A number of Internet commenters have taken issue with what appears to be a heavy-handed action on the part of New York law enforcement. With that in mind this blogger compared Justin Massler's Ivanka Trump Fan Blog with two other fan blogs: Madonna Fan Blog and Jennifer Lopez Fan Blog. The comparison is striking and worth review.
The main problem - really the only one - is that the Ivanka Trump Fan Blog is written more from the perspective of a local boy who has a school boy crush on the rich girl. Justin Massler reportedly lives in New York City, where Ivanka Trump (the daughter of real estate developer and host of The Apprentice TV Series Donald Trump) also lives.
But where it gets interesting, and this blogger can see red flags going up for those who are not Intenet and New Media savvy, is when Massler posts a blog entry with a photo of the view from Ivanka Trumps' office, as if he's been there. Reportedly, he's never met Trump, so that photo is all the more chilling to those who don't know about Twitter photo services.
If the New York DA's Office based its arrest warrant on this Twitter photo, they made a huge, huge mistake. Massler reports the photo was placed there online by Ivanka Trump herself, not Massler. She uses an online service called Twitpic and Trump's on Twitter @IvankaTrump.
What's interesting is the photo on his blog site is not on Trumps' Twitpic page. But Ivanka does have another photo of a view from her office on the page. This photo:
That photo was posted by Ivanka Trump. I think New York's DA Office made a mistake and believed Massler himself took the photo. Moreover, this error has been repeated by some news websites that also don't know what they're looking at.
And, I will go a step beyond that and say the New York DA's office does not understand how to evaluate what Internet software was used when or why in any case. They're not tech savvy from this blogger's view, and that's a terrible and dangerous thing to be in their line of work.
Ivanka Trump has a number of photos on her Twitpic, but the fact the one on Massler's blog is not on her Twipic page all of a sudden is fishy. Really fishy.
Think about it. If the same photo were found on Ivanka Trump's Twitpic site, it would all but destroy the New York DA's case against Justin Massler. My opinion: either she took it down or someone, perhaps her lawyer, instructed her to do so. I'm willing to bet I'm right. I'm also willing to bet Massler's no threat to Ivanka Trump.
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That written, even with its expressions of admiration and humorous wondering about what Ivanka Trump thinks, the blog does not obviously violate this section of New York Stalking Law:
New York Stalking Law (excerpt):
3. With intent to harass, annoy or alarm a specific person, intentionally engages in a course of conduct directed at such person which is likely to cause such person to reasonably fear physical injury or serious physical injury, the commission of a sex offense against, or the kidnaping, unlawful imprisonment or death of such person or a member of such person's immediate family (http://www.esia.net/State_Stalking_Laws.htm)
Still, it's not the normal fan blog. The Madonna and Jennifer Lopez fan blogs consist of news about Madonna and Jennifer Lopez, or "J-Lo". There's nothing of the kind of intimate diary-style blogging that appears on Justin Massler's site. But again, there's nothing on Massler's site to indicate any level of harm would even come to Ivanka Trump.
What's missing here is a middle ground. New York's District Attorney should have arranged for Justin Massler to be warned and instructed what constitutes a fan site that's not threatening from the subject's point of view. But for the NYDA's Office to even think of doing that calls for a level of Internet sophistication that office does not have (but needs to have).
Justin Massler should have been told to use his real name on the blog; that would have prevented him from running up against Federal Internet Stalking charges. The action taken against Massler seem heavy-handed given that the blog's not threatening in its presentation of Ivanka Trump.
Justin Massler comes off like a guy who's down on his luck and has picked Ivanka Trump as his muse. Maybe Ivanka Trump doesn't want a guy that's homeless and mentally ill (as his mother claims) as her muse, but that doesn't mean he's going to harm her.
For his part, Justin Massler's better off keeping his most intimate thoughts about Ivanka Trump confined to a private diary. But in the age of blogging, Massler didn't know this, and no one told him. Until now and this is most indirect.
For its part, The New York DA's Office needs to really get an education in New Media and Social Networks. As we move further into the 21st Century, such knowledge will serve it well and it will not make mistakes in evaluating what is seen online.
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