FBI To Use Ad Banners to Find Criminals

PhuptDuck writes "Federal authorities are pursuing fugitive crime boss James 'Whitey' Bulger in cyber space under a first-of-its kind agreement announced Wednesday between the FBI and Web portal Terra-Lycos. With a presence in 42 countries and in 19 languages, Terra Lycos is known for the worldwide scope of its Web presence."

Comments

What about Usama

[Anonymous Coward]

Bin laden better get his butt up on some banner ads then

Punch the terrorist ...

[Ezubaric]

and win a free wiretap!

Re:Punch the terrorist ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah, "Punch an FBI agent- win a free trip to prison" is better.

--Coder

Instead of spending money on this....

[DJayC]

... why not just get a commercial during the Osbournes?

Re:Instead of spending money on this....

[Hamstaus]

RTFA applies here. If you had read it, you would have noticed this bit:

Terra-Lycos spokesman Brian Payea said the company wasn't being paid for the service. ''We're committed to providing important services to our community and we feel it was a very worthwhile effort,'' he said.

Re:Instead of spending money on this....

[Gopedder02]

That

WOULD

Punch the Monkey!!!

[Marxist Commentary]

Get some war3z & mp3z!

"Criminal? Click here!"

[objekt]

I can see it now

Re:"Criminal? Click here!"

[Old Uncle Bill]

Yeah, what criminal sought by the feds would use their real identity online? WTF? I think most mob bosses don't pay their bills online... just a thought

Re:"Criminal? Click here!"

[Anonymous Coward]

R.T.F.A.

Re:"Criminal? Click here!"

[cmathison]

The FBI wants to find leads to find the mob boss. Not have him personally click a link to turn himself in. In other words...RTFA

Re:"Criminal? Click here!"

[Anonymous Coward]

Eat a bowl of STFU!

Re:"Criminal? Click here!"

[hplasm]

....."You have won a SPEEDBOAT!!!"

Does anyone actually look at them?

[jonman_d]

I know I sure don't. I have most of them blocked, anyway.

What's next, the government spamming us with wanted posters and ASCII pictures? Why don't they invest money in a medium which people actually pay attention to? See: Television Advertisements.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Tablizer]

Why don't they invest money in a medium which people actually pay attention to? See: Television Advertisements.

Milk containers

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[tomzyk]

See: Television Advertisements.

Not just advertisements... actual SHOWS. "America's Most Wanted" already does this. They put criminals faces on TV and the general public can watch the show and be constantly on the lookout for the criminals. From time-to-time (from what I understand... I don't actually watch the show) they put the FBI most wanted list on the screen too. I believe they also have the top 10 most wanted on their website as well.

Television is a great medium to get this information out to the public! So is the internet. BUT, the good thing about TV is that if you don't want to watch it, you can turn it OFF. If they continue this activity with making deals with internet companies and put pop-ups/banners on everyone's screens, it just going to end up making a lot of people upset.

If you want to get the info out, just put up a website. Internet ads are not necessary.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Anonymous Coward]

What's next, the government spamming us with wanted posters and ASCII pictures?

I couldn't find any Osama Ascii Art on google. Damn! Would have been a sure Karma getter.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[wrax]

well, actual people who use computers on a daily basis don't usually look at banner ads, but regular people do. I have friends who actually click on the ads saying "You have an urgent message waiting". This type of "wanted poster" as the fbi calls it is intended for those people who read a page totally before moving on, not people who don't read the ads.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[NeuroKoan]

Umm... don't forget that a majority of people don't know how to block banner ads. *AND* most people *do* look at banner ads, *and* click on them, *and* read them *and* freak out when they look like error messages.

Most people are *not* like you or me.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Cruciform]

Headline:

Fugitive Serves Two Terms as Mayor of Small Town: Veganism and Lactose Intolerance to Blame

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[_Spirit]

Hmmm... Put this together with some peoples crazy wish to get their face on tv.....

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[plover]

Remember, "only terrorists block banner ads."

Hey, what if the girl from the X10 pop-up turns out to be a real-life terrorist? How will we know? And how will they advertise that one?

"Have you seen this girl? If not, buy one of these cameras and you might see MORE of her..."

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[__aaahtg7394]

I live near in NC, but near SC (very rural, very pro-keeping-the-confederate . On a couple of the nightly news programs they have a local "criminal" report with a hotline and rewards for successes.

It's rather sad, really..

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[FroMan]

lameness filter sucks.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[dubiousmike]

well see...

television advertising actually seems to work and thus costs more than a can of Code Red

I have a bridge I am trying to seel that they can place a billboard on...

:P

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[CaseyB]

*Many* people, especially *stupid* ones, think that their *statements* are more *important* when all the *words* are *surrounded* by *asterixes*.

"WHY ALL the CAPITALS?"

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Anonymous Coward]

don't tell them we are not looking at it, they'll try harder to shove stuff down our throats !!

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Anonymous Coward]

I Thought the use of webbugs as people trackers was nothing new on earth...

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Gordonjcp]

It's a cunning move on the part of banner ad companies to have Junkbuster declared a tool of terror, and those who block banner ads decried as terrorists...

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[rand.srand()]

This reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld's old bit where instead of the wanted posters being up at the post office, the stamps should have the pictures. That way the postman, who walks around seeing people all day door to door, can do the searching.

Not a bad idea really...

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[NeuroKoan]

If you think the asterixes are annoying, you should hear me talk :)

When I'm ranting, I usually *do* stress every other word.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Charm]

I have most of them blocked, anyway.

Thats because most ads are for crap products. If they advertised stuff you where interested in you'd look. I'd look at criminal wanted and missing people ads. Escpecially if a reward is offered. A few seconds of my time each day to help make the world a better place.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[fenix down]

Why the hell do we use bracketing asterisks for EVERYTHING? Just in your post, you use it for both emphasis and onomatopoeia. What happened to all caps meaning emphasis? I'm pretty sure that's what they told us to do back in 3rd grade on our oversized lined paper.

but *no*! capitalization is the tool of *the devil*! capitals are *ugly* and make your writing hard to read! they're all *tall* and stuff. let's come up with confusing new uses for some other punctuation marks instead! like asterisks! they look just like quotation marks when you use small fonts! now *that's* easy to read!

Why don't we just stick a global text-transform: lowercase;* up there somewhere for God's sake.

It's not that I have a problem with asterisks per se, or that I'm really that worried about following punctuation rules, but when I see asterisks, I think onomatopoeia. I mean, emphasis has it's own HTML tag! Why do we need to randomly screw with recognizable punctuation?

*See, this is what asterisks are SUPPOSED to be for. Denoting additional information, like the information that text-transform: lowercase; is a CSS style tag that makes everything lowercased.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[facelessnumber]

Well, a large segment of the population (and probably a very large section of Slashdot) doesn't watch television anymore. It's not a bad idea. Lately everything I know about the world around me comes from Reuters.com or some other news site. Most of the entertainment I used to get from television came from the History Channel, Discovery, or A&E which have all long been replaced by Alta Vista and then by Google. I get my local news from the radio on the way to work, and that's only because I don't have a browser in my car and I have to watch the road. If I feel the need for mindless, non-interactive comedy then yes, I turn to TV shows, but they all got here through a peer network and there are no commercials. Movies? Sure, but not on the TV. I only watch television when I'm stuck in a hotel without internet access. I don't download America's Most Wanted or Unsolved Mysteries, so if Uncle Sam wants to let me know that my friend Blake has been smuggling cocaine inside of infants sold to a branch of the Mafia that he runs, it's going to have to be through the web, and it will have to be through ads, because I'm not going to look for this on my own. For once these people are doing something useful. I am certain there are others like me, and that number won't be getting smaller.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[uptownguy]

Television is a great medium to get this information out to the public! So is the internet. BUT, the good thing about TV is that if you don't want to watch it, you can turn it OFF. If they continue this activity with making deals with internet companies and put pop-ups/banners on everyone's screens, it just going to end up making a lot of people upset.

