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The End of the Forged Post Controversey

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It would appear that the "Bob Rae Forgery" had its standard 15 minutes of fame:

From: [email protected] (eye WEEKLY)
Newsgroups: eye.news,ont.general,alt.internet.media-coverage
Subject: EYE.NET: Mike Harris -- Roasted Alive
Followup-To: eye.general,ont.general,alt.internet.media-coverage
Date: 14 Dec 1994 11:00:20 -0500
Organization: eye -- Toronto's Arts Newspaper
Lines: 160
Approved: [email protected]
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: gold.interlog.com
Summary: Ontario PC leader pulls net.related bonehead political stunt
Xref: io.org eye.news:307 ont.general:20751 alt.internet.media-coverage:2470

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
eye WEEKLY                                            December 15 1994
Toronto's arts newspaper                      .....free every Thursday
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EYE.NET                                                        EYE.NET

                      MIKE HARRIS: ROASTED ALIVE
 Clueless PC leader mercilessly flamed for net-related political stunt

                                  by
                             K.K. CAMPBELL


On Dec 8, provincial PC leader Mike Harris stood in the Legislature and
introduced a copy of a post to the newsgroup ont.general -- a public
forum where anything of general interest to Ontarians is discussed.

The post in question was signed "Bob Rae." It talked about the sexual
orientation of Marion Boyd, the Karla Homolka case, and a few other
things. Harris wasn't claiming Rae actually wrote it, he was suggesting
it was proof of a serious "security violation" in government computer
systems. Simulataneously, the PCS issued a press release entitled "Our
Premier: Roadkill on the Information Highway."

We regularly warn Our Faithful Readers about eyeNET's Rule#1: When
strangers approach wielding the "highway metaphor," run. Do not speak with
them. Do not make eye contact. 

Last week, eyeNET predicted many new and entertaining adventures could
result from Ontario's premier getting online. We expected the
shenanigans would come from anonymous net.weenies and assorted loons,
not Mike Harris.

                          ARTIFICIAL BOB

It began innocently on Sunday Dec 3, at 1:22:41 a.m. (EST), when an
anonymous individual posted a message called "Greetings to People of
Ontario's Information Highway" to ont.general . It was faked so the
"From:" line said "[email protected]", Rae's office.

Ontarians read it. Ontarians ignored it. The general response was best
summed up by Toronto's Val Dodge ([email protected]), who wrote: "Am I the
only one getting tired of [these spoof posts]?  OK, the first couple
were funny, but this is getting really tedious."

No one thought it was from Rae. No one thought it was from "hackers
invading government computers."

Netters just looked at the PATH line and could see the post worked its way
to Ontario from a California computer. On top of that, in the header it
plainly says: "This message is NOT from the person listed in the from
line. It is from an automated software remailing service..." 

Fake posts are part of net.life, but this one wasn't even a "forgery" (a
real attempt to pretend to be someone else), it was a "spoof" (an
"imitation" no one is expected to believe). A parody. Hardly a "security
violation," unless Harris thinks all political impersonators represent
"security violations." What if terminally dense Americans thought
impersonator Dana Carvey really _was_ George Bush? Oh my GAWD! Call the
cops! 

Rae's staff had noticed the fake post. Like the rest of the
net.community, they just ignored it. After all, even the stupidest
elements of the net community hadn't been fooled... why worry?

They didn't account for Mike Harris. Five days later Harris issued his now
famous "Roadkill" press release which includes the line "Internet Bob: the
hacker is hacked." 

PC press secretary, Peter Varney, told eye the Conservatives weren't
trying to score political points. They sincerely thought this harmless
post was a "threat to Ontario's security" -- though Varney couldn't
explain why Harris attempted to grandstand. And it's exactly that attempt
to make political points from the matter that most angers Ontario netters.
Sensationalization and playing on the ignorance of the press (which was as
rampant as ever). 

The PCs swear they never saw the very explicit disclaimer in the fake
Rae post because the newsreader of the person who "slipped" them this
oh-so-dangerous document edited out most header information. It's
plausible -- many newsreaders chop stuff from headers (headers contain
info to help direct and organize posts for ease of reading). But
ignorance hardly excuses Harris.

In our conversation, Varney, trying to save face, actually suggested the
simple ability to make a spoof post (and fool Mike Harris, I guess) is
still a "security threat." So what are they asking Rae to do about it?
Call in the OPP and stormtroop around cyberspace? 

                       THE NET STRIKES BACK

The net.community's responses in ont.general have been a virtually 
unanimous condemnation of Harris.

Several threads (i.e., discussions) developed, the longest one entitled
"MIKE HARRIS IS SLIME." It originated with Brampton's Evan Leibovitch
([email protected]), who wrote he didn't blame the "impersonator"
because "children will be children", but "the people who fed this item
to Harris are absolute assholes... My respect for Harris and the
Ontario PCs has just taken a nosedive, and I hope the scum who were
behind this realize that they have scored *NO* political points for
pulling this stunt."

In another thread, Toronto's Jamie Mason ([email protected])
wrote: "Anyone who has been on the net for more than about FIVE MINUTES
would realize that the message was a forgery.  Anyone who has been on
the net for more that about TEN minutes wouldn't even take notice of
the message."

T. Kim Nguyen ([email protected]) likened the Harris bluff to "the
way he paraded the woman quitting her job to go on welfare last year.
His antics of the last few weeks trying to make the NDP look bad have
simply succeeded in showing how much of a ridiculous opportunist he
is."

                             GENUINE BOB

Late Friday afternoon (Dec 9, 5:24 pm), the Premier of Ontario
([email protected]) issued his first real post to ont.general.
It was called "Thanks" and read, in its entirety:

"Many thanks to those of you who flamed the PC pranksters.  I knew when
I went online that I would have to deal with fake posts and related
chaff.  That's the price of being on the Net.  I'm not about to delete
my account.  I still want to hear from people with *real* concerns and
*real* suggestions." Signed: "Bob*The Genuine Article*Rae"

eye called the premier's office. They confirm it's real.

The premier's office made it clear it won't launch any investigation as
to where the parody post came from -- and for that it should be
applauded. I've talked with many people who don't understand the net
and when something they don't like happens they invariably respond:
"I'm going to shut the Internet down!" The Rae team is doing it's best
to fit into the net.community, not remake it.

Varney, on the other hand, says the PCs will actively pursue anyone who
"impersonates" Mike Harris online.

                           FRESH ROADKILL!

Oh no! Look! Just spotted in ont.general! A breach in PC security!!
Alert! Alert! Call the newsmedia!

On Dec 10, "Mike Harris" supposedly posted a missive called "Mike
Harris Fights Back - Kiss My Ass Rae!" to the net. It reads, in part:
"You listen here Rae, my sources informed me that your article was on
the level. You sleazy NDP wimps are more than capable of resorting to
cheap shots like this, so I thought I'd pin one on your grain-fed
ass... DAMN I'm mad!!!"

Signed: "Mike Harris, Progressive Consevative (sic) Party of Ontario."


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