DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

SF Chronicle: Streisand goes coastal over Web photo effort

One of the 12,700 digital images posted on the Adelman’s Web site depicts a glorious stretch of beach in Malibu — and a lavish bluff-top estate belonging to Streisand.

Arguing that the photograph violated her privacy, Streisand filed a $50 million lawsuit in May demanding that the photo including her house be removed from the site, along with the caption reading “Streisand Estate, Malibu.”

Here’s a funny quote: “I think fighting her is really a public service,” Adelman said. “Someone has to stop her.”

This case provides another example of the risk of demanding that someone “unpublish” information: by drawing attention to it, many more people see the information than would have otherwise. As the Chronicle reports:

According to Adelman, the Malibu photograph in question was downloaded only six times in the three months before the lawsuit was filed. But once the story hit the media, visits to the site surged. An average of 108,000 visitors per day viewed the photograph in June.

Streisand’s attorneys could have, instead of filing a lawsuit, simply requested that Adelman remove the caption “Streisand estate” from the photo. It seems to me that that approach would have greatly reduced the risk that a stalker would find the image. In contrast, by filing a suit the attorneys have virtually guaranteed that every paparazzi in Southern California will be hovering just offshore hoping to catch an image of Barbra through a window.

The privacy question is tough. I understand Streisand’s concerns. And yet, demanding that a comprehensive photo archive of the coastline skip the few hundred yards she owns, just because she owns it, seems ludicrous.

The CaliforniaCoastline.org website contains a page of links to articles about the lawsuit. Every one I read took Adelman’s side. I won’t jump on the Barbra-bashing bandwagon, even though that’s the popular response — just because she’s successful, wealthy, and eccentric does not mean she deserves my scorn.

But I will say I am surprised at the strong-arm tactics her attorneys have employed. I doubt she’ll prevail.