Wow. Looks like someone doesn't get away from their computer enough.

All I'm trying to say is, the same holds true for the Internet. It is nifty, sure, but there is a GIANT WORLD OUT THERE. If the banner ads or other things really get to you, you can turn it OFF.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[CSG_SurferDude]

Gee, how about the EM (Emphasis) tags?

Gee, how about the B(Bold) tags?

Gee, how about the I (Italics) tags?

Gee, how about the strong (Strong) tags?

Of course too many browsers display Emphasis and Italics the same, as well as Bold and Strong, but HTML should leave it to the browser to choose how to do it.

ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN ALL CAPS, EVEN *ASTERISKS*

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Anonymous Coward]

I know one thing: a 'wanted' banner wouldn't disturb me half as much as the gambling, cellphone or whatever spam that's punched in your face all the time now. At least it has a use.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Anonymous Coward]

What does a comic book character have to do with this thread?

If there's one thing that pisses me off more than SHOUTERS and *decorators*, it's people who feel it their duty to comment one someone else's writing while they can't even keep their drivel clear of errors themselves.

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Anonymous Coward]

How come you fuckers can't find Eric Rudolph??

Re:Does anyone actually look at them?

[Chelloveck]

ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN ALL CAPS, EVEN *ASTERISKS*

• SOME OF US *DON'T* LIKE TO LEAVE *ANYTHING* TO CHANCE

anti-lameness: blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah

Chances are...

[Anonymous Coward]

You'll find their banner ads showing up on theBubbler.com. There must be tons of criminals in Wisconsin.

Ad Blocking

[kjd]

Now ad blocking is no longer just stealing, it's a violation of the good samaritan law. ;)

Re:Ad Blocking

[netsharc]

Who knows, maybe it's going to be a federal crime soon. Well luckily doubleclick doesn't have the kind of RIAA money to bribe^W donate to political candidates. That would be something.. "Buy the X10 camera, or go to jail!" and "Have you seen this man? He is wanted for not viewing banner ads."

And this site will be a violation of the DMCA, SSSCA, CBPTDA, Patriot and Homeland Security Act.

Re:Ad Blocking

[C0LDFusion]

I just want to add that people think "Good Samaritan Law" is where you are FORCED by law to help someone. However, in most states, the law is actually designed to protect the person who makes their own decision to help from malpractice suits.

Example: Someone gets into a car accident and you decide to help him. You pull him out of the car and bandage his wounds. The bandage material used whas not sterile and he gets an infection that kills him. Good Samaritan law prevents his family from suing you.

IANAL, but I've never heard of any law that forces you to help someone.

Re:Ad Blocking

[kjd]

It was meant as a play on the more controversial (and dumb) samaritan laws which hold you personally responsible for your inaction. :)

Re:Ad Blocking

[Anonymous Coward]

Which don't exist. Stop watching so much TV.

Re:Ad Blocking

[colinleroy]

IANAL, but I've never heard of any law that forces you to help someone.

In France there's kind of one; you can get sued for "non-assistance à personne en danger" (approx "not providing assistance to someone needing it").
That is (afaik), if you witness a car accident or something, you at least have to call the police. I don't think you are forced to go rescue someone yourself, though (ie you don't have to put yourself in danger for someone else).

Re:Ad Blocking

[keepr]

Ummmmmm I pay for my internet connection.. I go to public websites, How am I stealing by blocking ther ad's? good samaritan law? Get real.. Theese people are exploiting the internet and STEALING MY BANDWIDTH! not to mention annoying me to no end by setting up popup's to respawn when i close them...

Re:Ad Blocking

[Anonymous Coward]

IANAL, but I've never heard of any law that forces you to help someone.

That's not what Jerry who have you believe

Re:Ad Blocking

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe this misconception was popularized by the final episodes of Seinfeld. The characters are jailed under a "Good Samaritan Law" for failing to help a man being robbed.

Re:In soviet russia

[Anonymous Coward]

thank you for delivering a properly-executed ISR for a change. now go fuck a light socket

Most wanted?

[Anonymous Coward]

So they put a wanted poster in a little banner ad and ask if you've seen this man? How many incorrect reports will they get? How many people will just be fucking with them?

Re:Most wanted?

[Anonymous Coward]

Goddammit, I don't want any of you damn trolls making false reports accusing Annonymous Coward of being a terrorist!

LOL

[aivic]

Whats next, the FBI using POP-UP Ads?

Mutually beneficial relationship

[foo12]

It seems Lycos found a source of revenue through ad banners and the FBI gets to flash wanted ads while setting a cookie on your computer. Mr. Hoover would be proud. ; )

Re:Mutually beneficial relationship

[241comp]

Of course, if you read about this you would see that Lycos is providing the banner displays for free. As a public service.

Great Idea

[kcroke]

Well, first we must all be happy that web advertisement might do some good.

People all over the world use Lycos. No matter where someone is, there will probably be someone near by who uses the internet. By making it as easy to report to the FBI as clicking a button, they should get results. Since it's over the internet, the reporter may feel more anonymous sending in a report.

The downside would be false reports. There will probably be more false FBI criminal sitings then elvis sitings...

Re:Great Idea

[kedi]

and what would stop "the wanted ones" to manufacture enough false alarms to make whole of this effort a joke?

Re:Great Idea

[br0ck]

In the US it's illegal to submit false information to law enforcement. Not that that would slow anyone outside the country down. Maybe they could profile the false reports to determine who manufactured the 'false alarm'. Also, maybe they have already dealt with so many fake reports over the years that they have methods to more quickly weed out the misleading information.

Attorneys and grammar

[sacremon]

"''It might simply be a clerk in a grocery store bagging groceries, goes home that night, gets on the Internet and says, 'you know, I think I saw that person bagging groceries today,''' U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said during a news conference in Boston on Wednesday morning. "

Why would someone who is wanted for 21 murders be bagging groceries?

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[jasonditz]

maybe because he's got too many items to carry them in his hands? :)

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[Dannon]

Why would someone who is wanted for 21 murders be bagging groceries?

The local fast food places aren't hiring?

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft already has enough criminals working there.

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[Jordy]

He was quoting a fictional grocery clerk. He must be mocking the grammar of grocery clerks everywhere for not knowing the word 'while'!

Seriously though, who cares. The editor obviously didn't correct it since it is somewhat intelligible, so why should you?

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[Tablizer]

Why would someone who is wanted for 21 murders be bagging groceries?

Because there are no programming jobs

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[Cruciform]

Because the CIA was in a hiring freeze when they applied?

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[EZmagz]

Why would someone who is wanted for 21 murders be bagging groceries?

Because it's easier than trying to get a job as a sys admin.

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[SpinyNorman]

He's hoping to whack the guy at the deli counter?

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[evil_one]

There aren't a lot of 73 year old grocery-baggers.

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[DaveAtFraud]

The Dallas Cowboys don't have an opening on their roster?

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it's ambiguous, and of all people, lawyers should be capable of avoiding ambiguity?

Re:Attorneys and grammar

[surprise_audit]

Why would someone who is wanted for 21 murders be bagging groceries?

Probably a cereal killer checking out new victims...

If this banner is flashing...

[Anonymous Coward]

...you've won a free pardon! Click here!

Re:If this banner is flashing...

[Anonymous Coward]

My office is located near the area of Dorcester and Southie that he's from. One thing I'll say is that local rumor is that they'll never find this guy cause he's dead, and has been dead for years. Theres a rumor going around that he was "dealt with", and its unclear if it was the FBI, or someone who worked with Whitey and the FBI, "dealt with him". The theory is that the local Boston FBI office was afraid he'd blab everything about the situation -- meaning, he'd rat out the FBI for letting him murder people while on their watch when they knew about it all along.
This is all part of a big cover up to keep the FBI out of the mud.

