The Day After Veteran's Day Is April Fool's Day 2.0

from the fake-fake-news dept

When The Daily Show ran with its "Palin is so dumb" jokes, I was actually wondering where the jokes ended and the truth began (while laughing at the same time). And it seems I'm still left somewhat puzzled -- due to the reports that MSNBC fell for a hoax in which Martin Eisenstadt claims to be the source for the rumor that Sarah Palin didn't know if Africa was a country or a continent.

... the claim of credit for the Africa anecdote is just the latest ruse by Eisenstadt, who turns out to be a very elaborate hoax that has been going on for months.

But the reported hoax is about how Eisenstadt isn't a real person and that his blog and job at the "Harding Institute" are entirely made up. That doesn't quite address whether or not Fox News (which broke the Africa story) used Eisenstadt as a source, though.... And it's actually very easy to mis-read the report on the hoax as saying that the whole Africa anecdote is untrue because the source was fake. However, no one knows who the real source is for Fox's story (except for Fox News, of course). So it's very possible that Fox didn't use Eisenstadt as a source, and with all the hoaxes going around recently, it's also possible that there's a very elaborate string of hoaxes going on. In fact, the joke continues as Eisenstadt states on his blog: "I deny any and all accusations that I somehow don't exist."

I'm willing to grant that Palin knows Africa is a continent, but Fox News isn't running an apology for its own reporting (as far as I can tell) -- so where does this joke really end?

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Prosecutors Go Overboard In Indicting Woman Involved In MySpace Hoax That Resulted In Suicide

from the out-for-vengeance dept

Before we get into the details, I think everyone can agree that the story of Megan Meier is quite tragic. She was the 13-year-old girl who was "friended" on MySpace by a boy with whom she became close online. After a certain amount of time, the boy turned on her, trying to end the friendship and saying that "the world would be better off without her." After receiving this message, Megan committed suicide. Later, it was discovered that the boy in question never existed -- and was part of a hoax perpetrated by some of Megan's friends/neighbors, including the mother of one of Megan's former friends. The story is, most definitely, sad and tragic -- and it's no surprise that there are people out for vengeance, with the main target being Lori Drew, the adult who participated in some manner in the hoax. However, as we said back when state prosecutors in Missouri couldn't find any law to prosecute, being a total jerk online is not a crime. As stupid as the prank was, it wasn't designed to make the girl commit suicide.

But, of course, when you have a high profile case that includes a 13-year-old girl committing suicide after being misled, people are still going to push for something to be done (or they end up doing something themselves). So with state prosecutors failing to find anything, federal prosecutors stepped in, and have now indicted Lori Drew on a number of different charges, relating to "conspiracy and fraudulently gaining access to someone else's computer." This seems like a serious stretch. It's an effort to twist existing laws just to punish this particular woman because people are upset by the outcome. Legal scholars are already quite worried about how the indictments appear to twist the law in potentially unconstitutional ways.

Why? Well, some of the charges are based on computer anti-fraud laws that prevent "unauthorized access." And, here's where the prosecutors got creative: they claim that in not providing truthful info to MySpace when registering (i.e., in breaking the terms of service), effectively Lori Drew "hacked" into MySpace's computers in an unauthorized manner. Now, no matter what you think of what Lori Drew did (or what happened as a result), this would basically make anyone who fails to follow the exact terms of service of an online service a potential felony hacker. That is a problem. I recognize the desire to punish someone for what happened to Megan -- but twisting the law this way will have very dangerous consequences.

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Hoax Analyst Showing Up On Earnings Calls

from the six-sigma-indeed dept

I don't follow the process behind earnings conference calls too closely, but apparently there's an element of trust involved. People dial in, tell a moderator who they are, and a bunch of analysts from the most well-known firms are allowed to ask questions. That system is ripe for gaming, and apparently, some unknown guy has been doing exactly that over the past few months, calling into earnings calls and getting to ask questions by pretending to be someone else. No one seems entirely sure what game the guy is playing -- but it doesn't appear to be an attempt to hoax the overall system or be a practical joker -- as his questions aren't amusing. He just brings up odd questions about operations: supply chain initiatives, lean manufacturing, six sigma, etc. That has some believing that he's really working for some consulting firm, either trying to dig up dirt on other company's operations, or even trying to kick up more interest in supply chain work. Either way, it's fairly amazing to find out how the conference call system works and how easy it is to game. It's surprising that this hasn't been done more frequently, honestly. In response, some firms are now handing out special codes to analysts to let them ask questions in future conference calls, rather than just relying on who people say they are -- though, of course, that brings up a different issue: what's wrong with letting people other than your preferred analysts ask questions?

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Boston Police Still Calling Random Light-Up Devices 'Hoax' Bombs

from the it's-not-a-hoax dept

Earlier this year, a Cartoon Network marketing promotion became a huge story in the city of Boston when police assumed that some promotional light-up boxes were actually bombs. Rather than admit that they made a mistake and overreacted, the authorities in Boston continued to accuse the folks behind the promotion of perpetrating a "hoax" on the city. Of course, a hoax is where you try and trick people. None of the folks involved in the promotion were trying to trick anyone into believing the promotional devices were bombs. They were simply promotional. However, Boston still seems to be focused on calling any electronics device they don't understand a hoax device. The latest situation involves an MIT student wearing a sweatshirt that included a homemade electrical component that would light up LEDs on the sweatshirt. It's certainly understandable that security would want to check out the device and understand it. It's even somewhat understandable that they would be quite concerned about a homemade electrical device found in a sweatshirt. Walking into an airport with such a device is asking for trouble. However, to then accuse her of possessing a "hoax device," seems a bit absurd. This wasn't a "hoax" device at all. She wasn't trying to trick anyone.

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