Standard Apple policy, say nothing and if you they don't like what someone is going to say in the press they can simply get the "blogs" to go after them and tear into them for reporting the facts, Apple would not give a comment or offered no comment, or sat on their arse and did nothing as usual since they still feel their OS is far more secure than anything else on the market.
The fact is Apple is now where MS was years and years ago the fact that iOS and iCloud are so popular among celebs makes them the target to go after. Does Apple not think that their new iWallet is going to be so secure with the hundreds of millions of credit cards on file in iTunes, its the holy grail for thieves. If they get hacked and they will, after all Apple sucks at cloud and we all KNOW IT.
The fact is Apple is now where MS was years and years ago the fact that iOS and iCloud are so popular among celebs makes them the target to go after.
For the trillionth time, iCloud wasn’t hacked.
Does Apple not think that their new iWallet is going to be so secure with the hundreds of millions of credit cards on file in iTunes, its the holy grail for thieves.
For the hundred thousandth time, Apple Pay does not store your information anywhere but your device and your bank. They’ll have to hack one of those, NOT APPLE, to get your information.
If they get hacked and they will, after all Apple sucks at cloud and we all KNOW IT.
- if you let a third party app act as your web browser and then enter authentication details on a website, it can see them and capture them. Don't do that.
Good point. Ironic that users of 1Password need to do that to access a password protected website. For all we know that company is harvesting.
- if you let a third party app act as your web browser and then enter authentication details on a website, it can see them and capture them. Don't do that.
Good point. Ironic that users of 1Password need to do that to access a password protected website. For all we know that company is harvesting.
Correctly or not, but probably reasonably, apps such as that are regarded as trusted.
One very important fact about the entire "celebrity leaks" affair... which I won't name here, is that a large number of the celebs on the official "unnamed event"... did NOT actually have their accounts hacked. It was boyfriends, friends of friends, and a number of other services involved... not only Apple.
In fact, from a lot of the exif data that has been identified on a fair amount of the most "damaging" images... were neither taken on an iPhone nor stored there or anything to do with Apple. Also such formats as .webm and .avi have been quite common.
There's another batch (part 2) been uploaded this week and there's again Blackberries and things being used and video formats not common to iPhones (although some will have been re-encoded) but the media still links to iCloud alone:
Even just the fact that all these nude pictures can't have been taken at the same time suggests that this is beyond just Apple's service. There were dozens of people involved with hundreds of images and only a portion made public.
News media doesn't like to make stories too complex. If they dilute the blame with other services, people would lose interest. Apple confirming that some celebrity accounts were accessed directly will come across to some as an admission of blame because the fiction they choose to believe is more interesting than the facts.
Correctly or not, but probably reasonably, apps such as that are regarded as trusted.
Completely valid point. Still, one wonders why a more expensive app, with solid encryption, is supposed to 'not phone home'. But yeah, more of a devil's advocate here.
As to the metadata in the pictures [@]ThePixelDoc[/@] touched upon, it could of course simply be any non-iPhone camera and uploaded to iCloud through iPhoto or Aperture.
There's another batch (part 2) been uploaded this week and there's again Blackberries and things being used and video formats not common to iPhones (although some will have been re-encoded) but the media still links to iCloud alone:
Even just the fact that all these nude pictures can't have been taken at the same time suggests that this is beyond just Apple's service. There were dozens of people involved with hundreds of images and only a portion made public.
News media doesn't like to make stories too complex. If they dilute the blame with other services, people would lose interest. Apple confirming that some celebrity accounts were accessed directly will come across to some as an admission of blame because the fiction they choose to believe is more interesting than the facts.
Thanks for the reply. I'm following the event quite closely and am aware of the leaks, the contents, file and folder hierarchies, Dropbox files, exif data, as well as file formats... many of which are not native on any Apple device.
I've also been trying to correct the misconception and blame continuously being placed on Apple for the leak at a number of sites I frequent. I personally can state that as of yesterday, more than ~90% of the leaks do NOT appear to be from an iCloud account. In fact, there is only ONE folder that appears to be a complete backup pulled off of an iCloud account and extracted using ElcomSoft tools, where there is a folder hierarchy of duplicate labeled folders (1), (2), etc. It is this ONE folder group that the media reports the person claimed to have deleted the files long ago.
For the record, I'm going to state equivocally that I find this abuse of ANYONE's privacy absolutely deplorable and despicable(!) I'm not interested in the content, regardless of my profession that some may be aware of here. What ticked me off... and made this my mission to find the truth, is when a couple of the celebs and/or their handlers, and the media BSers, decided to point fingers solely at one companies products and services being at fault. Products that I support and suggest to MY clients to use specifically because as a whole, they are more secure. It's my duty to my clients, that this does NOT happen to them or their customers, if it's Apple's fault and can be avoided by me learning as much as I can to avoid this. Leaving it up to the media or others that have an agenda against Apple... which everyone does.. was not an option I felt comfortable with or worth trusting MY reputation on. I can handle nudity and be discreet about it, which is the main reason why I'm trusted with many a photographer's or client's data in the first place.
