back to article China's 'human flesh search' hunts down teen vandal

The full ire of China's army of online vigilantes known as the "human flesh search engine" was last week focused on a 15 year-old boy who vandalised a priceless 3,000 year-old Egyptian relic. The Chinternet periodically gets in a right tizz when something or other is posted online and so it was when pictures of the now …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Is it wrong that this defacement makes me significantly angrier than a run-of-the-mill murder would?

    1. as2003
  2. M Gale

    Anonymous vs Human Search Engine

    FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT...

    1. Steven Roper
      Thumb Up

      Re: Anonymous vs Human Search Engine

      ...FINISH HIM!

      1. JLV

        Re: Anonymous vs Human Search Engine

        FINISH EACH OTHER!

    2. nice spam database '); drop table users; --
      Happy

      Re: Anonymous vs Human Search Engine

      "Human Search Engine" is China's "Anonymous"

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Ding Jinhao was here"

    Just like his cousin; "Foo was here"

  4. ChrisM

    On some monuments

    The whole thing is covered with graffiti... Not just written but also chiselled in. But these are from ancient times (including some graffiti from the chaps who built the damned things) all the way up to the 2nd world war.

    So is what he did so bad in that context?

    1. Ossi

      Re: On some monuments

      As you note, the graffiti goes up to the second world war, which ended over 60 years ago. These monuments now have significantly more visitors than the past, and could be rapidly destroyed if not protected. As a relative statement, I can't be sure what you mean by 'so bad' but, yes, it's pretty bad.

      1. ChrisM

        Re: On some monuments

        On the scale of things this isn't really an issue (unless you count in the fact that he was traced through the internet). If you want real cultural vandalism you should look at the destruction of the Buddhas in Afghanistan, the destruction of the babti mosque at Ayodha or the ongoing destruction of historical sites tied to Muhammad and his family by the Wahabi in Saudi Arabia. You could count in the building of the Aswan dam in that category as well.

        This is strictly small fry when compared to such as that.

  5. Turtle

    But how, exactly?

    "Although the maximum penalty in Egypt for graffiti-ing ancient relics is 6-12 months in the slammer or a fine of around $20,000, the incident does raise questions about the morality of an internet mob hunting down a minor."

    Well, how are they to know that someone is a minor before they find out who he is, and that he's a minor?

    That's the part that seems kind of tricky to me.

    1. MrXavia
      Flame

      Re: But how, exactly?

      I can't consider a 15 year old to be a minor... My grandfather left home at 14, moved to another continent and worked on a farm.... so if your stupid enough or ignorant enough to deface a relic when your 15, then you deserve the punishment.....

      And as for morality... what has that got to do with anything, surely this is about bringing justice by exposing the person responsible, not vigilantism, they are not lynching the guy...

      1. No, I will not fix your computer
        FAIL

        Re: But how, exactly?

        >>I can't consider a 15 year old to be a minor... My grandfather left home at 14, moved to another continent and worked on a farm....

        That's not really the point is it? times change, education in the UK is now compulsory until 18, expected lifespan in 1900 was 45, now it's 75, we expect children to be children longer.

        >>so if your stupid enough or ignorant enough to deface a relic when your 15, then you deserve the punishment.....

        Absolutely, being a minor shouldn't mean you get away with it, but what are you going to do? recategorise "minor" because 100 years ago we sent children up chimneys? one moment we say you can't vote, or have sex, drive, drink, smoke, marry, have to stay in school (perhaps then, more people will learn the difference between your and you're) and on the other we want to try them as adults (or worse have a mish mash where we punish the parents).

        As always, punishment should be a deterrent, not revenge - giving a young adult a slap on the wrist and second chance (even if you think they should have known better) is all about learning, knowing they won't be let off a second time should be taught.

        1. Peshman
          FAIL

          Re: But how, exactly?

          ">>

          That's not really the point is it? times change, education in the UK is now compulsory until 18, expected lifespan in 1900 was 45, now it's 75, we expect children to be children longer"

          That's complete Balls! I'm afraid. We expect them to be adults longer. Once you grow out of being a child you learn to deal with responsibilty, living longer means living for longer as an adult. It's not a sliding scale.

          1. No, I will not fix your computer
            Stop

            Re: But how, exactly?

            >>That's complete Balls! I'm afraid. We expect them to be adults longer. Once you grow out of being a child you learn to deal with responsibilty, living longer means living for longer as an adult. It's not a sliding scale.

