Re: The Barkto Incident

[Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>]

At 01:58 PM 4/11/98 -0400, Mitch Stone wrote:

>Do yesterday's revelations change these conclusions immediately? I don't 
>think so. What has changed is that we now know of Microsoft management's 
>intentions to adopt a comprehensive disinformation campaign. This is 
>scandalous. All the other previous incidents are chump change by 
>comparison.
>
>Or perhaps I am being naive.

I believe that Microsoft's use of shills in online forums is widespread,
and that it is naive to believe otherwise. It's too easy and too tempting
a tactic. However, you are correct in that these incidents are chump change
in comparison to the planned barrage on the mainstream media. Most 
participants in online discussions know and expect that people may not be 
who they say they are; it's part of the medium. (In fact, many members of
the online community value privacy and anonymity enough that they consider
the occasional appearance of an impostor an acceptable price to pay.) But 
the print media are very different; there's a greater presumption of legitimacy.

Editors will be particularly furious about the letter column issue. As 
I've mentioned earlier, Microsoft has claimed that nothing covert would go 
on -- but this is disingenuous in the extreme. No editor wants "commissioned" 
letters in his letter column, so the ONLY WAY those letters would see print is
if they were submitted under false pretenses.

--Brett