There of course will be the a**holes here that will call my motivation BS, and of course... I'm not blind... I saw bits.. And I have to say, all in all... harmless in a less prude society like the one I live in here in Europe. With that said, there is one victim that I feel so very sorry for, and I've almost cried for her and what she's going through now, and probably forever due to this shit(!!!) No, it wasn't any of the ones in the headlines.
The one thing I will say about the main headliner though: I so wish she would "own the pictures", own her beautiful and quirky self, and in the end, own everybody by saying, "what of it?! I'm not ashamed for being a woman, having fun with my friends, being sexy when I want to rather than when a director says I have to... and proud of every last inch of my body". Basically, pull a Mae West or Marylin Monroe moment on the media and public, and she would be considered a goddess until the end of time. That goes for all of them. They should be proud, narcissistic and glorify in their youthful bodies all they want, and for as long as they can. The day will come fast enough when they'll want to cover themselves or turn the lights down lower, maybe request a diffuser or filter. This is not the time to be modest... and especially because others want you to be.
Woah... sorry for the rant... but I'll let it stand just for the record how I feel about this affair.
Edited to add: and this absolute BS that men are all misogynists REALLY gets me steamed, because the absolute worst comments... and I do mean below the belt trash talking... has come from girls and women! Unbelievable!
I personally can state that as of yesterday, more than ~90% of the leaks do NOT appear to be from an iCloud account. In fact, there is only ONE folder that appears to be a complete backup pulled off of an iCloud account and extracted using ElcomSoft tools, where there is a folder hierarchy of duplicate labeled folders (1), (2), etc. It is this ONE folder group that the media reports the person claimed to have deleted the files long ago.
Products that I support and suggest to MY clients to use specifically because as a whole, they are more secure. It's my duty to my clients, that this does NOT happen to them or their customers, if it's Apple's fault and can be avoided by me learning as much as I can to avoid this.
I think most of the blame for linking to iCloud was the original uploader. When they uploaded it they described how they used iCloud logins. There's a pretty in-depth article about the events here:
It says it was multiple people over a period of months. The mention of iCloud was in response to someone asking how to exploit that particular service. It says that about 30% of the collector OriginalGuy's images were fake and he'd noticed some being uploaded elsewhere so decided to start leaking them for money. The following page mentions other possible ways the images could have been accessed including stolen hardware. It says Lindsay Lohan tried to find a stolen laptop as she had nudes stored on it (nobody leaked those though):
The one thing I will say about the main headliner though: I so wish she would "own the pictures", own her beautiful and quirky self, and in the end, own everybody by saying, "what of it?! I'm not ashamed for being a woman, having fun with my friends, being sexy when I want to rather than when a director says I have to... and proud of every last inch of my body". Basically, pull a Mae West or Marylin Monroe moment on the media and public, and she would be considered a goddess until the end of time. That goes for all of them. They should be proud, narcissistic and glorify in their youthful bodies all they want, and for as long as they can. The day will come fast enough when they'll want to cover themselves or turn the lights down lower, maybe request a diffuser or filter. This is not the time to be modest... and especially because others want you to be.
I wonder if there will be another zeigeist shift where people eventually react to female nudes the way they react to male nudes. Justin Verlander is in the exact same leak as Kate Upton and equally explicit and yet nobody talks about it. This actually happened this week when a rugby player was broadcast nude from behind on live TV:
Imagine what the reaction would have been if that had been filmed in a female changing room.
All sorts of things have become more tolerated over the years like teenage pregnancy, abortion, mixed race couples, sexuality, gender reassignment, plastic surgery and so on. With so much nudity and pornography online, maybe society as a whole will just shrug celebrity leaks off in a generation or two. The internet as we know it is really just turning 21 years old (it was only around 93-94 that there were enough sites to bother about), it's a coming of age thing.
I actually think what shocks some generations more is how casually young people on internet boards treat images and videos like this but their own reactions are down to conditioning. Everybody is conditioned to react in certain ways to different kinds of behaviour. If you go round to a stranger's house, it's perfectly acceptable for you to walk into their bathroom, pull your underwear down and drop your bodily waste in their porcelain bowl. Do it in the kitchen and they'd freak out. Yet if a bed-ridden person or child has a pot, that moves back to acceptable again. The reactions to these things are conditioned and not built-in.
Some of the women are just kind of shrugging it off:
[VIDEO]
I don't know if being openly proud of it would come across the right way but being dismissive of it helps take away some of the attention and would help people be more sympathetic. One of the women even said the pictures were clearly fake because her ass is cuter than what's in the photos.
Edited to add: and this absolute BS that men are all misogynists REALLY gets me steamed, because the absolute worst comments... and I do mean below the belt trash talking... has come from girls and women! Unbelievable!
