What is Digg?354 Comments
- inactive, on 11/14/2007, -69/+243Mark me down. I am going with "what a pile of BS" for this story. PUH=LEASE...
- AAjax, on 11/14/2007, -31/+155If you cant dig up dirt on a good man, manufacture it
- inactive, on 11/14/2007, -18/+117I have gotten four of these today. It really pissed me off. Not only because it's spam but these people are spamming for someone that would be totally against this sort of thing.
The spam message is the usual bit about Paul.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Scott,
Ron Paul is for the people, unless you want your children to have human implant RFID chips, a National ID card and create a North American Union and see an economic collapse far worse than the great depression. Vote for Ron Paul he speaks the truth and the media and government is afraid of him. This is the last honest politican left to bring this country out of this rut from the War Profiteers and bush Administration has created. Get motivated America, don't believe the lies of the media he has also WON the GOP Debate On Sunday! Value Freedom and Liberty instead of corporate lies and corruption. Bypass this media blackout they are doing to Ron Paul, tell your family and friends and get involved in a local group at meetup.com make your voice heard! He will end the War In Iraq immediately, He will eliminate the IRS and wasteful government spending, and eliminate the Federal Reserve and restore power to the people and the only person not a member on the CFR. Can any other runner make these claims or give Americans the true freedom we were all raised to believe? We are all economic slaves to the banks and the illegal federal Reserve. This is why our currency is worth nothing because of Hidden Inflation Tax and the IRS taking everything you make!
** RON PAUL WILL STOP THE IRAQ WAR IMMEDIATELY! **
He has NEVER voted:
* to raise taxes
* for an unbalanced budget
* to raise congressional pay
* for a federal restriction on gun ownership
* to increase the power of the executive branch
He HAS voted:
* against the Iraq war
* against the inappropriately named USA PATRIOT act
* against regulating the internet
* against the Military Commissions Act
He will eliminate the IRS, Wasteful Government Spending & Stop The Iraq War Immediately!
Most importantly, he voted NO on anything in Congress that is not allowed by the Constitution. And he Despises any politican that does not do their job for the people and lives up to the constitution!
Google.com & Youtube.com Search: "Ron Paul"
Join The Revolution!
***************************************
We Need A Real President That Will Restore And Protect Americans! Stop The War! Protect Our Borders!
*********VOTE RON PAUL 2008************
MuGeoj
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott is not my name btw. With a subject line of "Vote Ron Paul 2008! gIgAydq"
You really can't do anything about these kinds of people other then tell everyone that it's not from the Ron Paul campaign. - ajpalmieri, on 11/14/2007, -11/+100Did these spam bots donate over 10 Million Dollars too?
- andrewcsayer, on 11/06/2007, -14/+86/sets up Colbert global bot network
- rsattva, on 11/14/2007, -26/+85The thing about spam is that a VERY SMALL percentage of people targeted actually fall for the scam. So even if the botnet activity is true it still wouldn't explain the uncanny way Ron Paul wins almost every on-line and television poll. How does the all powerful network of Ron Paul supporters get bots to flood every poll?
You have to realize that there are people who are being paid directly with our tax dollars to try to destroy and discredit the Ron Paul Revolution. His message is clear: Americans like being free and our government is not working toward the expansion and protection of our freedoms and liberties. - COINTELPROAgent, on 11/14/2007, -23/+77I haven't gotten any spam like this. It's probably a CENTCOM plot to discredit Ron Paul :-P
- smoothmedia, on 11/14/2007, -10/+60You don't raise $5 dollars in a quarter from a "botnet". If people are using spam programs, I suspect they are working AGAINST the campaign.
- DeviantDragon, on 11/14/2007, -9/+45The biggest issue here is that there is not a clear understanding of causality here. The article implies that Paul's support is mostly composed of underhanded means, such as hacking polls and sending spam emails to create the illusion of support, when what's really at hand is one isolated botnet. Now just because the botnet exists doesn't mean it created or fluffed up Ron Paul support. In fact, it's very likely that the spam only started going after Ron Paul had already become popular on the net, thus giving someone the idea of viably sending out Ron Paul spam. The way the article is written is terrible in the sense that they imply an awful lot of things for the little fact that they have. It's writing that's very skewed and doesn't address the issue of the which way the causality points in this situation.
- BeefBaron, on 11/05/2007, -12/+48What is with this "leader of the free world" ***** all the time.
