Posted on 02/10/2010 6:08:05 PM PST by myknowledge
Two men in Norway have made a splash on Google Streetview by chasing down the internet giant's camera van dressed in full scuba gear and waving pronged forks.
Photos show the pair of pranksters in Bergen, south western Norway, patiently waiting in the sun on deck chairs for the Google van to pass by.
When the van finally arrives, the men leap up and chase it all the way down the street waving their forks.
Norway's Aftenposten newspaper reports the stunt took place during the country's previous summer as Google vans were photographing the region's roads.
But the comical scene was not discovered until a new upgraded version of streetview was launched this week to include new images of Norway.
Although the Huffington Post attributed the stunt to a rise in anti-Google sentiment in Europe it is not known exactly why the men chose to chase the van.
The satellite views show hidden houses and property configuration.
You don’t even want to check your house on Zillow.com then...
(available in most states)
I see your point and I had not thought about that. I hope they remove the satellite views also.
If the Google van can see it, is it really “hidden from the road”?
Nothing there for me.
The google van can see the driveway entrance tucked in to the bushes and the satellite overview gives it all away.
Sorry to hear about that. They will black out a street view for you, but there isn’t any “Google satellite.” Google purchases rights to satellite and aerial data from various private and public sources. Blacking out could, ironically, draw more interest than you wanted from Google curiosity seekers.
Didn’t Barbra Streisand try to sue over an aerial photo of her mansion, and ultimately lose?
There are whole sectors that are blacked out. I would like my sector blacked out too. Google has control.
Does Google state the reason for black out of aerial view? Perhaps these were pre-blacked out because of governmental censorship on the data before Google got it.
I go around town taking photos of places of interest for one reason or another and happen to like houses of all sorts. Have only been challenged once only it wasn't really a house but the entrance to a condo complex with gaudy statuary and fountains. So long as I stay on public access, I'm within my rights.
If I happen to post any of those in one of my galleries or on the web (not too frequent), I would not give out the street address or city though. In fact, they're fair game for private use, but if they are published anywhere that shows a name and/or street number or some other identifying characteristic, that is not allowed without the property owner's permission.
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