Why do I believe this? In the 80's nobody in Southie or Dorchester would even mention this guys name in public for fear of what might happen.

He was known to kick the shit of people for even looking at him walking down the street. This guy was a thug.

Today, I could stand on the corner of L Street and yell "Whitey Bulger is a fag.." and all I would get is strange looks from the mostly gay community that lives in Southie now. If I did that in 1983, my balls would be floating around Carson Beach.

The man's been dead for years. The banner ad thing is another way for them (the FBI) to look like they're still motivated in catching someone who was once basically on their payroll. Its a smoke screen.

Re:If this banner is flashing...

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds similar to what goes on around here except its just the local police. Lets see, there is the friend of the sheriff that put is still living wife in the wood chipper. Aparently, he'll even tell you that she woke up and was screaming as he shoved her in. Yet, the local yolkals can't find any evidence. Then there was the guy who was boinking some officers wife, then one day he gets pulled over a block away after leaving her house and they "find" an ounce of coke in his car. He's doing 50 years in max now. Then there was the one that got accused of child molestation, that got quickly and quietly swept under the rug. I feel so nice and secure now that these people have even more power . . .

Web Bugs?

[Bonker]

Heaven help you if your email address happens to begin with 'jbulger@' and you don't know enough to protect your cookies from being read by web bugs or your machine from spyware apps.

No, of course the FBI wouldn't stoop this far. Homeland security is completely benevolent and the United States is not... despite all appearances... turning into a police state controlled by wealthy resource and media industries.

Re:Web Bugs?

[miratim]

Silly. He would call himself wbulger@!

Re:Web Bugs?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does this mean I have to cancel my serialmurderer@ email address?

Re:Web Bugs?

[Suppafly]

Apparently neither you nor the person who modded this as insightful read the article.

Re:Web Bugs?

[MisterFancypants]

Web bugs? Are you on drugs, son? All they are doing is using web advertisements to request information from the public. No different than American's Most Wanted, or putting pictures on a milk carton..Except it's on the web.

Shame on the people who modded you up. There are enough real issues to worry about with regards to our privacy, making up new ones based on badly edited Slashdot entires (try reading the article next time!) hurts more than it helps. Focus on the real problems, don't invent new ones!

In other news, being from Somerville, MA not too far from the Winter Hill area, (but now living in San Diego), I know exactly what Whitey Bulger looks like. Haven't seen him around, though!

Re:Web Bugs?

[pommiekiwifruit]

You mean like this guy? on a CmdrTaco day?

Re:Web Bugs?

[Bobman1235]

I'm sure that the FBIs biggest tip would be James "Whitey" Bulger using his own name on his personal computer. All these years searching for him, and he's going to put his actual name somewhere and flood it out ot the Internet. Of course! A master of hiding from the authorities will be caught by making a newbie mistake on a computer.

Now all we have to do is look for obinladen@ and find out where that cave is located. I'd better warn my freind Olaf bin Laden to block his cookies!

Re:Web Bugs?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok.. I guess my post "something something I'm drunk (probably redundant) was in fact drunk and redundant. I didn't through in the Amerika anti-establishment going to hell in a hand basket stuff, but I guess I should have.. being that it's true and all

CLICK HERE

[_ph1ux_]

It looks like your terrorist network is not optimized!!!!

!!!CLICK HERE TO SPEED UP YOUR TERRORIST NETWORK!!!

Manage your Cell Remotely, call in bomb threats via VOIP!, remotely detonate your operatives!!

ACT NOW! and get four pounds of C4 FREE!!!!

Re:CLICK HERE

[TonyMillion]

Is there a criminal using this computer?
Are you sure?

Criminals block ads?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh my! So you mean that criminals *should* block ads? I thought ad blockers *were* criminals?

At least, they're criminals if you believe some ... :)

Bonzi Agent?

[mikezero]

i wonder if the fbi is also going to try to incorporate a purple fuzzy animal to sit on the criminals' desktops?

Lycos should come out with a new game...

[craenor]

based on this for their game site....Escape from Levenworth.

Re:fp!

[Anonymous Coward]

2 minutes late and you still think you got fp?

And how does lycos benefit?

[Modern Fix]

Does the government just push their way towards an agreement, or does the lycos get something in return? do shareholders have any say in matters like this (that seem pretty important)?

The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[swm]

The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger (his testimony would be too embarrasing), so they are posting wanted ads in a medium (web banner ads) that is known not to work.

It all makes sense.

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[Qrlx]

I'm ignorant, who is this guy and why would finding him be too embarrasing? Does he have proof that Osama is dead?

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[epsen]

Well I think the thought is good, but I agree that it won't be any effective.

Don't know about the rest of you, but after som years of surfing, banner ads are starting to hit my blind spot on my eye. I hardly notice what the banners are trying to tell me unless they occupy at least 75% of my screen :-) Mozilla has a nice option to prevent Javascript for opening windows too :-P

And even if my brain catch a criminal's image, I probably will never believe it if I see him in real life.

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[ArthurDent]

Where is the +1 Would Be Funny If It Weren't So Sad moderation???

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[ArthurDent]

It turns out the FBI allowed Bulger to have free reign in a lot of areas in exchange for some bits of intel here and there. Up here in Boston, it's a big deal. The FBI is taking a lot of heat from Congress especially to update how it handles informants.

Ben

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[dreamt]

He was a mob boss in Boston who was tipped off to run by a corrupt FBI agent, or something to that effect. Read the article and follow the link

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[Anonymous Coward]

More than that, most of his friends and close "business associates" seemed to get killed during the period while he was protected as an informant. Police investigations leading to him kept getting stonewalled.

Try this: the search for whitey bulger

Oh, and did you know his brother was speaker of the Massachusetts Senate at the time?

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[e_lehman]

I'm ignorant, who is this guy and why would finding him be too embarrasing?

James Bulger was the leader of the Boston mob for quite a few years and, at the same time, an FBI informant. However, as it turns out, he was running his FBI handlers rather than the other way around. In effect, the FBI kept Bulger out of jail while he murdered and extorted merrily along for years. His main handler, fomer FBI agent John Connolly was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison. But plenty more FBI agents were involved. Futher complicating matters, James Bulger's brother-- William Bulger-- was the dictatorial ruler of the Massachusetts senate at the time and currently heads the state university system. In the last couple weeks, we've learned that William has been in touch with his fugitive brother and urged him NOT to turn himself in. William just recently took the 5th when forced to testify before Congress on the matter.

So this is a very messy case. Likely the FBI is using this initiative in part to dispel the notion that they don't really want to catch James Bulger for fear of further embarassment.

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[Spasemunki]

Whitey started life as a thug in South Boston's Winter Hill Gang, an Irish organized crime ring. He agreed to turn informant for the FBI in exchange for protection from prosecution and other favors. The FBI agents charged with handling his case were both enamored of him; one of them had grown up in Southie idolizing him as a local hero, and the other was following his bosses lead.

Whitey largely provided information of dubious value to the FBI, but his handlers continued to hype him as the most valuable informant in the Boston FBI system. They protected him from prosecution numerous times, and in at least one case refused to give any kind of warning to a witness that Whitey and his associates later killed. Bulger was shielded from multiple murder investigations, as well as a number of associated crimes.

Most importantly, most of the information that Whitey gave the Feds regarded the Italian mafia that was operating in Boston's North End at the time. The FBI moved in and largely wiped out the Italian Mafia- giving Whitey's Winter Hill gang the opportunity to take over all of Boston's organized crime. Whitey then systematically eliminated his rivals in Southie, and effectively made himself underworld king of Boston- with the FBI doing a lot of his dirty work, thanks to helpful "tips" regarding criminals that he wanted out of his way.

