web site as part of an environmental survey, and she responded by suing him for $50 million. Until the lawsuit, few people had spotted Streisand's house, Adelman says--but the lawsuit brought more than a million visitors to Adelman's Web site, he estimates. Streisand's case was dismissed, and Adelman's photo was picked up by the Associated Press and reprinted in newspapers around the world." 
  11. ^ Brad Stone (May 3, 2007). "How a Number Became the Latest Web Celebrity.". New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-02-29. "Sophisticated Internet users have banded together over the last two days to publish and widely distribute a secret code used by the technology and movie industries to prevent piracy of high-definition movies."
  12. ^ kdawson (May 1, 2007). "Digg.com Attempts To Suppress HD-DVD Revolt". Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  13. ^ Mathew Ingram (January 19, 2008). "Scientology vs. the Internet, part XVII". The Globe & Mail. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  14. ^ Various Sources (January 19, 2008). "Church of Scientology warns Wikileaks over documents". Wikinews. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  15. ^ Various Sources (January 19, 2008). "Church of Scientology collected Operating Thetan documents". Wikileaks. Retrieved on 2008-03-24.

External links