Some women like to use the term misogyny in these contexts to try and condition people as a whole to treat the actions of viewing pictures of women as an assault. Nobody viewing the pics would say they hated any of the women for doing this and it's not done to purposely hurt anyone in the same way that women checking out Justin Verlander isn't an assault on him nor is it hate. The main source of hate is from these same women towards men for looking at the pictures. I hated Verlander a little though, knowing what he's getting up to with Kate Upton. Nor is it the case that the women in the pictures would be treated solely as objects of sexual gratification in real life - people viewing the pics don't know them in real life.
I think there's a fear that the more objectification of women is accepted in media, the more that women will be treated that way in real life but the crazy part of it is that the women in real life are themselves replicating what is shown in sexually explicit media and then when people look at it, they are criticized for objectifying them the way they chose to be seen, it just wasn't intended for them.
There's a level of hypocrisy in condemning objectification too because everybody participates in it on some level. If you wear nice clothes, hairstyles, perfume/deodorant, drive a nice car, put makeup on, keep in good shape, adopt certain mannerisms, it's all to create an image - an instant object of attraction.
I think most of the blame for linking to iCloud was the original uploader. When they uploaded it they described how they used iCloud logins. There's a pretty in-depth article about the events here:
It says it was multiple people over a period of months. The mention of iCloud was in response to someone asking how to exploit that particular service. It says that about 30% of the collector OriginalGuy's images were fake and he'd noticed some being uploaded elsewhere so decided to start leaking them for money. The following page mentions other possible ways the images could have been accessed including stolen hardware. It says Lindsay Lohan tried to find a stolen laptop as she had nudes stored on it (nobody leaked those though):
I've been following the event since it first appeared on 4chan and reddit, and before it even made it to the media at large. I've compiled a rather lengthy list of articles, explanations, media concerns, reactions, etc.
I stumbled on the event by accident as it was happening, while researching the #gamergate controversy. I work with a lot of young people and am always trying to stay up on current events, who they look up to for inspiration, music and fashion tastes, etc. I try to work this knowledge in while training them, so that they stay engaged and motivated, and to not come across as some old guy geek that can only talk and demonstrate about "back in the old days" or "when I was your age" BS that I got bored of hearing at there age. Showing them what an old guy knows and how to apply that knowledge to things they're interested in, keeps them attentive... and me considered "cool"... win-win
I wonder if there will be another zeigeist shift where people eventually react to female nudes the way they react to male nudes. Justin Verlander is in the exact same leak as Kate Upton and equally explicit and yet nobody talks about it. This actually happened this week when a rugby player was broadcast nude from behind on live TV:
Imagine what the reaction would have been if that had been filmed in a female changing room.
In mainland Europe it already is "no news". It's the Victorian prudes of America and England that makes it news. During locker-room celebrations it is not uncommon to see uncensored full-frontal nudes on the news here.... as well as normal network prime-time shows, both male and female.
I was previously aware of the lackadaisical attitude towards nudity in Europe beforehand, but even I was shocked a few times how easily a European simply pulls their clothes off. In the early 80's in LA, I hung out with a large group of Swede, Norwegian, and German au pairs. Going to the beach with them was fun(!) and an adventure in trying to keep an eye out for the beach police. They did the same thing: simply undress down to the skin as if they were in their bedroom. The first time they did this, I was numbed, and didn't have the slightest idea how to react, what to say, where to look... I sat there mummified(!) Today: I can "pull it all off" just like a European if I feel like it. No one cares one way or the other. This personal experience buttresses your comment below.***
All sorts of things have become more tolerated over the years like teenage pregnancy, abortion, mixed race couples, sexuality, gender reassignment, plastic surgery and so on. With so much nudity and pornography online, maybe society as a whole will just shrug celebrity leaks off in a generation or two. The internet as we know it is really just turning 21 years old (it was only around 93-94 that there were enough sites to bother about), it's a coming of age thing.
***I actually think what shocks some generations more is how casually young people on internet boards treat images and videos like this but their own reactions are down to conditioning. Everybody is conditioned to react in certain ways to different kinds of behaviour. If you go round to a stranger's house, it's perfectly acceptable for you to walk into their bathroom, pull your underwear down and drop your bodily waste in their porcelain bowl. Do it in the kitchen and they'd freak out. Yet if a bed-ridden person or child has a pot, that moves back to acceptable again. The reactions to these things are conditioned and not built-in.
Some of the women are just kind of shrugging it off:
[VIDEO]
Oh yes... I saw this when it came out (I know, I'm bad... I have a YT account that feeds me Jimmy Kimmel and about 200 other channels). She responded really well and cool, and yeah... that's what I mean by "owning it".
I don't know if being openly proud of it would come across the right way but being dismissive of it helps take away some of the attention and would help people be more sympathetic. One of the women even said the pictures were clearly fake because her ass is cuter than what's in the photos.