America isn't the world, you idiots. - inactive, on 11/05/2007, -5/+40And the 'free' bit is just as silly.
- kuragami, on 11/06/2007, -3/+37Note that roughly 2/3 of the way down the page they finally drop any sort of neutral stance and outright link spammers with Ron Paul supporters. This is a very very specific type of tactic used to turn people against something or someone they wouldn't normally. I'm half asleep and I still picked up on this. Nice one WIRED.
So while the story may be true WIRED just blatantly shilled and acted exactly the same way CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, FOX etc.. does. - inactive, on 11/06/2007, -22/+53keep in mind, I call BS on most every RP story, but this is utter BS. Keep an open mind, people.
- BHull302, on 11/14/2007, -7/+37Something to think about.
As stated in the article, this research was conducted by Gary Warner of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama. As stated on their web page, one their primary funding agencies is the National Science Foundation.
From Wikipedia: The NSF's director, its deputy director, and the 24 members of the National Science Board are appointed by the President of the United States, and confirmed by the United States Senate. - anachronaut, on 11/04/2007, -3/+31I was convinced that this was a BS story at first, and even modded up a couple of comments to that effect. And then I checked my spam folders, which I usually never even bother looking at... yep, I found the exact message that Xuvious posted, dated October 28.
Unfortunately this story is most definitely not BS. That being said, there's absolutely no evidence that the official campaign had anything to do with this. Common sense says that an official campaign would stay far, FAR away from highly questionable tactics such as this -- tactics which are almost guaranteed to have an extremely low potential return on investment. - MWeather, on 11/11/2007, -10/+38Positive? No. Accurate? Yes.
- tidejwe, on 11/09/2007, -18/+46Wow, not sure when I became a "BOT", but if by "BOT" is meant "a free-thinking individual who supports liberty, freedom and limited government (aka anti-"Big Brother") in support of PROTECTING said liberties and freedoms" then consider me a bot...I thought "Bot" usually referred to mindless drone though...go figure (Yes yes, I know the article is actually talking about REAL scripted email bots sending out spam, i just couldn't resist the analogy of everyone calling the rest of us Ron Paul Spammers and Bots too). I found out about Ron Paul on Digg and have become a hardcore supporter since I actually looked into him. I don't agree on EVERYTHING, but I support his reasons for his decisions and nobody else in the last several decades even comes close to being as good a candidate as Ron Paul.
- BobOki, on 11/09/2007, -8/+35My e-mail to Wired:
The article "'Criminal' Botnet Stumps for Ron Paul, Researchers Allege" was very disappointing both that it contains little fact, and a very biased opinion. The story itself throws around buzz-words from spam to scam, and then also attack Ron Paul himself calling him "long-shot Republican candidate", "poor performance in offline polling", to "If Texas congressman Ron Paul is elected president in 2008, he may be the first leader of the free world put into power with the help of a global network of hacked PCs spewing spam".
The worst of all of this is the article itself actually goes out of its way to prove itself incompetent and unable to get its facts straight. The article claims the spam was made from a "botnet" which is a massive amount of computers which backdoor access is used and their existing internet access is used to send spam/hacks/DoS attacks. The article continues on saying, "The interesting thing was that we had the same subject line from the same IP address" which in itself proves this "botnet" idea to be completely false. This also shows its the work of a single person, and while they did not publish this IP address to us, I am relatively sure it is someone trying to smear Ron Paul's good name and character. If you cannot dig up dirt on an honest man, create some.
This kind of "journalism" has no place in todays society, and the article itself borders on purposfully spreading lies to damage a good name. This is not at all the kind of reporting I have come to read from Wired, who usually makes a decent attempt to be un-biased and typically researches what they are writing about. You have tarnished your good name with this article, and anything short of an apology with spelled out corrections to the errors and incorrect "facts" in this article will be seen as Wired's complete support for this type of story, and the loss of many of your readers. If we wanted bad journalism, we would watch Fox.
Concerned,
My name - Madhatter73, on 11/04/2007, -5/+31Hmmm... Where do I want to get my political propaganda from today.. the bot net, CNN or FOX NEWS? Instead of spending the time writing an article on how a dark horse candidate might get 2% of the vote... How about we analyze our two party system and the bias in the media that picks out candidates for us?
- radu79, on 11/09/2007, -12/+36It is BS...
I get around 100 junk mails a day, and none has any mention of Ron Paul.
