I wanted to comment on this article a week ago but I wrote a draft and forgot to publish. Nevertheless, I still insist on posting it because I believe it is a very important and sensitive issue.
Imad Atallah from the Daily star wrote an article on how he scanned and photoshopped legal parking stubs from the park meter and replaced them with new expiration dates, without getting caught. This experiment for him proves the prevalence of the rig ‘n rob syndrome in the country among all government institutions and politicians.
Having said that, I strongly believe that what Imad was not only wrong but very destructive and pointless. He has indirectly shown people a new way of tricking the system without getting caught and has shown himself as a bad example for others to follow, knowing that many many Lebanese read the Daily Star everyday. If there are few decent Lebanese citizens left out there, they should show themselves as responsible and abide by the law, not twist it to prove how bad the system is. The crime Imad committed was against his own belief rather than against the Lebanese system. What’s next? Stealing a car and going to Brital and getting away with it?
What he should have done and what should have been both ethical and appropriate to do is to cheat for one day, then report this as a responsible Lebanese citizen to the park meter company, which is a private one if I am not mistaken, even though working for the Lebanese government, and post about it later to force them to do something about this flaw in the system.
Speaking of the system, I don’t believe you could have gotten away everyday for a year since the meter men rotate every now and then and you would have been caught at one point. [Article]
PS: Hope that answers your questions Mustapha as well!
I also inadvertently figured out another way to scam the system but (1) I don’t plan on using it and (2) I don’t plan on sharing it either. I agree with you 100%.
Well said!
“knowing that many many Lebanese read the Daily Star everyday”. LoL LoLlll!
Okay, now that’s out of the way: Yes, I never understood what he wanted to prove with his stunt. He responded to my post and tried to explain, and still, bayni wbaynkon, I didn’t get it..
Najib I have to disagree with you on this because what you’re basically saying is that the next time you have a negative experience either you shouldn’t post about it but instead share the info with the concerned people. For example when you had an issue with the policeman who wanted a bribe you shouldnt have posted it but instead spoken to his superiors or when you have a negative experience at a restaurant or maybe prices of a restaurant, you shouldn’t post about it but instead tell the owners.
Imad is a journalist and all he did was publish a flaw in the system which is his right to do as a journalist. This happens all the time in the US where people publish a problem so that it gains attention and gets solved. Now because of Imad’s article the company responsibly will shift into high gear to try and fix the problem ASAP where if he had emailed them or contacted them they might have taken their time to get to it.
By sharing the flaw or “hack” he’s actually making the authorities fix it so Khalil if you know of another scam then post it so that the loop hole gets closed.
Mark,
There is a big difference between initiating an act like the one Imad pulled and having an unexpected negative experience. Nevertheless, I did not say Imad should not have posted it at all, but he should have addressed it differently by reporting to the park meter company and posting about it as well, because the park meter company expects people to abide by its rules like a restaurant expects to serve you well.
Nevertheless, if his aim is to prove that the system is corrupt, that’s not something we don’t all know and doesn’t need cheating on the park meter to figure out. Just go through the pics i’ve posted of the ISF and you will have an idea.
Last but not not least, the trick he pulled could easily put him in jail since he violated the law on 3 consecutive days without reporting it and was almost proud of himself when posting about it, and that’s not really how you report a flaw.
Najib I can’t believe you being a blogger believe he shouldn’t have posted what he did. He’s a journalist it’s his job to bring to light issues and in this case he highlighted a major flaw in the system.
The park meter company should release a press release thanking him for bringing this forward and stating they are currently working on a fix… unless you believe they should sue him instead?
Imad didn’t do anything wrong, he reported a flaw in the system which will now get fixed cuz of his article.
Yes,Mark ur totally right ,I think he did the right thing posting about it ,and I’ve done that too haha,but only on 2 occasions,so sooner or later it’s most likely you’ll be caught,but a negative point to it is in fact he opened their eyes about his discovery,this whole parking meter thing is a theft system,there are people I know in this country for whom 1000 L.L. is something like it was posted in Dailystar a few months back,Lebanese are getting poorer and poorer everyday,this maybe nothing for a rich person who has no problem in paying 5000 for Valet parking but it counts for people who can’t afford it to lose a 1000 L.L. here and there everyday because they thought about placing marking meters in all the wrong places like in Borj Hamoud and even some places in Achrafieh,people who own clothes stores can’t even park in front of their own places
Ya mark
I didn’t say he should not have posted. I just said he should have reported it as well and done this from the first day … Not experiment for 3 days …
Najib in science you need to repeat an experiment 3 times before you mark down your findings. In this case if he tried it once and it passed it might have been a fluke so he did it for 3 days to be sure. He is a journalist so he is obligated to make sure his info is accurate.