Finally, one of the FBI agents assigned to the case had an attack of conscience, and the whole story began to emerge. Whitey bolted, and no one has been able to find him since. The past several years in Boston, not a day goes by that there isn't a story about Whitey; sightings from Maine to Mexico, and periodic excavations of isolated fields where victims of his spree are allegedly buried. The scandal tore the Boston FBI office to pieces, and was one of the biggest black eyes that the Feds have received in recent years

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[Anonymous Coward]

I modded you up, but I wanted to add one thing. In addition to warning Bulger about Mass State Police bugs and threats from rival gangsters Connolly et al framed Joseph Salvati for a Bulger/Flemmi (Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi) murder. Flemmi's brother Vincent was the actual trigger man.

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[ceo]

Bulger wasn't the boss of the local Mafia, if that's what you mean by "the Boston mob". He was boss of a mostly-Irish gang unrelated to the Mafia, but was in a position to give the FBI lots of information on them. The Boston FBI office got a wee bit overzealous in their pursuit of the Mafia, and pretty much gave Bulger and his gang free reign in order to protect this valuable informant, to the point of obstructing state investigations of him and tipping him off in 1995 that he was about to be indicted, enabling him to flee.

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[mthed]

Oh that Whitey. As a former Bostonian and alumn of UMASS, I'm pulling for the guy. Go Whitey! He's way stealthier than that Waldo chump.

Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger

[jonnystiph]

I think a lot of this information has already been divuleged in a book entitled "The Black Mass". A very good read.

Why Terra Lycos stopped expanding

[jki]

With a presence in 42 countries and in 19 languages, Terra Lycos is known for the worldwide scope of its Web presence

...never hire a Douglas Adams fan to plan a company's globalization strategy ;) 42.

Re:Why Terra Lycos stopped expanding

[Anonymous Coward]

coincidently... 14*3=42...

The Genealogy of Christ

1:1 This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

1:2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 1:3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah (by Tamar), Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 1:4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 1:5 Salmon the father of Boaz (by Rahab), Boaz the father of Obed (by Ruth), Obed the father of Jesse, 1:6 and Jesse the father of David the king.

David was the father of Solomon (by the wife of Uriah3), 1:7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 1:8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 1:9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 1:10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 1:11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

1:12 After the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 1:13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 1:14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, 1:15 Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 1:16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, fourteen generations.

Re:Why Terra Lycos stopped expanding

[martyn s]

-1; painfully unfunny

Re:Why Terra Lycos stopped expanding

[Marcus Brody]

Oh deary me....
hey, but wait... Maybe he is on to something:

With a presence in 42 countries and in 19 languages

Which is the point that every one else on this thread has missed: Lycos has a global reach. Yeah, sure, the feds have advertised in Boston and the States - but do you seriously think that Whitey would have remained around for someone to spot him on the street? Here in the UK, I have never heard of him (although I have heard of James Bulger, a british criminal of sorts) - Whitey could be my next door neighbour.

But next time I visit lycos (unklikely...), and I see the banner ad:

"America's most wanted: If you see this man

: -)

you could win a million dollars"

Then yeah, I might pay attention

Re:Why Terra Lycos stopped expanding

[Captain Large Face]

...although I have heard of James Bulger, a british criminal of sorts)

James Bulger? A criminal? Are you sure you're not terribly mistaken?

For non-UK readers, James Bulger was also the name of a two year old, murdered by two ten year olds in Bootle, Merseyside in 1993. The case was, understandably, front page news for a long time in the British press.

Re:Why Terra Lycos stopped expanding

[President Chimp Toe]

doh

thanks for clearing that up.....

was getting confused - thought he was one of the child murderers, not the murdered child!

And...?

[Hadean]

So they're buying Wanted posters which has been done a million times before - what's the big deal - it's digital? ooh, it's the net! It only makes sense - more eyes, more chances to catch someone... But I've seen legitimate Have You Seen This Person? type ads on the net, so why not Wanted Dead or Alive ads?

Re:And...?

[Jonny Ringo]

Shit, this is a dismal day for Jonny Ringo. I'm no huckleberry!

If this banner is flashing...

[I-man]

you may have won an anthrax stockpile! Click here to claim your prize!

Re:In soviet russia

[Kibo]

Criminals use ad banners to find YOU!

Considering where my uncle's credit card number ended up, that might qualify as insightful.

Fight terrorism.

[Anonymous Coward]

Report your all Muslim neighbors to the department of Homeland Security.

Does anyone still read banners??

[HamNRye]

I have to say that as I trawl the web, I have simply stopped looking at ad banners. I get the general shape, peripherially notice some flashing or wahtever, and I ignore it.

Perhaps the FBI should use the dude's mug shot as a /. topic icon, I'd see it then...

Mafia: Give us money or we send in guys to beat you up.
Government: Give us 28% of your income and do exactly as we say, or we send in guys to take you to jail, sieze all your property and assets, put your wife and children on the street, and then let guys in jail beat you up and gang rape you.

Hooray for crime bosses!

~Hammy

Amazing...

[Alethes]

And people always thought I was paranoid about doubleclick.net being able to find out my real name and address.

Re:Amazing...

[Anonymous Coward]

Um, we still think you are paranoid about that.

Re:For once I agree with you.

[Anonymous Coward]

sporks-r-us is shitty. please explain.

In Soviet Russia...

[Anonymous Coward]

...stupid, no-longer-funny posts are annoyed by YOU!

What kind of an HREF?

[silvaran]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/345/region/FBI_sig ns_first_of_its_kind_de:.shtml
I_dunno_about_you_ guys_but_I_prefer_shorter_links_ on_boston_daily_news.html

s/_/ /g

Re:What kind of an HREF?

[niftyeric]

This == this when it comes to clicking. So what is the big deal? Not like you're typing it out.

=P

My sig sez it all ...

[bizitch]

He should follow Tony's advice ...

sorry..

[Alethes]

Boy, I totally misread that. I'll RTFA next time, I promise.

FBI Ads

[thinkliberty]

They'll never advertise on Slashdot.

They know everyone that reads it never leaves their basement.

Misleading headline

[AntiFreeze]

Disclaimer: This is not an attempt at humor (seriously).

From the headline, I thought that the FBI was attempting to track criminals through the use of banner ads (i.e. use something embedded in the ads to track those who view them). Although it seems like a very hard thing to pull off - how would you track a criminal with the data you'd collect anyway?

And then I thought about the recent article Because Only Terrorists User 802.11 and got very worried about my ability to block popups via Mozilla or hosts.deny. I was afraid of the headline "Because Only Criminals and Terrorists Block Popup Ads to Avoid Detection".

Oh well, thank god the article clarified that. The article states that the FBI will basically putting up wanted posters as ads to help find the criminal they're after. That, I don't have a problem with.

Re:Misleading headline

[jdreed1024]

From the headline, I thought that the FBI was attempting to track criminals through the use of banner ads (i.e. use something embedded in the ads to track those who view them).

Amen to that. I was already formulating my "Big Brother strikes again" response, until halfway through the article, I realized that it's no different from the handbills in the Post Office or "America's Most Wanted".

However, if you're suggesting that Slashdot editors create sensationalist headlines, that's hardly something new.

*braces self for loss of Karma due to this comment*

Re:Misleading headline

[haa...jesus christ]

i kinda got that vibe too, a la the simpsons episode where homer has 'won' a free boat and is tricked into coming to the police station, where he is promptly arrested for overdue parking tickets.

Re:Misleading headline

[AntiFreeze]

Eh, the headline was 100% accurate. But take the headline with some of the other news we've been recieving through slashdot lately and it comes out completely different. Accurate. But misleading.

That is all.

Re:Misleading headline

[zurab]

I was afraid of the headline "Because Only Criminals and Terrorists Block Popup Ads to Avoid Detection".

Oh well, thank god the article clarified that. The article states that the FBI will basically putting up wanted posters as ads to help find the criminal they're after. That, I don't have a problem with.

OK, next issue:

Because if you block [pop-up] banner ads, you are supporting terrorists.