I disagree. Stand up and be proud. Dismissal can also easily be interpreted as shame. Confront the prudes... shove it in there face if ya have to, because it is THEY that are the hypocrites. If they believe that God is perfect and created men and women in His image, I say, "well then take a good look at God's beautiful creation... or are you disputing God's creative abilities and His perfection?".
Some women like to use the term misogyny in these contexts to try and condition people as a whole to treat the actions of viewing pictures of women as an assault. Nobody viewing the pics would say they hated any of the women for doing this and it's not done to purposely hurt anyone in the same way that women checking out Justin Verlander isn't an assault on him nor is it hate. The main source of hate is from these same women towards men for looking at the pictures.
Yes. The politicization of everything these days is becoming rather tiring, and the misogyny and "rape culture" trope even more so. It's what got me started on this adventure when trying to figure out #gamergate. I'm not disputing that there are a sizable number of true misogynists out there, but I think there are just as many Misandrists. Either tends to be a sociological or personal consequence of their cultural surroundings and/or stemming from a tragic experience at the hands of the opposite sex. Using these tragic events and the misery of these people to push an all-encompassing generalization about culture as a whole... and creating a political agenda out of it to gain power, is in my book the real "exploitation" going on here. Another example of defined "hypocrisy".
I hated Verlander a little though, knowing what he's getting up to with Kate Upton. Nor is it the case that the women in the pictures would be treated solely as objects of sexual gratification in real life - people viewing the pics don't know them in real life.
Re: Verlander - 2 thumbs up for great taste! I'm a sucker for curves... uh... curve balls... uh... whatever
With that compliment to the physical side of things, I was reminded of a model GF years ago. I have never met or dated a more physically perfect... and at the same time most maddeningly insecure little girl in my entire life. Kate's non-nude video made me cringe at the memory.
I think there's a fear that the more objectification of women is accepted in media, the more that women will be treated that way in real life but the crazy part of it is that the women in real life are themselves replicating what is shown in sexually explicit media and then when people look at it, they are criticized for objectifying them the way they chose to be seen, it just wasn't intended for them.
I could write a book about just that phrase! IMO... it all comes down to genetics and the fact that we are mammals. Animal instinct shows it's face at very young ages in both girls and boys. Pout vs. mean-face. Society tries to get us to forget and ignore that, claiming superiority over the animal kingdom. Bullocks! As it pertains to this event, girls and women KNOW instinctively what get's them noticed among the herd, how to attract the strongest, most able to provide, and best catch to further the species. It does not need to be learned, nor is it a product of culture. It does need to be perfected, if they find among their peers that they are not getting noticed. Which leads into your next wise quote...
There's a level of hypocrisy in condemning objectification too because everybody participates in it on some level. If you wear nice clothes, hairstyles, perfume/deodorant, drive a nice car, put makeup on, keep in good shape, adopt certain mannerisms, it's all to create an image - an instant object of attraction.
BINGO! Instinct at work equally shared among the sexes. Also, there's nothing worse than being shunned by and not being able to compete against your own sex and peers.
The boys and men that can't be bothered or find a way to compete on any of the other qualities in the game of "attraction to women", uses whatever they feel superior at to at least gain "acceptance" among "the guys". The same goes for girls with make-up, skirts, hair-styles, etc.... they're doing it often first and foremost to impress their peers, and put meaning into "getting a leg up" in the competition for "he-man" as a second priority. They even say this often times enough, so that i believe that is truly the case.
This is what's going on here with the "event" we're talking about. Those hackers don't as a group hate women (some may... but few), and yes... while they may seem "pervy" to women, it's us guys that the little weasels are trying to gain points with. They simply can not compete with a Verlander or any of the other guys lucky enough to be in the same room with these gals, let alone talk them out of their clothes for some sexting fun. So they gain acceptance from us... their peers... the only way they can, as well as gain access to that unachievable bedroom... being there any way they can. They see it as a win-win. I myself, as with doping, call it cheating. They're still little f*** up weasels that didn't make the team. Sorry.
Were the culprits of stolen celebrity photos caught or identified at least?
I'm sure we'll know that bit of info as soon as they are. So until now... I don't believe so. Also, the "finalé" is under way, so it's going to be like wack-a-mole for LE efforts.
Dismissal can also easily be interpreted as shame. Confront the prudes... shove it in there face if ya have to
I like the idea and I do think that's the best way to change other people's perception of it. Most of the women would probably want to avoid it seeming like they are promoting sharing explicit imagery of themselves but even that didn't affect Madonna more than 10 years ago ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_(book) ) - nobody really thinks any less of her for it. It needs a certain personality to pull something like that off though. At the very least, they shouldn't feel ashamed or embarrassed like the following person involved in it:
Jennifer Lawrence is 24, she grew up with internet access. Kids all get tablets to play with now, most have cameras on them so it's going to be even worse with that generation. We'll just have to let it play out and society will have to adapt to it.
