Latest Thing To Blame On Google? Koi Thieves

from the time-to-blur-the-koi-ponds dept

It seems these days you can try to blame just about anything on Google. The latest? Koi thieves. Yes, the highly sought after colorful fish are apparently disappearing at a higher-than-normal clip, including from some decently secluded koi ponds. Thus, the police have decided that it must be the fault of Google Earth, allowing the dastardly carp criminals to scout out their targets. Google, for its part, points out that Google Earth merely presents publicly available satellite imagery via its app, suggesting, correctly, that it's a bit unfair to blame Google just because Google presents the same data in a way that others could find elsewhere.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: blame, google earth, koi
Companies: google


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    CleverName, 1 Jul 2009 @ 5:25pm

    I wonder if the various fish eating species of bird are now using google.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    WarOtter (profile), 1 Jul 2009 @ 5:58pm

    Hmmmm...

    Where can I download these 'koi' and is there a monthly subscription? Is it ad supported, and do the koi-artists get fair compensation?


    Ya know, that ain't a bad idea *runs to a copyright typewriter*

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    WarOtter (profile), 1 Jul 2009 @ 5:59pm

    Lol

    HAH! The three google ads on the sidebar are for Koi fish from Japan! Maybe there's more to this Google involvement than we think!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2009 @ 6:06pm

    Illegal immigration killed our apartment complex koi pond, which had been in continuous existence for almost 40 years.
    It was a luxurious touch, and an added expense for the property owner, who paid a koi expert to maintain the fish and the pond.

    Our area was hit with a boom of illegal immigration from Central American indigenous people - rural villagers who immediately netted the koi fish and cooked them for dinner. If the fishmongers hadn't killed the koi, they would have undoubtedly died off because of all the piss that was flooding the pond. Hey, the concrete-bottomed fish pond was a body of water, so why the hell shouldn't you unzip your fly, aim, shoot and fire?


    The property owner finally had to pay someone to pour cement in and fill the pond up after all the fish were gone, since the water had become a de facto Porta Potty, outdoor laundry where women beat their wet clothes on the rocks, and a convenient wading pool for the tykes. Jesus H., I was the most open-minded tolerant person in the world until the illegal aliens started eating our koi fish.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Fsm, 1 Jul 2009 @ 9:09pm

      Re: #4

      If that's true... it's pretty fucking sad.

      But why wouldn't the property owner have evicted the illegal aliens destroying his property (and it's value)?

      Something smells fishy about that...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2009 @ 9:26pm

        Re: Re: #4

        The owner sold the property at the high end of the market, cashed out and retired to a foreign country. Also what can you do when someone rents an apartment with fake ID and false employment information, but then pay their rent in full and on time every month? The long-time tenants, including me, saw the pond fishing and the other behaviors, but it became a matter of our word against the newcomers. I chose to move.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Dark Helmet (profile), 2 Jul 2009 @ 6:35am

          Re: Re: Re: #4

          What the shit are you talking about?

          "The owner sold the property at the high end of the market, cashed out and retired to a foreign country"

          Okay, who was the landlord? Or if it was a Condo, who was your association prez? Because they should have been all over this. Or your just lying spewing garbage about illegal aliens.

          "Also what can you do when someone rents an apartment with fake ID and false employment information, but then pay their rent in full and on time every month?"

          Well, for starters you can not rent out to people with false papers, since you seem so sure they were illegals. If you're a condo, you can get the developer/association to not sell to people with false papers. More pointedly, you could do the neighborhood watch thing and inundate your local police with calls EVERY TIME one of these "illegals" commits any of several misdemeanors you mentioned (misuse of public property, public urination, indecent exposure, etc.etc.etc.) and have them arrested, which ought to get them on an INS bus pretty damn quick.

          Plus, it seems to me all of these "illegals" brazenly holding Koi barbecues in front of you could have been arrested for theft, with fairly stiff penalties depending on the going rate for the Koi they stole from the "owner" you mentioned. That also ought to have landed them back in Mexico.

          So basically, the moral of the story is this: if you're going to make up a complete lie in order to attempt to inflame racial tension and hatred, how about, you know, coming up with something less retarded there, Goering.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2009 @ 12:05am

      Re:

      Wow, you sir are a very patient person. Those asshat's would have been killed if they tried moving in near me.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2009 @ 6:26pm

    Google does make planning a crime easier by presenting public information in an easily accessible manor. Anyone who complains about this is relying on security through obscurity and deserves it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      CleverName, 1 Jul 2009 @ 8:04pm

      Re:

      All they have to do is go to that manor and get the info, where is that exactly ?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2009 @ 6:58pm

    About Lake Bill...

    "Lake Bill" was over-rated anyway.

    Don't move to Seattle to work for Microsoft, or talk about the landscaping. They'll remove your contribution to Wikipedia.

    Also the Koi in Lake Bill die off every month. I don't think I walked by "Lake Bill" that there wasn't a dead fish.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2009 @ 7:16pm

    This is like when the police blamed video games for a two year old mishandling a knife.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 1 Jul 2009 @ 7:36pm

    I read about this the other day

    From what I read the police guessed that it was because of Google Earth but they made it vary clear that Google Earth was only using things that are already freely available in many different places. If it wasn't Google Earth than it would have been something else. There didn't seem to be any blame placed on Google, they just assumed that it was the tool used.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2009 @ 8:25pm

    Kois need a river.

    That is my main concern. Dead fish exist due to poor handling, bad feeding or just plain neglect. To put them in a pond, well...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2009 @ 11:36pm

    Well, it could be better, but Mike just peed on my bed, so I am waiting before jumping to sleep.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2009 @ 11:37pm

    Damnit! Wrong window. Disregard the last comment please.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2009 @ 11:38pm

    damned hedgehog...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2009 @ 5:26am

    Are you being coy ?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Gene Cavanaugh, 2 Jul 2009 @ 9:57am

    Google Earth

    Right on, Michael!
    If I were going to steal Koi (or anything else) I would do my research first (like going to Court). It wouldn't matter whether the information was on Google or buried in an archive somewhere, I would find it.
    If I wanted to PREVENT a theft, I would need to know what information was available to criminals, but with other things vying for my attention, I would look for it on Google, and stop there - it makes no sense to spend all my time looking for potential problems (the scatter gun approach, as opposed to the rifle shot approach of potential criminals).
    So, to me, it is clear that Google Earth may (and likely does) prevent crimes, but certainly it does not enable them!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    John85851 (profile), 6 Jul 2009 @ 4:18pm

    I know Google is a nice target...

    ... but how about going after the fishing-pole companies? After all, the people had to use something to get the fish.
    And how about going after the car companies for making vehicles that conveniently helped the people escape the scene of the crime? Why if it weren't for those blasted cars, the people will still be walking away from the water with those koi in their hands!

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.