On another note, I would think Terra Lycos would get a cut from the reward money if the guy is caught from a tip submitted through clicking one of the ads.

Re:Misleading headline

[Anonymous Coward]

The article states that the FBI will basically putting up wanted posters as ads to help find the criminal they're after. That, I don't have a problem with.

Me neither, I'd rather see some stupid "have you seen this man" than another one of those fucking monkeys to punch.

What I don't understand is why anyone would jump to the conclusion that they'll try and track someone down via a banner ad - that was the conclusion I jumped to when I read the headline, but five seconds thought dismissed that idea as impossible.

What are they going to do, put "if you are this man, click here, you've won a prize!"? I needed clarification from the article to make sense of the headline, but noone should imagine such a bizarre conclusion could be valid.

Re:Misleading headline

[Virtex]

What are they going to do, put "if you are this man, click here, you've won a prize!"?

Right on, brother! Too many criminals are without internet access for something like that to work.

I'll turn him in on one condition

[teamhasnoi]

I want my referral bonus!

Wanted : hemos

[Anonymous Coward]

Hemos is wanted for kidnapping and raping tacos wife! $1000 reward for info!

Sounds familiar....

[Shawn Baumgartner]

Wiggum: If you've committed a crime, and want to confess, click "Yes". Otherwise, click "No".

[Homer clicks on "No"]

Wiggum: You have chosen "No", meaning you've committed a crime, but don't want to confess. A paddy wagon is now speeding to your home.

Homer: Hey!!

Wiggum: While you wait, why not buy a police cap or T-shirt. [T-shirts and baseball caps with the SPD logo circle Wiggum's head] You have the right to remain fabulous!

Re:Sounds familiar....

[bje2]

another good one is where the springfield police run the "you've won a free boat" scam, to catch dead-beats (including Homer)...

Uh oh

[Anonymous Coward]

This is all a clever scheme! Soon the FBI will start taking about how "Blocking ads supports terrorism"

NO!

Why......

[Anonymous Coward]

Is the FBI looking for Fatty Bolger? Are they in league with Sauron?

IN SOVIET EKROUT

[Anonymous Coward]

Federal Bureau of Investigation Home Page
FBI Responds to Report Issued Today. ... The Committee's recommendations set forth
areas where the FBI can improve upon its domestic intelligence abilities. ...
www.fbi.gov/homepage.htm - 16k - Dec. 12, 2002 - Cached - Similar pages

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Uniform Crime Reports
Hate Crime Statistics: ...
Description: Crime statistics for the US for the years 1995-2000.
Category: Society>Crime
www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm - 17k - Dec. 12, 2002 - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from www.fbi.gov ]

Internet Fraud Complaint Center
The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) is a partnership between the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C ...
www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp - 7k - Dec. 12, 2002 - Cached - Similar pages

FBI - Freedom of Information Act - Introduction
In early 1975, the FBI assigned a handful of employees the task of handling an anticipated
influx of Freedom of Information Act requests due to new legislation ...
Description: Transcripts of FBI cases which may be of interest to the public.
Category: Society>Issues>Terrorism>ArticlesandRepor ts
foia.fbi.gov/ - 9k - Cached - Similar pages

TRAC: FBI Site - Comprehensive, independent, and nonpartisan ...
Your source for comprehensive independent, and nonpartisan information about
FBI. ... . FBI National Profile & Trends Over Time A good place to begin! ...
trac.syr.edu/tracfbi/ - 9k - Dec. 12, 2002 - Cached - Similar pages

Delay
The FBI Tips Form has moved. It is now located at https://tips.fbi.gov.
you will be forwarded automatically in 5 seconds. if you ...
Description: Reports of confirmed or suspected terrorist activity can be directed to this site.
Category: Regional>NorthAmerica>...>Government>LawEnforcemen t
https://www.ifccfbi.gov/complaint/terrorist.asp - 1k - Dec. 12, 2002 - Cached - Similar pages

Top Finds
www.fbi.com/ - 1k - Cached - Similar pages

FBI - Hopkins FBI Official Web Site - FBI
Hopkins Fbi is a great adventure game . Having a ... a thriller. Version
Française du site visitors currently on Hopkins FBI site. ...
Description: Includes game story, information, and downloads for Linux and Windows.
Category: Games>VideoGames>...>GraphicalAdventures>HopkinsFB I
www.hopkinsfbi.com/ - 7k - Cached - Similar pages

National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) - Home Page
link - www.nipc.gov, ...
Description: A joint FBI and private sector office charged with protecting US network and computer infrastructures...
Category: Society>Issues>Terrorism>CyberTerrorism
www.nipc.gov/ - 20k - Dec. 12, 2002 - Cached - Similar pages

FBI Jobs
The FBI. It is like no other career choice you've explored. ... Whatever your background
or expertise, you will find an FBI future exceptionally rewarding. ...
www.fbijobs.com/ - 8k - Dec. 12, 2002 - Cached - Similar pages

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Update to hosts file...

[swordboy]

127.0.0.1 criminals.doubleclick.net

What's Next?

[Nevermore-Spoon]

Will they soon be sending out the messenger service popup adds to windows users desktops like that annoying University?
Or maybe send unsolicied Spam asking if you've seen this man?

Uh oh!

[Eric(b0mb)Dennis]

Just wait until the FBI starts talking about how "Blocking ads support terrorism"

Here it comes... 5 4 3 2 1...

Re:Uh oh!

[Lord Omlette]

You're not running AdSubtract, Webwasher, Proximitron, Junk Buster, etc. w/ out Federal Approval, are you? Because only thieves surf the web w/out downloading the advertisements used to fund web sites. And there can be no doubt that these thieves use their ill gotten gain to fund terrorism.

ARGH!!! RTFA!!

[EschewObfuscation]

OK, OK, I know that the lead-in blurb was a little misleading, but come on, people.

1) The FBI is not using cookies to hunt down the suspect.

2) The FBI isn't paying for the banners.

3) Prof^H^H^H^H The "clerk" example in the article is *not* the suspect, but rather someone who might have seen the suspect.

Somehow, I think that G. Cooke, Tx, would give this whole set of threads a very poor review...

blocking banners: thief or hero?

[jpt.d]

An angle that entered my mind:

The website owner might say theft, but if you block the ad that you wouldn't actually buy from anyways - aren't you saving money for the advertiser to advertise to somebody that might be interested?

I think this post's title should have been...

[FFCecil]

"Ad Banners Finally Have a Purpose"
from the other-than-causing-epilepsy dept.

Bulgar takes the fifth

[SpinyNorman]

What's really interesting about this isn't that the FBI is using banner ads, but rather why they have to...

The guy they're seeking, #10 on the most wanted list, and suspected of 21 murders, is the brother of the president of the University of Massachusetts, who just plead the 5th to keep his dear brother safe.

Bulgar takes the fifth

Great to see the head of an institute of learning take such a principled stand. Not.

Re:Bulgar takes the fifth

[Bobman1235]

Great to see the head of an institute of learning take such a principled stand. Not.

It's his brother. Morals and ethics don't mean sh*t when you're talking about family. If you would rat out your own brother, regardless of his faults, then I certainly pity your family. No, I don't condone murder or harboring of criminals, but I have to say that I would make an exception to damn near any rule to protect someone in my bloodline. Must be the Sicilian in me acting up.

Re:Bulgar takes the fifth

[SpinyNorman]

There's got to be some point at which you draw the line! Would I rat out a family member for something like stealing, or peddling drugs? No. For cold blooded murder (never mind 21 counts)? Yes.

Re:Bulgar takes the fifth

[Qrlx]

I would make an exception to damn near any rule to protect someone in my bloodline. Must be the Sicilian in me acting up.

Plenty of people DO rat out their family members.

The Unabomber was caught after The Feds decided to "negotiate with terrorists" i.e. publish his Manifesto in several major newspapers. Then his brother recognized the text as the same sort of stuff his crazy brother was always talking about, and quietly contacted the FBI.