Annie: people who own stores shouldn’t park in front of their own stores. Parking spots are supposed to be for customers not the shop owners or employees. If every shop owner parked their car in front of their shop then where would the customers park?
And where the poor shop owner parks???Especially in Lebanon’s narrow roads and there are lots of parkings in Lebanon for 2000 L.L.according to each specific region so I think those parking meters are just another way to fill their pockets w ya3melou zbouta .And again,you have a point ,even if it should be for customers that parking should be free for customers just like malls
The shop owners park far and walk to their stores. The reason the parking can’t be free is because shop owners and employees will instead park in those spots.
By having the spot metered, then it will stay empty until a customer comes and parks. Customers dont stay long and end up leaving soon after and freeing up the space for another customer. This creates more business since customers no longer have to worry about not finding parking spots.
Mark
Scientific ma hek lol
I could show u 10 ways why his experiment is not valid but it doesnt matter
Great post Najib! I agree with you, he should’ve reported it to the park meter company… and there’s nothing scientific about this “experiment”!
Najib:
You should show us the 10 ways how this experiment is not valid.
Tekram 3aynak patrick but i will just post them wont do it for real 🙂
Najib please re-read his article again. The guy didn’t do or say anything wrong.
His article is actually interesting to read and he clearly states a number of times that what he was doing was illegal but that he was doing it to highlight a point.
He did this for two days and then wrote a good article.
Mark,
I don’t know why you had the feeling from the start that I was against him writing this article. On the contrary, it is always good and positive to report a certain flaw in the system or a negative experience and you know best about this.
My complaints were about three key points here:
1- He wasn’t doing a scientific experiment to make it last three days, one single attempt was enough and doing so for 3 days will now encourage people to cheat further than a one-time incident, and as a result he is showing himself as a bad example to follow rather than a good citizen reporting a flaw.
2- Knowing that he is a journalist and owns a software firm( Prontis Corporation) and is a publisher and editor of Kazamaza magazine, he could have used his professional status to report this to higher authorities and the people in charge of this park meter.
3- His article is about committing a revolutionary act and showing how corrupt is our system through it. Stealing, cheating, tricking the system, breaking windows, setting buildings on fire are not revolutionary acts as far as I know.
Nevertheless, I repeat that I am 100% supportive of him posting about this, but I am just against the approach he took that’s all.
1) So your issue here with all this post is the fact he did the experiment for 2 days instead of 1?
2) Because of his tech background he found the hack. Thats good.
3) His article is about exposing a flaw in a system. Again this is good.
It’s obvious you are not supportive of him or you wouldn’t have written this post criticizing him for finding a flaw in the system and then writing about it
Mark,
Regardless of his tech background, he could have easily reported this to the park meter company which he mentioned.
His article if you read carefully is not about finding a flaw in the system more than proving he can do the same thing politicians are doing and get away with it.
“Robbing the government is usually the specialty of Lebanon’s business-cum-political establishment. Most petty politicians and political leaders at the helm of national power rig the system in order to rob it. This is how rigging and robbing works: bend the rules, get away with it as long as possible, and reap the benefits. If my political so-called leaders can do it, then I can – albeit at great moral cost. In an attempt to try my hand at rigging and robbing the system, I chose a parking meter near my office. ”
I am supportive of the idea of reporting a flaw, but just not this way.
From a journalistic perspective, what he did, and the way he implemented his rig and rob scheme is untouchable. but in doing so he did cheat…although he does state that he has a moral issue with doing it, it doesn’t help much, unless he would donate the money he saved to the nearest charity…and publicizes that.. sot hat the Parking Company know that he didnt rob them, just defered payment to a more noble cause…
Najib:
So how would you go about to reveal a flaw? If you can’t test something out, then how can you be so sure there’s a flaw?
First thing I would do is report it to the company in question and post about it.
That’s not his job though. He’s a journalist, he investigated, discovered this major flaw and wrote about it.
It’s the companies fault, obviously they’re not going to investigate themselves, because they probably don’t think there’s anything wrong.
Najib he isn’t obligated to inform the company about the flaw. He felt it would grab more attention by informing the public of this flaw which is what he did instead.
oh, Thank You