            I thought I was pretty clear with the examples I gave, extending compulsory education, way past the 14 years of the emigrating grandfather is modern, actually preventing teens getting full time jobs, is forcing them to be children longer, all the things that young adults can't do that I listed such as marriage, all this shows for an absolute fact we have extended childhood, when lifespan changed from 45 years to 75 years those childhood things such as education were extended, marriage was delayed, expectations of working at 12 just stopped, yes obviously we get more adulthood, but childhood has been extended, you may not like it, you might decry it as "nanny state", but you calling it balls doesn't change the absolute facts around us, hell! You wouldn't even be allowed to travel as a lone 14 year old these days, I'm not saying its a good thing or a bad thing, but it's a real phenomena, and you sticking your fingers in your ears and saying "la la la, not listening" won't change the facts.

            Put it another way, either address the points I made regarding education, marriage, expectation of work etc. and present a counter argument, but don't just say balls and contradict.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: But how, exactly?

      Although this might not be the most popular opinion out there, I'm totally fine with the concept of "an internet mob hunting down a minor" at this precise point in time. I think it's currently a much bigger problem in the world that there's a whole generation of kids growing up with no boundaries or an understanding that actions have consequences. Perhaps a bit of healthy fear of being tracked down by an unpredictable collection of individuals would assist their decision making process.

      And yes, I do realise that the above logic would have the potential to create a system that could get out of control, but solve one pressing social problem at a time ...

      1. JLV
        Thumb Down

        Re: But how, exactly?

        Errr...

        An omniscient and never inaccurate internet mob may be useful, perhaps.

        However wasn't there a pretty spectacular fail, by self-appointed "web investigators", right after the Boston Marathon bombs?

  6. Sceptic Tank Silver badge
    Childcatcher

    All your relic is belong to us

    Now if he wrote "Made in China" nobody would have noticed. Besides, in another 3,500 years another archaeologist will happily point out that he discovered that people from China once crossed the ocean in simple rafts to trade with people in Africa.

    I'm sure he'll fondly remember his visit to Egypt when he is slaving away in a FoxConn factory one day.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: All your relic is belong to us

      His parents must be fairly wealthy to afford the trip to Egypt. Sufficiently well off to pay a substantial fine too. Hardly a Foxconn slave family.

      1. No, I will not fix your computer
        FAIL

        Re: All your relic is belong to us

        >>Hardly a Foxconn slave family.

        True

        >>His parents must be fairly wealthy to afford the trip to Egypt.

        Little bit of a bigotted statement, second largest economy in the world, an average income of $5k is obviously far behind the US average of $25k, but China has a massive split between urban and rural pay (pretty much 50/50 with a 3.5:1 pay ratio) so half of China earn an average of $8k and the other half earn an average of $2k, there's more Chinese people "better off" than Americans (with cost of living etc.) so a middle class family in China could afford $450 for a trip (maybe a young adult "right of passage" trip).

        >>Sufficiently well off to pay a substantial fine too.

        Well, a $20k would be devastating to someone who earns $8k (if you want to eat, pay bills etc for the next three years).

  7. Mystic Megabyte

    Neolithic vandalism

    It's lucky that the lad didn't have a chisel.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dwarfie_stane_inscription_by_Bruce_McAdam.jpg

  8. Parax

    Usually nothing wrong with name and shame, but vigilantism is often too much.

  9. NomNomNom

    For crying out loud did this really warrant filing a report? I took at look at the so-called "damage" and note all the sandstone blocks are still in place. The logs show no evidence of tunneling. Chests in the area haven't been touched. In fact there haven't been any serious modifications to this part of the map for about 3000 years. Clearly no-one noticed this change for years either, so why are you all jumping up and down and wasting my time on such a minor issue? Just a little graffiti! I can easily revert it but surely one of you guys could have just *cleared it yourselves* without filing a report?

    The player responsible has technically griefed, but it was years ago and they haven't logged into the server since. So I don't see any point in imposing a weeks ban.

    1. Trygve Henriksen

      This is SANDSTONE!

      Even the act of removing the grafitti will cause damage to the stone.

      Your time?

      No one forced you to read the article, or the comments...

  10. The elephant in the room

    An amature effort

    Google image search "Chephren Belzoni graffiti" to see how the pros do it.

    When I visited Abu Simbel I found that somebody, presumably Victorian judging by the serif "typeface" they used, had already carved my initials!

  11. asdf

    irony

    How sad is it that only real things of value to the West in Egypt are the ancient culture? Their current culture is horribly broken and they are basically a failed state.

    1. ian 22
      Unhappy

      Re: irony

      Your comment applies to Arabia in general. Other than oil, one of the least productive regions on the planet.

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