Pas de Pub - Merci

There's a story doing the rounds via the social networks today and various media sites across the world sparking a certain amount of anger.   It's a cautionary tale in many respects and could well have the owner of an Italian eatery in the Gironde dept, South West France ruing the day he decided to sue the blogger Caroline Doudet. Apparently she ate there and was so affronted by the whole experience she wrote a blogspot about it. She had at the time roughly 3,000 fans to her blog so it was relatively small fry. She had a crappy meal and said so naming the restaurant. When you googled the restaurants name by all accounts her less than flattering description was number one, page one. Whoooooah , people pay huge amounts for that sort of power.

Never mind the owner possibly not understanding the double edged sword of the Internet took umbrage and went ahead and sued her. This doesn't surprise me in the slightest, nothing the French like more than a good old fashioned long drawn out expensive legal fight and sod the cost. And the offending words 'The place to be avoided'. Well people are sure going to avoid it now aren't they ? Three minutes of fame and a business down the pan, possibly.

Unless of course he is wily enough to know how to fight back, take criticism on the chin and turn it beautifully around to his own advantage. Imagine if I were to take offence and waste time worrying about all the miserable moaners and people I have to converse with. Were I to name and divulge all the nitty gritty on some of the complete plonkers and swines that attach themselves onto me I would be a full time writer not running a bed and breakfast.  No Sir. I just wrap that beautiful big blanket snugly round me that makes you immune to criticism and people with generally very large chips on their shoulders and quietly elevate myself.

The unintended additional publicity of the restaurateur’s attempt to have the blog removed is known as the “Streisand effect”, in dubious honour of the singer, whose attempts in 2003 to suppress a photograph of the Malibu coast which included her residence, inadvertently generated further internet interest.

The photograph was viewed 420,000 times in the month that followed her failed $50million lawsuit against photographer Kenneth Adelman and Pictopia.com for violation of privacy, after they included the image among 12,000 others detailing coastal erosion in the area.

Prior to the case, it had been downloaded six times - two of them by Streisand’s lawyers. - See more at: http://www.connexionfrance.com/france-bordeaux-cap-ferret-gironde-il-giordino-restaurant-review-blog-blogger-fined-court-social-med-15998-view-article.html#sthash.jRJ3UQ08.dpuf

He should perhaps ponder also how the case got its name,  known as the 'Streisand effect' in dubious honour of the singer whose unsuccessful attempts in 2003 to suppress a photograph on the Internet of the Malibu coastline which included an ariel shot of her property. Her unsuccessful 50million dollar lawsuit inadvertently generated huge Internet interest and took the 'views' of the offending picture from six (two of the views being from Streisand's lawyers) to an estimated 420,000 hits. The picture was one of 12,000 detailing coastal erosion of the area. She considered it to be an invasion of her privacy.

She paid the cost, just as I imagine the hapless owner of the restaurant will.

Pas de Pub - Merci !!

The unintended additional publicity of the restaurateur’s attempt to have the blog removed is known as the “Streisand effect”, in dubious honour of the singer, whose attempts in 2003 to suppress a photograph of the Malibu coast which included her residence, inadvertently generated further internet interest.

The photograph was viewed 420,000 times in the month that followed her failed $50million lawsuit against photographer Kenneth Adelman and Pictopia.com for violation of privacy, after they included the image among 12,000 others detailing coastal erosion in the area.

Prior to the case, it had been downloaded six times - two of them by Streisand’s lawyers. - See more at: http://www.connexionfrance.com/france-bordeaux-cap-ferret-gironde-il-giordino-restaurant-review-blog-blogger-fined-court-social-med-15998-view-article.html#sthash.sGSkL70t.dpuf