Author: sp

# Views: 3914

A few days ago I complained about the incredibly awkward IT Security Girl of the Year award that will be dished out later this year at the French IT security conference FRHACK. Apparently the FRHACK organizers did not like what I wrote because they are now threatening to sue me if I do not remove the screenshot of the incredibly inappropriate photos they used to advertise the IT Sec Girl award. The following sentence is from an email I received from one of the FRHACK organizers.

We just ask you to remove this picture http://www.the-interweb.com/bdump/misc/itsec_girl.jpg because these pictures are copyrighted. Thanks to delete your screenshot or we will take legal action.

After I received this email I was incredibly annoyed. Its less about them requesting me to take down the screenshot though. I was more annoyed with their reply in general. In no way did they even bother to address the issue I complained about. This would have been the perfect time to show some character. They could have discussed their point of view. They could have apologized for their mistakes. They could have told me to stuff it (in case they think their point of view is correct; which apparently they dont because they changed their website). All of these (and more) would have been perfect ways to show some personal responsibility and the whole issue would be finished from my point of view.

But thats not what happened. Instead they sent me this incredibly limp-dicked legal threat which I believe to be more about removing evidence that documents their failures than about any legit copyright issues. The passive-aggressive vibes I am getting from this (and the fact that I am allergic to legal threats) piss me off so much that I need to complain about this publicly. I hope I will never have the displeasure to meet any of the FRHACK organizers in real life.

Now the thing is, I do not have the time or the resources to fight their legal threat. I will take down the screenshot in the next few days (probably at one point between now and next Wednesday; whenever I feel like it).

Update: Looks like the screenshot stays on my website. See the end of the original post for a detailed update.

Update 2: Please check out the comments made by the FRHACK team in response to this post. This should clear some things up.