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Dog poop girl refers to an incident on a South Korea subway that was recorded and published, resulting in a backlash by Internet vigilantes. Incident In early June 2005, the woman, who appears to be in her 20s, took her lap dog on Seoul Subway Line 2. Her dog defecated on the floor of the subway car and, when other riders requested that she clean up after it, she declined to do so. Another subway rider offered the woman a tissue, which she used to clean the dog but not its waste. Other passengers suggested she clean up the mess, she ignored the second group of requests and departed the subway at the next stop. Another female commuter, using a camera phone, took several photographs of the woman and dog, and posted them on a popular Korean website. Reaction to the incident Soon after the unaltered photos were published, Internet vigilante groups closely examined the picture and within days she had been identified and her personal information released on the Internet. The photo quickly became one of the most popular image searches on popular Korean web portals and a source of parody and derisive satire. The woman quit her university in shame and published a photo of her dog and a public apology in Korean. Concerns The reaction by Korean Internet users to the incident prompted several Korean newspapers to run editorials voicing concern over Internet vigilantism, suggesting that the effect of world-wide crowds do not result in wise, uniform judgments and appropriate punishments via social stigma. The implications for personal privacy were raised. Some said that posting the woman's picture was acceptable, but that posting her personal information was inappropriate. Others said that her face should have been obscured in the widely circulated picture, in order to protect her identity. According to Daniel J. Solove, a professor who specializes in privacy issues at George Washington University Law School, the case: ...involves a norm that most people would seemingly agree to -- clean up after your dog...But having a permanent record of one's norm violations is upping the sanction to a whole new level . . . allowing bloggers to act as a cyber-posse, tracking down norm violators and branding them with digital scarlet letters.<ref name="krim"/>
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