More recently, the Smiley Face Bomber (my favorite bomber ever, BTW) was caught in part because his dad recongnized the phrase "mailboxes are exploding!" from a letter that his son had sent shortly before the mailboxes started exploding. Dad alerted the authorities.

I'm sure there are counter-examples, but blood ties are not always so strong. Some people hate their families, after all.

On to point #2, back to the grandparent. The Fifth Amendment is a good thing. It keeps you from being compelled to testify against yourself. The older method under English law, where you were crushed to death with huge weights (not sure if they said 16 Tons) if you refused to testify, will probably be used in those military tribunal things.

Re:Bulgar takes the fifth

[Dirtside]

I find it hard to believe that someone would honestly not report his own brother for murder, but blanches at typing the word "shit" in a public forum. I think you need to reassess your own moral code, pal. (Man, I'm saying that a lot today.)

Re:Bulgar takes the fifth

[Anonymous Coward]

It is. If a guy would sell out hois own brother to protect his political career then he'd just be proving he was slimy enough to keep his job.

Re:Bulgar takes the fifth

[Anonymous Coward]

If my brother murdered 21 people not only would I rat him out, but I would volunteer to pull the lever.

Re:Bulgar takes the fifth

[taxman_10m]

Since when is UMass an institution of learning?

Re:Bulgar takes the fifth

[anto]

I may just be a back-would Australian but isn't the 5th amendment primary focused at allowing a witness to not self-incriminate (a concept I just don't get but...)

So Bulgar is claiming (by taking the 5th) that he will be incriminating himself should be disclose what he knows about his cute little brother. Which doesn't partially surprise me aiding & abetting a known suspect and all.

Or do I have it all wrong?

Re:Bulgar takes the fifth

[fenix down]

Not much in the way of blood ties here on /. it seems. I could see helping out the cops if he was still running around killing people, but it looks like he retired. He's like 70. It's not like he's gonna live too long anyway. I'm with the guy's brother for these circumstances. Maybe this is just some wierd Italian thing.

Hm. I just noticed that the article says 21 murders, but the FBI says only 18. Maybe they're lumping the conspiracy charges in or something.

Re:Bulgar takes the fifth

[SpinyNorman]

Yep - that's what he's supposedly afraid of, but he could certainly plea bargain to get off anything they might want to charge him with, so it's really nothing more than just wanting to protect his murderer brother.

RTFA: Lycos is not being paid

[Hamstaus]

I've seen numerous comments from people who obviously did not read the article. Lycos is not being paid for showing these ad banners, they are doing it because they want to help.

From the article:

Terra-Lycos spokesman Brian Payea said the company wasn't being paid for the service. ''We're committed to providing important services to our community and we feel it was a very worthwhile effort,'' he said.

Sheesh.

Got Milk???

[The Jonas]

This will probably be about as effective as a "Face on the Back of a Milk Carton." More countries have moo-juice than those that have Terra Lycos.

Re:In soviet russia

[CaptainPsyko]

Criminals use ad banners to find YOU!
Actually, they do that in the US. Some lead offenders go by the names of Gator, Doubleclick, and Clickthrough.

Of course, the bulk of their empire is built on pornography and music theft, but they are always looking to expand.

Let's just hope

[Lazarus_Bitmap]

Nobody confuses them with those annoying ads for online dating services.

6'2", dark hair, enjoys dismembering small bunnies.

Re:Let's just hope

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking of which:

http://www.jailbabes.com/home.db
Eastern Region Babe
"I am open, honest, funny and I never stop reaching for the stars. I enjoy fishing, camping, shooting pool, the beach, boating cooking and dancing. I am seeking a single, open minded, honest, financially secure male who can relate to my interests and who will..." More...

http://www.jaildudes.com/home.db
Teddy Bear Dude
"I am very easy going, soft hearted, open minded, adventurous, sincere and athletic. I enjoy camping, traveling, sailing, romantic outings, photography, music (I play the Sax) reading, movies and enjoys dismembering small animals. I am a..." More...

first prototype poster

[ubugly2]

http://home.bluemarble.net/~trustno1/wanted.jpg

I would rather the headline read

[JeanBaptiste]

FBI to treat Ad Banners as Criminals

just wishful thinking i guess

White noise, anyone?

[privacyt]

From the article: ''It might simply be a clerk in a grocery store bagging groceries, goes home that night, gets on the Internet and says, 'you know, I think I saw that person bagging groceries today,''' U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said during a news conference in Boston on Wednesday morning.

Given that Bulger looks like most other balding white men in their 50s, the FBI may get thousands of false leads now. I also feel sorry for American expatriates living in Latin America, who will be faced with having to "prove" they aren't a fugitive.

Bulger, if he's smart (which is probably is), would have radically altered his appearance so that he no longer resembles the wanted poster.

All a criminal investigator really can do is sit back, be patient, and wait for the criminal to make a mistake. If Bulger ever calls his brother or an old friend or girlfriend on Christmas, for example, he's busted.

This wanted poster thing smacks of desperation on the FBI's part, which I'm sorry to see.

Re:White noise, anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

If Bulger was smart, he would not have killed and extorted for a living..

Duh!

Re:White noise, anyone?

[privacyt]

Sadly, high intelligence != good morals. Kenneth Lay and John Poindexter are both extremely intelligent but have the morals of a tick.

Terra Lycos....

[ksheka]

...Yeah. As if google and yahoo aren't known worldwide.

I guess if you add that they're known to caving in to imperialist governments...

yay!

[frotty]

Next the FBI will buy "spamvertisements" and send out this info from

slutty_FBI_baby_2009ERJKAWJEKAIOSZ@yahoo.com

Please Cum and Help Arrest This Man ...... X9299J

Hi, I'm Federal Agent Kitten, nearly illegal :)
Please cum by to my new webpage and look at my sexy fugitive pics I took by myself with my new webcam! It's 100% to watch them be naughyt on my webcam! Click Here!

click here to be removed

KFf0iL xHSjUmyX ...... why not? It'd probably work just as well

C'mon now...

[unicorn]

It's hard enough to get someone to read something directly quoted on /.

You don't really expect someone to follow further links too, do you? Talk about optimism.

Rallying cry:

[Anonymous Coward]

"Click Whitey!"

I R0X0R!

[Anonymous Coward]

Firstus postus, beeeeotchiii!
Bow down and worship my bombastic jingoism!




pleeeeeease?!!!

Everyone has to

[Archfeld]

eat, and where else would a person on the run who can't use a legal SS# or identity work, but a low end job, no offense to any retail clerks out there, I was one during school too.

Wonder if we could write this guy in on the NHL all star ballot :)

wanted photo

[towaz]

I'm sure the fbi person who altered the persons photo with photoshop went a little too far....

http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/bul ge r.htm

.

Whitey Bulger?

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't he playing quarterback for the Rams?

Why now?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why are they so keen on getting their hands on Bulger now? He's only been on the run since, like, 1995. I wonder if he's been up to no good lately.

Which, interestingly, is the same year that the president of my university, former Mass politician, and brother-to-Whitey, William Bulger spoke with him...

Obligatory Business Plan..

[Cap'n Canuck]

1) Figure out how you can hack into Lycos' criminal database and replace pictures of FBI Most Wanted criminals.
2) Advertise services to underworld.
3) ????
4) Profit!

This is a Boston thing

[DeadSea]

Bulger is a Boston mobster. He's been on the news constantly here in Boston for the last couple decades.

Lycos is a Boston based company. Their offices are on Totten Pond Rd. in Waltham, MA, just outside of Boston.

So now it can officially be said

[stinky wizzleteats]

If you block web advertisements, you are a terrorist.

It's a bargain

[TopShelf]

In the article, it states that Lycos isn't being paid for this - sure, that's probably because this is a trial of the idea, but going forward this is a pretty cheap way to get the word out...