Did anyone here get such an e-mail? If so, prove it with a screenshot of your inbox. - revo764, on 11/14/2007, -6/+29So let me get this right, most donations from military personel go to the Ron Paul campaign. Botnets also?
This story has so many holes that even the usual trolls like hermiker and jcm are avoiding it. - Leomarth, on 11/14/2007, -9/+32I like Ron Paul based on his limited government stance. I am also going to vote for him, and try to convince my friends to vote for him. But the fanaticism of some of the other Ron Paul fans baffles even me.
- Eleo, on 11/06/2007, -21/+44Bet you if, this were any form of positive news regarding Ron Paul, you wouldn't be so eager to call it BS or question its veracity. Just saying.
- AbsurdParadox, on 11/01/2007, -4/+26I wonder how the Ron Paul Spammers are getting those campaign donation numbers so high. Hmm.
- NightVortez, on 11/06/2007, -4/+26Don't forget "the" it's totally outrages.
- RedAmerican, on 11/03/2007, -2/+23Even if this story is right and some third-party is sending out these e-mails it only means two things. First, Ron Paul's campaign has nothing to do with it and is therefore irrelevant. Second, it is hardly surprising that a hacker would use Ron Paul's web notoriety to try and further his own agenda and on the upside more people are getting to see what Ron Paul's message is; even if it is through a less than desirable route. The most disheartening thing about this story is that, of course, if the media latches onto this they will drag it out and besmirch Dr Paul's good name over an action he has no knowledge of. Lastly, since WIRED published this article I believe the credibility of the article is in question. Tech people, in general, oppose Ron Paul because they believe his economic policies would stifle the market and also result in higher prices for technology goods. Of course these claims are unfounded and based on complete speculation.
- Jimmyb207, on 11/14/2007, -15/+36The anti-Ron Paul crowd is starting to look like a bunch of desperate losers. I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for them for having to resort to making up such a pathetic story.
- TheTaoOfBill, on 11/14/2007, -24/+45Guys this is nothing new. This is election season. You will probably be getting phone calls and junk mail too. From all candidates. This is how people advertise the president. Seriously people on digg bitch about ads way too much. It's not like it really hurt you in anyway.
- fac3less, on 11/14/2007, -12/+32My, this is mighty fine balogna we've got here.
Mmm-mmm, good stuff.
(If you can't already tell -- the way they wrote this article makes it a sham. Or scam. Wired, I'm sad to see this being outputted from you)
I'm Canadian so I don't exactly 'support' Ron Paul but I hope people do see beyond the technicalities of this spam & see that it's just a misguided supporter of Ron Paul (or worse, an enemy) spamming everyone.
Personally, I haven't got any yet though. I love SpamAssassin :) - DeviantDragon, on 11/04/2007, -6/+25Oh *****, five dollar dollars in a whole quarter! But seriously...let's clarify that it was 5 million and that Paul has good fundraising momentum.
- Fabc001, on 11/14/2007, -10/+29It's funny, it was stated as soon as Paul raised $5 million, the ***** is now going to hit the fan and watch how dirty a smear campaign can become.
It is obvious that this is to smear Ron Paul's bid, the opposition are freaking out about the 5th of November.
Listen to Paul's message or any candidate you want and make up your own mind, just get to know who you are voting for. - daonlyfreez, on 11/10/2007, -1/+19Could be done by anyone, pro-Paul, or anti-Paul. This proves nothing.
- inactive, on 11/14/2007, -5/+22How desperate can the neo-cons get?
Seriously? - TimeMaster, on 11/14/2007, -12/+29Has Rupert Murdock just bought Wired?
Theres alot of spam, just like their is a lot of junk mail.
I don't think spam alone would get anyone elected as president! I don't remember seeing any articles on Wired about voter fraud!
This is shameful propoganda from Wired that will seriously damage its reputaion. If I wanted to read this type of rubbish I would log on to Fox News. - smacksaw, on 11/10/2007, -1/+17This article is getting Dugg down because many RP supporters don't want to see it, but it should still be Dugg up. It should be out there, front and centre for people to respond to.
I don't think we have anything to hide. Digg it up. Let the detractors have it. Honestly, they are getting all the rope they need to hang themselves with. It's plainly obvious RP has nothing to do with this, nor does the average RP supporter. - facereplacer, on 11/10/2007, -3/+19Spam is the lowest form of (loosely) "capitalism" Spammers latch onto anything. I get spam from banks I don't bank with. Ebay, paypal, all kinds of online services I don't use or seek out target me. If some spammer latches onto Ron Paul, that's for the spammer.