Those hackers don't as a group hate women (some may... but few), and yes... while they may seem "pervy" to women, it's us guys that the little weasels are trying to gain points with. They simply can not compete with a Verlander or any of the other guys lucky enough to be in the same room with these gals, let alone talk them out of their clothes for some sexting fun. So they gain acceptance from us... their peers... the only way they can, as well as gain access to that unachievable bedroom... being there any way they can. They see it as a win-win. I myself, as with doping, call it cheating. They're still little f*** up weasels that didn't make the team. Sorry.
I think that's an accurate explanation of what's going on and this can be seen when people install spying software to watch people's webcams. They don't go around publicizing it, they keep it to themselves or share censored images to other people as a declaration of exclusivity. If the intention was to harm the women, they'd dump everything but they are choosing what and when to release so that they get attention (and money).
Were the culprits of stolen celebrity photos caught or identified at least?
Some of them seem to be on the run from authorities. At least one person was unofficially identified but authorities would only release the info when it was conclusive enough for an arrest. It'll be interesting to see what they get charged with. Someone who did this in 2010/2011 got 10 years for 26 counts of hacking, identity theft and wiretapping (the maximum sentence possible was 121 years):
These collectors/leakers haven't done any of that. The leakers paid for the images with Bitcoins. The leakers might not face any charges - purchasing the images could qualify as an offence but they have to prove they own the Bitcoin accounts used. Authorities will go after the original group that obtained the images but that could take a while as it'll mean tracing server access logs over long periods of time and forensic tests on seized computer equipment.
I like the idea and I do think that's the best way to change other people's perception of it. Most of the women would probably want to avoid it seeming like they are promoting sharing explicit imagery of themselves but even that didn't affect Madonna more than 10 years ago ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_(book) ) - nobody really thinks any less of her for it. It needs a certain personality to pull something like that off though. At the very least, they shouldn't feel ashamed or embarrassed like the following person involved in it:
Jennifer Lawrence is 24, she grew up with internet access. Kids all get tablets to play with now, most have cameras on them so it's going to be even worse with that generation. We'll just have to let it play out and society will have to adapt to it.
I think that's an accurate explanation of what's going on and this can be seen when people install spying software to watch people's webcams. They don't go around publicizing it, they keep it to themselves or share censored images to other people as a declaration of exclusivity. If the intention was to harm the women, they'd dump everything but they are choosing what and when to release so that they get attention (and money).
Some of them seem to be on the run from authorities. At least one person was unofficially identified but authorities would only release the info when it was conclusive enough for an arrest. It'll be interesting to see what they get charged with. Someone who did this in 2010/2011 got 10 years for 26 counts of hacking, identity theft and wiretapping (the maximum sentence possible was 121 years):
These collectors/leakers haven't done any of that. The leakers paid for the images with Bitcoins. The leakers might not face any charges - purchasing the images could qualify as an offence but they have to prove they own the Bitcoin accounts used. Authorities will go after the original group that obtained the images but that could take a while as it'll mean tracing server access logs over long periods of time and forensic tests on seized computer equipment.
Thank you for the information. Now that you mentioned they might not face any charges, I am more interested to keep posted on this issue.
Comments
The fact is Apple is now where MS was years and years ago the fact that iOS and iCloud are so popular among celebs makes them the target to go after. Does Apple not think that their new iWallet is going to be so secure with the hundreds of millions of credit cards on file in iTunes, its the holy grail for thieves. If they get hacked and they will, after all Apple sucks at cloud and we all KNOW IT.
For the trillionth time, iCloud wasn’t hacked.
For the hundred thousandth time, Apple Pay does not store your information anywhere but your device and your bank. They’ll have to hack one of those, NOT APPLE, to get your information.
Except they don’t.
Good point. Ironic that users of 1Password need to do that to access a password protected website. For all we know that company is harvesting.
Correctly or not, but probably reasonably, apps such as that are regarded as trusted.
There's another batch (part 2) been uploaded this week and there's again Blackberries and things being used and video formats not common to iPhones (although some will have been re-encoded) but the media still links to iCloud alone:
http://news.sky.com/story/1340095/rihanna-latest-star-in-alleged-nude-photo-leak
Even just the fact that all these nude pictures can't have been taken at the same time suggests that this is beyond just Apple's service. There were dozens of people involved with hundreds of images and only a portion made public.
News media doesn't like to make stories too complex. If they dilute the blame with other services, people would lose interest. Apple confirming that some celebrity accounts were accessed directly will come across to some as an admission of blame because the fiction they choose to believe is more interesting than the facts.
Completely valid point. Still, one wonders why a more expensive app, with solid encryption, is supposed to 'not phone home'. But yeah, more of a devil's advocate here.
As to the metadata in the pictures [@]ThePixelDoc[/@] touched upon, it could of course simply be any non-iPhone camera and uploaded to iCloud through iPhoto or Aperture.
Thanks for the reply. I'm following the event quite closely and am aware of the leaks, the contents, file and folder hierarchies, Dropbox files, exif data, as well as file formats... many of which are not native on any Apple device.
