Cashing in on Tragedy
EmailThe AP sent a story about Virginia Tech that may make your blood boil. According to the piece, by Kristen Gelineau, tragedy is bringing out a virtual version of the worst in some people: they’re buying up domain names on the web that relate to the shootings, apparently hoping to use them for profit. The story is HERE. Go to several of the URLs she lists and you’ll find expressions of sympathy for those who died, opinions on gun control–and places to click if you’d like to buy any of dozens of variations on VaTechTragedy.com. She quotes Mark Oxczarski of Virginia Tech: "If anybody is working to make a profit off of this tragedy by selling these kinds of things, it’s just a crying shame." Apparently there were also virus-writers out there quickly trying to capitalize: if you got an email offering cameraphone footage of the attack, you got malware that went searching your maching for private passwords. More HERE. Of course, history is filled with such stuff; hawkers came to the trial of Bruno Hauptmann, accused of killing the son of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and tried to sell miniatures of the ladder Hauptmann supposedly used. Tasteless, yes; illegal, no. I did trip across the AP story on a blog written by Brock Read at the Chronicle of Higher Education, and he did get a response that began, "Always two sides to a story. "A few of us ‘domainers’ registered some VT domains to help ‘prevent’ people from trying to ‘profit’ from the tragedy. I for one registered about 15 domains related to this. Example: http://vtfund.org/." (The internal quotation marks are from the poster of the comment.) Virginia Tech’s own web site, in the meantime, has a banner on top: "We Are the Hokies. We Will Prevail." It lists the names of the dead. Thoughts welcome.
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I think this is really mean that people wood do something like that
Posted by: mike | May 11, 2007, 9:02 am 9:02 am
It seems that there are always opportunists after any tragedy, trying to make money from others’ grief and suffering. That such opportunism and greed can now be manifested cybernetically in this computer age isn’t surprising, just sad. The Virginia Tech website shows dignity and class and how memorials should be done.
Posted by: chuck | May 11, 2007, 9:25 am 9:25 am
This world has gone crazy. When I was school, you had the occasional schoolyard scraps, but that was about it. You didn’t have people walking around shooting people or have the need for resource officers in schools. Worse yet–metal detectors. It’s easier to control a high-school situation than a spread-out campus. You certainly wouldn’t have the time or resources to perform bag checks or personal screenings to ensure the safety of students. It used to be that when a girl broke up with a guy, he stuck his tail between his legs and went out and found someone else. Nowadays, it’s all about revenge. I work security on a college campus in Florida and this tragedy certainly made us step up our vigilance. The old-age question, though, still eludes us;what does a terrorist look like? My heart and prayers go out to those students and their families and friends who had to stand by and watch these merciless killings.
Posted by: Cookie | May 12, 2007, 3:49 am 3:49 am
The way that I see it,NOTHING has changed.The media are nothing but professional Parasites who thrive on any humane disaster.There are thousands of idiots that will make hundreds if not more $.They love to assume and spectulate.Our so called government are just as bad if not worse!Our country of U.S.A seems to be getting worse by the month and year that goes by.WE ALl have to depend on Ourselves to defend others who are in need,no matter what High-authorities promise or dictate.
Posted by: r.e.b.2 | May 21, 2007, 12:27 am 12:27 am
My son goes to Virginia Tech and was there last year. As a mother of a student my heart still moorns the families of those that were killed. For anyone to profit from such a terrible event should be thankful that they may never have to live through this. I know that this coming wednesday that my son and all of Virginia Tech will be reliving the events of a year ago but with heavy hearts they will pray for the families that will never forget.A Hookie Mom.
Posted by: Robbyn | April 11, 2008, 10:03 am 10:03 am