Re:It's a bargain

[surprise_audit]

They may not being paid money... How about, "we know some bad stuff about you, let's see if we can make a deal..."

Disclaimer: No, I don't know if that happened. I'm just speculating out loud like 10K other Slashdot readers do.

BIG BROTHER again......

[domenic v1.0]

Just another way for the FBI to track your movements, see who you are and log your IP's, etc, etc...I think that they hope these terrorists will actually click on the banners and expose thierselves in the open via the net and potentially get caught. I think its just another big brother tool...use with caution!

Re:BIG BROTHER again......

[MrLint]

well thanks for the kneejerk there, lets get down to brass tacks. There is already plenty of things going around that the fbi is already spying on you (see carnivore), this would a silly and stupid approach to 'watch' people. Now the other half of this is that assuming the govt had the technology to spy on anyone via the internet anywhere then they would have caught all of those terriroists using the internet. which they havent caught them *or* have chosen not to. But remember the govt has already passed laws to monitor every US financial transation already. How about we focus on the *real* govt actions, and not imagine new ones.

Re:BIG BROTHER again......

[Atzanteol]

You're either a moron, or just didn't read the article...

Actually, you could be both!

Reads Like a Press Release

[Anonymous Coward]

No not the linked artical, phuckedups post. Does he work in public relations?

Cookies

[Anonymous Coward]

When I first saw the title about the FBI using Ads to track criminals, my first thought was that they were taking advantage of all the profiling that banner ad companies do (and those personally identifiable cookies they end up with) and using them to track the criminals with. But (fortunetly?) it seems the FBI isn't that clever

Sure

[jellomizer]

I look at Banner Adds and if it is something I am instered in then I will click on it. I much rather have banner adds on the top of the page then having PopUps and Spam. So even if the PopUp was interesting I would not buy or click on it. But Click on those Banner Adds and make the point that Banner Adds are profitable and worth While compared to Popups and Spam. But for The most wanted it is a good way to keep the information available and make a person think. Hey let me check this picture out. And perhaps help take a dangerous person off the streets.

Less spam from terra.es?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does this mean that the kid porn spam out of terra.es sites will finally stop?

Re:ARGH!!! RTFA!!

[imadork]

1) The FBI is not using cookies to hunt down the suspect.

Of course not. Everryone knows that donuts work better. Mmmm, Donuts!

Finally, a better solution...

[asdfx]

This will be much better than those silly posters at the post office. If he's not in line at the post office, they are pretty much out of luck... until now! "Hey, that hot 30y/or from tampa that emailed me his pic looks a lot like that pop-up that mozilla blocked before I could look at it."

Worth a try, anyway. :-)

Why doesn't everyone combine forces?

[dmomo]

The solution is obvious.

FBI purchases $5 million worth of X10 wireless cams to use in the hunt for Whitey. This way, we see fewer Ads, X10 sells some cameras (other than for use as a wireless choo-choo cam), and the FBI comes closer to thinking they are gonna nab bulger.

Wow, I can just imagine these ads spreading from busting a mob leader to fighting terror. If they can't trick us into clicking, they will implicate us instead!!


"You're either with us, or against us. You're either clicking on Banner Ads, or you're clicking on terrorism. To block pop-ups is to block our crusade on evil"

Add this line to your hosts file...

[Weaselmancer]

127.0.0.1 ads.lycos.com

...and go to jail for obstructing justice and interfering with a criminal investigation.

God, I love the internet. So many new and interesting ways to get arrested.

Weaselmancer

new Pop-up

[Anonymous Coward]

***IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE FBI***

&&& Also, remember to sign up for
&&& your FREE hotmail acccount!

Click Me

[DSL-Admin]

So, now instead of winning a free trip, or getting to see Two Naked Horny Teen Co-Eds wrestle.. I'm going to get his ugly mug on a pop-up ad.... nice...

I'd be extremely worried about this

[Zog The Undeniable]

if I was a criminal with a small penis, looking for a cheaper mortgage, with a computer that was broadcasting my IP address and an unoptimized Internet connection.

But I'm not, so that's OK.

Have you seen me?

[teknofile]

I can see it now "Have you seen me? I look like 127.0.0.1" printed on the back of AOL cd's.

This is familiar.

[racerx509]

Why does this remind me of minority report?

Have you seen this boy?

[Rimbo]

[insert picture of John Connor here] :)

Finally a good use for banners!

[Lobsang]

Granted: Most of us don't directly look at the banners at all. But you always take a quick glance at them. Why not use the same idea to find missing children?

Re:Finally a good use for banners!

[cascadingstylesheet]

Why not use the same idea to find missing children?

Well, it's not exactly a banner, but check out the redish button:

http://www.michigan.gov/fia

Chief Wiggam's web page:

[Anonymous Coward]

"if you have committed a crime and wish to turn yourself in click yes.... if not, click no"....
"you have selected no.... which means you have committed a crime but do not wish to turn yourself in ......"

Speculation = False

[Anonymous Coward]

Any detective that speculates such an idea is promoting evil.

"Do unto others as you would do unto yourself."

Should I disrespect the District Attorney's job as he just disrespected people that work in grocery stores? Let me be as he was with my question (doh-duh-dee)...Who's job is more beneficial: District Attorney or Grocery Store; costly government service versus beneficial productivity-producting private business?

Don't correct me, what's next as a comparison? You know, I just happened to see that Amish guy walking down the street...Amish never go to school past the 8th grade by law and I think his beard looked just as one of those muslim terrorists. I will violate that Amish man's 5th and 10th Constitutional rights by questioning him for a crime he JUST MAY soon probably commit.

Re:Speculation = False

[CommieOverlord]

Umm. How exactly did the D.A. disrespect the grocery store workers? Either you can't read, or you're reading way too much into this.

"...an Irish organized crime ring."

[metamatic]

aka The Murphia?

Moderators on Crack! Who moderated you up?

[Anonymous Coward]

Increase your moderation accuracy with these herbal pills. Proven to work with exceedingly great results from our proving grounds at slashdot.org. Just punch the penguin and get 10% off your initial order!

Popup Windows Alert Dialog saying...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Windows has detected you are/have been involved in a crime. Do you want help to fix this?"

Where's Whitey?

[jpellino]

1. Nobody looks at these ads. Pop-ups, maybe.
2. They'd have better luck putting posters in every Dunkin Donuts from Saugus to Ptown (the day he made the most wanted the gal at the Bourne DD's swore to us that he was in there that very morning)
3. The only one who could safely turn him in is his own brother (high profile, public figure) and he won't, so this really is a wild goose chase.

Re:Where's Whitey?

[pmancini]

Being originally from Massachusetts and having lived near Winterhill myself, I wanted to chime in. Whitey is a notorious criminal who had managed to corrupt the FBI, literally get a way with murder, theft, assault and other crimes. He's not one of the good ones.

I don't think this will work as a general tool for crime fighting (America's Most Wanted will probably prove to be more successful for example) -- the point is, he most likely isn't in the United States. He's been seen in Mexico and South America. Wave a few million in reward money in US dollars and you will start to get some hits. Who knows. The criminal underworld down there my have to decide if they are more sympathetic to him than to some easy money selling him out.

Maybe they should (if it hasn't already happened) open a Dunkin' Donuts in Mexico City and see what happens... Just save me a Cruller, or is that El Crulleo?, for me.

More extreme uses

[evilviper]

Hmm, how about if they make a 'Wanted' banner with Amelia Earhart and Jimmy Hoffa? I'd love to hear from the 'clerk' that notices one of them is getting groceries... :-)

Then there's always Bigfoot, Nessie, et al.

I think it will work.

[cryptochrome]

The thing to remember is, this is not an ad for something, it's a wanted poster. And while people have become adept at ignoring banners, they're still there and people still see them. They're just not clicking on them, which is not that surprising since you'll probably see hundreds per day.