I've also been trying to correct the misconception and blame continuously being placed on Apple for the leak at a number of sites I frequent. I personally can state that as of yesterday, more than ~90% of the leaks do NOT appear to be from an iCloud account. In fact, there is only ONE folder that appears to be a complete backup pulled off of an iCloud account and extracted using ElcomSoft tools, where there is a folder hierarchy of duplicate labeled folders (1), (2), etc. It is this ONE folder group that the media reports the person claimed to have deleted the files long ago.
For the record, I'm going to state equivocally that I find this abuse of ANYONE's privacy absolutely deplorable and despicable(!) I'm not interested in the content, regardless of my profession that some may be aware of here. What ticked me off... and made this my mission to find the truth, is when a couple of the celebs and/or their handlers, and the media BSers, decided to point fingers solely at one companies products and services being at fault. Products that I support and suggest to MY clients to use specifically because as a whole, they are more secure. It's my duty to my clients, that this does NOT happen to them or their customers, if it's Apple's fault and can be avoided by me learning as much as I can to avoid this. Leaving it up to the media or others that have an agenda against Apple... which everyone does.. was not an option I felt comfortable with or worth trusting MY reputation on. I can handle nudity and be discreet about it, which is the main reason why I'm trusted with many a photographer's or client's data in the first place.
There of course will be the a**holes here that will call my motivation BS, and of course... I'm not blind... I saw bits.. And I have to say, all in all... harmless in a less prude society like the one I live in here in Europe. With that said, there is one victim that I feel so very sorry for, and I've almost cried for her and what she's going through now, and probably forever due to this shit(!!!) No, it wasn't any of the ones in the headlines.
The one thing I will say about the main headliner though: I so wish she would "own the pictures", own her beautiful and quirky self, and in the end, own everybody by saying, "what of it?! I'm not ashamed for being a woman, having fun with my friends, being sexy when I want to rather than when a director says I have to... and proud of every last inch of my body". Basically, pull a Mae West or Marylin Monroe moment on the media and public, and she would be considered a goddess until the end of time. That goes for all of them. They should be proud, narcissistic and glorify in their youthful bodies all they want, and for as long as they can. The day will come fast enough when they'll want to cover themselves or turn the lights down lower, maybe request a diffuser or filter. This is not the time to be modest... and especially because others want you to be.
Woah... sorry for the rant... but I'll let it stand just for the record how I feel about this affair.
Edited to add: and this absolute BS that men are all misogynists REALLY gets me steamed, because the absolute worst comments... and I do mean below the belt trash talking... has come from girls and women! Unbelievable!
Rebecca Black?
And after that comes Saturday. Then it's Sunday. Then it's Monday again.
I think most of the blame for linking to iCloud was the original uploader. When they uploaded it they described how they used iCloud logins. There's a pretty in-depth article about the events here:
http://www.businessinsider.com/originalguy-the-icloud-hacker-who-leaked-naked-celebrity-photos-2014-9
It says it was multiple people over a period of months. The mention of iCloud was in response to someone asking how to exploit that particular service. It says that about 30% of the collector OriginalGuy's images were fake and he'd noticed some being uploaded elsewhere so decided to start leaking them for money. The following page mentions other possible ways the images could have been accessed including stolen hardware. It says Lindsay Lohan tried to find a stolen laptop as she had nudes stored on it (nobody leaked those though):
http://www.businessinsider.com/icloud-naked-celebrity-photo-leak-2014-9
I wonder if there will be another zeigeist shift where people eventually react to female nudes the way they react to male nudes. Justin Verlander is in the exact same leak as Kate Upton and equally explicit and yet nobody talks about it. This actually happened this week when a rugby player was broadcast nude from behind on live TV:
https://eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/5-crazy-things--nude-rugby-player-left-embarrassed--lederhosen-kit-for-real-111744952.html
Imagine what the reaction would have been if that had been filmed in a female changing room.
All sorts of things have become more tolerated over the years like teenage pregnancy, abortion, mixed race couples, sexuality, gender reassignment, plastic surgery and so on. With so much nudity and pornography online, maybe society as a whole will just shrug celebrity leaks off in a generation or two. The internet as we know it is really just turning 21 years old (it was only around 93-94 that there were enough sites to bother about), it's a coming of age thing.
I actually think what shocks some generations more is how casually young people on internet boards treat images and videos like this but their own reactions are down to conditioning. Everybody is conditioned to react in certain ways to different kinds of behaviour. If you go round to a stranger's house, it's perfectly acceptable for you to walk into their bathroom, pull your underwear down and drop your bodily waste in their porcelain bowl. Do it in the kitchen and they'd freak out. Yet if a bed-ridden person or child has a pot, that moves back to acceptable again. The reactions to these things are conditioned and not built-in.
Some of the women are just kind of shrugging it off:
[VIDEO]
I don't know if being openly proud of it would come across the right way but being dismissive of it helps take away some of the attention and would help people be more sympathetic. One of the women even said the pictures were clearly fake because her ass is cuter than what's in the photos.