But to plainly try to suggest an honest man like Ron Paul or his campaign is behind the spam this Sarah Lai Stirland claims to be getting is just low and irresponsible.
I mean, that article could not be any more accusatory. - Thuktun, on 11/05/2007, -3/+18I'm the spam handler for my set of small domains. Looking at my Thunderbird trash folder, we've received eight of these since 10/26 sent to six email addresses at our domain with the following subjects:
- IRS Fears Ron Paul?
- Who Is Ron Paul? gF
- IRS Fears Ron Paul? Rykg
- Ron Paul Wins GOP Debate! Dzj
- Ron Paul Wins GOP Debate! SQIFeTN
- Ron Paul Wins GOP Debate! odfylhu
- Ron Paul Wins GOP Debate! fCWOhOT
- Who Is Ron Paul? REYHTqY
Just because you haven't seen something, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. - 0xception, on 11/04/2007, -2/+17fake spam? i doubt anyone truly believes the spam is coming directly from the RP campaign... but that doesn't make it any less real
- MichaelJN, on 11/04/2007, -2/+17I don't think that we are arguing that messages were spammed out this way, we are questioning who did it and why? The email looks like it was written by a bright 6 year old and does not paint the most flattering picture for Paul. It is at least possible that this is a tactic to discredit Paul and make his support seem less than it is.
- dafragsta, on 11/09/2007, -15/+29This is just scary. I sincerely think there is a media conspiracy against Ron Paul. They can't find any dirt, so now they are trying to insinuate vicarious dirt? *****.
- alice104, on 11/14/2007, -2/+16People who fully understand how bad things have gotten in this country are not baffled by the fanaticism, they're baffled by the continued apathy of everyone else...
"Oops, we just invaded another country under false pretenses, got caught torturing prisoners and slaughtering civilians... the dollar's down 20% from 5 years ago... and oh, and we just lost habeas corpus, too... wanna order pizza?" - pasatiempos, on 11/06/2007, -3/+16^ Yeah. He also just counterfeited the $5 Million + he got in October.
- dancantone, on 11/02/2007, -4/+17This writer's like the telemarketer in that commercial where he's told to hold while the solicited gets in his car, drives to the airport, flies to the guys town, locates his office cubicle, and beats the crap out of him for his lameness.
Tools like the writer of that article should be held accountable and called out for underhanded, drivel filled, smear pieces like that.
Are you kidding me? Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, Fred Thompson, or John McCain? NO WAY!
Actually Ron Paul's not exactly my kind of guy, but I would support his agenda 110% over the rest of those fruitcakes and crooks on either side, whether Democrat or Republican. - Bluejaye, on 11/10/2007, -1/+14I actually just got SPAM today, for John McCain. Perhaps the spambot people are hedging their bets.
- epsilona01, on 11/04/2007, -3/+16Both of you missed the point. Who's doing the spamming? If it's internet people, we hate this kind of ***** do we not? I sure as hell wouldn't set up something like that. It's counterproductive, and AAjax seems to be inferring that maybe someone who doesn't like Paul would do this to smear his good name, cause they haven't been able to do it any other way.
- sentime, on 11/10/2007, -1/+14Would it shock anyone if Chaney and his neocon goons were behind the message?
- realunderdog, on 11/14/2007, -19/+32I like Dr Paul and plan to vote for him.
However I dugg the article because it was too funny.
At first I thought it was satire. - astitious, on 11/10/2007, -2/+14That is quite a hit piece. The mainstream media's masters must be worried.
- nonrate, on 11/10/2007, -0/+12Well, well well, they can't attack Paul himself so it looks like the strategy is going to be attack his supporters. How pathetic. Wired must think they have a readership of morons. I mean give me a break --is this the best dirt they can do? Someone sending email? Ooooohhhhhh... better not vote for Ron Paul, he attracts spammers! I work within the field of computer security and forensics. One of the most vital components of this field is providing evidence. For example, when working on a case, it's not good enough to write an article and say "I found porn on the hard drive". You need to provide the evidence such as an image of their hard disk, logs and records of the acquisition, even the utilities used to capture the evidence have to be approved to be held up in a court of law.
Sorry Wired, telling us a university did a study is absolutely meaningless, you should provide evidence for your claims. Bad reporting. - stro2425, on 11/10/2007, -0/+12Bots donate money, too. Haaaaa.
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