I'll bet you WOULD notice and pay attention if a picture of someone you knew popped up in front of your face. Recognition would be instantaneous and unexpected. And a lot of people will be seeing these. Certainly a lot more than watch America's Most Wanted, or the notices at the post office. If I were this guy, I'd lie low 'til the banners stop.

Is there...

[Dwedit]

So now we'll be seeing ad banners that say: "Is there *forensic evidence* on your hard drive?"

If you block ad's

[Anonymous Coward]

you are stealing and with the terrorists.

To be sure, anyone who block ads, must have something to hide and deserves further investigation!

Scary conspiracy angle

[TheConfusedOne]

Now, if the FBI is going to use Ads to track down criminals and terrorists will ad blocking software become illegal?

I can see the campaign now...
"Only criminals, terrorists, and the people who don't want to help find them use ad blocking software."

Re:Scary conspiracy angle

[zztzed]

Now, if the FBI is going to use Ads to track down criminals and terrorists will ad blocking software become illegal?

Yeah, just like ignoring wanted posters and those "have you seen this child" mailings has been made illegal.

Re:Scary conspiracy angle

[TheConfusedOne]

My bad.

I forgot to flip the irony bit to make my point more clear.

That's it for the post office

[ProgressiveCynic]

The last useful function they served has now been usurped.

A better question

[Quixadhal]

Why would someone who is bagging groceries be wanted for 21 murders? Could their job be less than fulfilling?

double-click

[Rambo, John J.]

Let's hope the FBI doesn't use doubleclick.net servers or most of the mozilla users won't see it.

america's most wanted

[johnpaul191]

i actually saw it for the first time in a long time this last week (while working on a webpage) and they said something about having a hand in helping capturing over 700 people..... they also do/did that show "manhunt" or whatever it was called that was a bio kinda thing on one criminal that was 30 or 60 minutes. the only one of those i ever saw was the one on Ira Einhorn..... how was captured in France a few years ago and just retried in Philadelphia (for a murder in the 70s) earlier this year.

i'm sure most watchers are just staying tuned after COPS and not thinking they are going to hunt down somebody, but i guess they have made the stories interesting enough for that show to last 15 years or however long it has been on.

So Now...

[Amazing Quantum Man]

Not only are we thieves if we block banner ads, but now we're aiding terrorists too! And by the Bush Doctrine, that makes us Evil Terrorists(tm) as well!

probably still in southie

[Anonymous Coward]

I lived in south boston in '96/97 while going to college in the city. I had the misfortune of getting mixed up with some of the local kids. I found out one kid's dad was a drug dealer and he mentioned that his dad worked for whitey. I knew at the time that he was underground, so jokingly I asked "have you ever met whitey?" not expecting to get much of an answer. He just looked at me and totally nonchalantly said "I just had Thanksgiving dinner with him" (this took place in dec '96) So he's probably still holed up in some church basement in southie.

how about this?

[WookieOnTheRun]

Wow banners? next we are gonna get better x10 popups! With the new x10 you can see your criminal... hiding up a skirt.

Attorneys and Hypocrisy

[billstewart]

"It might simply be an informant you've been working with for years, goes home at night, gets on the Internet and says 'you know, I think that informant we've been covering for for years while he murdered his competition and tipped off that we might be about to indict him, and that we recently had to indict some of the FBI agents who helped cover it up, I wonder if he might be a mobster? Nah, let's try to distract people by holding a news conference about Internet ads.'", US Attorney Michael Sullivan carefully refrained from saying during the news conference.

Come down to this address to get your prize!

[billstewart]

Be sure to call us at 1-800-turn-u-in first so we'll have it ready for you!

Why there's a Fifth Amendment in the US

[billstewart]

Eighteenth-Century Britain had a popular investigative technique called "We'll keep torturing you until you confess". One of the traditional methods was to keep piling heavy rocks on the accused until he either confessed or died; I've forgotten which defiant holdout's last words were "More weight!". This sort of thing wasn't a new invention of the time, and the Brits weren't the only people who used it (nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition...), and it was more popularly used on political enemies, accused heretics and witches, and people who had "accomplices" on whom it was desired that they should rat, rather than on common criminals, who usually had the sense to confess or frame someone else, especially since they were often actually guilty of something. That's the main reason for the Fifth Amendment. That doesn't mean we've totally abandoned the practice - cops still beat people up or threaten to do things to them or their families - but it's certainly reduced the problem, and at least it's a rare illegal event in the back room rather than a common event on the courtroom floor.

American jurisprudence also has a bunch of 1960s practices like the Exclusionary Rule and the Miranda Warning which say that courts can't admit evidence that was acquired improperly, whether it was from beating prisoners until they confess, illegally searching homes without warrants, or getting warrants by lying to judges, or lying to prisoners about the law when they don't have lawyers to advise them. Again, it didn't totally eliminate abuses, but the traditional example for its effectiveness is that the year before the Exclusionary Rule, police in New York City didn't bother getting any search warrants - they just illegally searched anybody and any place they wanted to, while the year after the rule, they almost always got warrants when they needed them (even if they still lied about their evidence on occasion.)

Re:Why there's a Fifth Amendment in the US

[andfarm]

The 'defiant holdout' you're thinking of was Giles Corey, who was suspected of being a witch (er, wizard) in the Salem witch trials in 1692. The story goes that instead of either pleading guilty (which would have him killed for being a witch) or pleading innocent (which would have him killed for lying --- evidence from the accused was counted as untrustworthy), both of which would have left his property to others, he instead was 'pressed' to death, which allowed his descendants to keep his property.

A neat story.

So does this mean (probably redundant)

[Anonymous Coward]

That the FBI knows he frequents/used site X with non-session cookie Y.. based on weblogs he uses IE, IE has/had cookie bug that can be exploited with loading an image from a site with that URL encodes a period character tricking the browser into thinking the sub-domain is the domain of the host who set the cookie.. or maybe they know he's a speed freak and can't resist the opportunity to speed his computer up when a banner ad tells him his computer may not be optimized for the Internet

Re:manhunt...

[bobv-pillars-net]

they said something about having a hand in helping capturing over 700 people..... they also do/did that show "manhunt" or whatever it was called

Shades of Fahrenheit 451 (shudder!)

I don't know about you....

[GargoyleTS]

But everyone is now talking about terrorism in relation to this thread. Do people finally realize that terrorism is more than what makes the news? That its not only about blowing up buildings full of children, or driving a busload of chemical weapons into the heart of a city, but also is keeping a neighborhood or town or city in fear of you or your organization. That its about taking away the freedom to live in peace with those around us. I know it sounds off topic, but this is something I have grown sick of seeing in the media. They say America has finally joined the international community of countries to experience terrorism, but they don't realise we've been fighting it all along at home! Look at gang wars and you see multiple factions destroying property and lives for their "cause"! But because they don't fight for religion or against gov't, it wasn't "terrorism" it was just crime. I am sorry to have ranted for so long, but i do invite comment cause I want to know if anyone else feels the same. And one last thing, if pop-up killers are only used by criminals, why are they commercially available?

Ad blocking soon to be outlawed

[Minkey Brines]

Oh I got it now...

Block banner ads... Go to jail for obstructing justice.

Nice.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

If you block your ads...

[rmezzari]

...then the terrorists have won!

Last Post!

[alpg]

Plumbing is one of the easier of do-it-yourself activities,
requiring only a few simple tools and a willingness to stick your arm into a
clogged toilet. In fact, you can solve many home plumbing problems, such as
annoying faucet drip, merely by turning up the radio. But before we get
into specific techniques, let's look at how plumbing works.
A plumbing system is very much like your electrical system, except
that instead of electricity, it has water, and instead of wires, it has
pipes, and instead of radios and waffle irons, it has faucets and toilets.
So the truth is that your plumbing systems is nothing at all like your
electrical system, which is good, because electricity can kill you.
-- Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw"

- this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...