Some women like to use the term misogyny in these contexts to try and condition people as a whole to treat the actions of viewing pictures of women as an assault. Nobody viewing the pics would say they hated any of the women for doing this and it's not done to purposely hurt anyone in the same way that women checking out Justin Verlander isn't an assault on him nor is it hate. The main source of hate is from these same women towards men for looking at the pictures. I hated Verlander a little though, knowing what he's getting up to with Kate Upton. Nor is it the case that the women in the pictures would be treated solely as objects of sexual gratification in real life - people viewing the pics don't know them in real life.
I think there's a fear that the more objectification of women is accepted in media, the more that women will be treated that way in real life but the crazy part of it is that the women in real life are themselves replicating what is shown in sexually explicit media and then when people look at it, they are criticized for objectifying them the way they chose to be seen, it just wasn't intended for them.
There's a level of hypocrisy in condemning objectification too because everybody participates in it on some level. If you wear nice clothes, hairstyles, perfume/deodorant, drive a nice car, put makeup on, keep in good shape, adopt certain mannerisms, it's all to create an image - an instant object of attraction.
I stumbled on the event by accident as it was happening, while researching the #gamergate controversy. I work with a lot of young people and am always trying to stay up on current events, who they look up to for inspiration, music and fashion tastes, etc. I try to work this knowledge in while training them, so that they stay engaged and motivated, and to not come across as some old guy geek that can only talk and demonstrate about "back in the old days" or "when I was your age" BS that I got bored of hearing at there age. Showing them what an old guy knows and how to apply that knowledge to things they're interested in, keeps them attentive... and me considered "cool"... win-win
In mainland Europe it already is "no news". It's the Victorian prudes of America and England that makes it news. During locker-room celebrations it is not uncommon to see uncensored full-frontal nudes on the news here.... as well as normal network prime-time shows, both male and female.
I was previously aware of the lackadaisical attitude towards nudity in Europe beforehand, but even I was shocked a few times how easily a European simply pulls their clothes off. In the early 80's in LA, I hung out with a large group of Swede, Norwegian, and German au pairs. Going to the beach with them was fun(!) and an adventure in trying to keep an eye out for the beach police. They did the same thing: simply undress down to the skin as if they were in their bedroom. The first time they did this, I was numbed, and didn't have the slightest idea how to react, what to say, where to look... I sat there mummified(!) Today: I can "pull it all off" just like a European if I feel like it. No one cares one way or the other. This personal experience buttresses your comment below.***
Oh yes... I saw this when it came out (I know, I'm bad... I have a YT account that feeds me Jimmy Kimmel and about 200 other channels). She responded really well and cool, and yeah... that's what I mean by "owning it".
I disagree. Stand up and be proud. Dismissal can also easily be interpreted as shame. Confront the prudes... shove it in there face if ya have to, because it is THEY that are the hypocrites. If they believe that God is perfect and created men and women in His image, I say, "well then take a good look at God's beautiful creation... or are you disputing God's creative abilities and His perfection?".
Yes. The politicization of everything these days is becoming rather tiring, and the misogyny and "rape culture" trope even more so. It's what got me started on this adventure when trying to figure out #gamergate. I'm not disputing that there are a sizable number of true misogynists out there, but I think there are just as many Misandrists. Either tends to be a sociological or personal consequence of their cultural surroundings and/or stemming from a tragic experience at the hands of the opposite sex. Using these tragic events and the misery of these people to push an all-encompassing generalization about culture as a whole... and creating a political agenda out of it to gain power, is in my book the real "exploitation" going on here. Another example of defined "hypocrisy".
Re: Verlander - 2 thumbs up for great taste! I'm a sucker for curves... uh... curve balls... uh... whatever
With that compliment to the physical side of things, I was reminded of a model GF years ago. I have never met or dated a more physically perfect... and at the same time most maddeningly insecure little girl in my entire life. Kate's non-nude video made me cringe at the memory.
I could write a book about just that phrase! IMO... it all comes down to genetics and the fact that we are mammals. Animal instinct shows it's face at very young ages in both girls and boys. Pout vs. mean-face. Society tries to get us to forget and ignore that, claiming superiority over the animal kingdom. Bullocks! As it pertains to this event, girls and women KNOW instinctively what get's them noticed among the herd, how to attract the strongest, most able to provide, and best catch to further the species. It does not need to be learned, nor is it a product of culture. It does need to be perfected, if they find among their peers that they are not getting noticed. Which leads into your next wise quote...
BINGO! Instinct at work equally shared among the sexes. Also, there's nothing worse than being shunned by and not being able to compete against your own sex and peers.
The boys and men that can't be bothered or find a way to compete on any of the other qualities in the game of "attraction to women", uses whatever they feel superior at to at least gain "acceptance" among "the guys". The same goes for girls with make-up, skirts, hair-styles, etc.... they're doing it often first and foremost to impress their peers, and put meaning into "getting a leg up" in the competition for "he-man" as a second priority. They even say this often times enough, so that i believe that is truly the case.
This is what's going on here with the "event" we're talking about. Those hackers don't as a group hate women (some may... but few), and yes... while they may seem "pervy" to women, it's us guys that the little weasels are trying to gain points with. They simply can not compete with a Verlander or any of the other guys lucky enough to be in the same room with these gals, let alone talk them out of their clothes for some sexting fun. So they gain acceptance from us... their peers... the only way they can, as well as gain access to that unachievable bedroom... being there any way they can. They see it as a win-win. I myself, as with doping, call it cheating. They're still little f*** up weasels that didn't make the team. Sorry.
Were the culprits of stolen celebrity photos caught or identified at least?
I like the idea and I do think that's the best way to change other people's perception of it. Most of the women would probably want to avoid it seeming like they are promoting sharing explicit imagery of themselves but even that didn't affect Madonna more than 10 years ago ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_(book) ) - nobody really thinks any less of her for it. It needs a certain personality to pull something like that off though. At the very least, they shouldn't feel ashamed or embarrassed like the following person involved in it:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/11070061/Former-Downton-star-distressed-and-embarrassed-by-nude-photograph-leaks.html
I notice they put that under the Apple category. The people involved haven't done anything wrong.
Helen Mirren was asked about it here and as you'd expect she didn't get why the people would be taking photos but it's a different generation:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/11077796/Helen-Mirren-Who-on-earth-would-put-nude-photos-of-themselves-on-their-phones-anyway.html
Jennifer Lawrence is 24, she grew up with internet access. Kids all get tablets to play with now, most have cameras on them so it's going to be even worse with that generation. We'll just have to let it play out and society will have to adapt to it.
I think that's an accurate explanation of what's going on and this can be seen when people install spying software to watch people's webcams. They don't go around publicizing it, they keep it to themselves or share censored images to other people as a declaration of exclusivity. If the intention was to harm the women, they'd dump everything but they are choosing what and when to release so that they get attention (and money).
Some of them seem to be on the run from authorities. At least one person was unofficially identified but authorities would only release the info when it was conclusive enough for an arrest. It'll be interesting to see what they get charged with. Someone who did this in 2010/2011 got 10 years for 26 counts of hacking, identity theft and wiretapping (the maximum sentence possible was 121 years):
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/hollywood-hacker-10-years-jail-article-1.1222151
These collectors/leakers haven't done any of that. The leakers paid for the images with Bitcoins. The leakers might not face any charges - purchasing the images could qualify as an offence but they have to prove they own the Bitcoin accounts used. Authorities will go after the original group that obtained the images but that could take a while as it'll mean tracing server access logs over long periods of time and forensic tests on seized computer equipment.
I like the idea and I do think that's the best way to change other people's perception of it. Most of the women would probably want to avoid it seeming like they are promoting sharing explicit imagery of themselves but even that didn't affect Madonna more than 10 years ago ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_(book) ) - nobody really thinks any less of her for it. It needs a certain personality to pull something like that off though. At the very least, they shouldn't feel ashamed or embarrassed like the following person involved in it:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/11070061/Former-Downton-star-distressed-and-embarrassed-by-nude-photograph-leaks.html
I notice they put that under the Apple category. The people involved haven't done anything wrong.
Helen Mirren was asked about it here and as you'd expect she didn't get why the people would be taking photos but it's a different generation:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/11077796/Helen-Mirren-Who-on-earth-would-put-nude-photos-of-themselves-on-their-phones-anyway.html
Jennifer Lawrence is 24, she grew up with internet access. Kids all get tablets to play with now, most have cameras on them so it's going to be even worse with that generation. We'll just have to let it play out and society will have to adapt to it.
I think that's an accurate explanation of what's going on and this can be seen when people install spying software to watch people's webcams. They don't go around publicizing it, they keep it to themselves or share censored images to other people as a declaration of exclusivity. If the intention was to harm the women, they'd dump everything but they are choosing what and when to release so that they get attention (and money).
Some of them seem to be on the run from authorities. At least one person was unofficially identified but authorities would only release the info when it was conclusive enough for an arrest. It'll be interesting to see what they get charged with. Someone who did this in 2010/2011 got 10 years for 26 counts of hacking, identity theft and wiretapping (the maximum sentence possible was 121 years):
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/hollywood-hacker-10-years-jail-article-1.1222151
These collectors/leakers haven't done any of that. The leakers paid for the images with Bitcoins. The leakers might not face any charges - purchasing the images could qualify as an offence but they have to prove they own the Bitcoin accounts used. Authorities will go after the original group that obtained the images but that could take a while as it'll mean tracing server access logs over long periods of time and forensic tests on seized computer equipment.
Thank you for the information. Now that you mentioned they might not face any charges, I am more interested to keep posted on this issue.