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FBI To Use Ad Banners to Find Criminals

Posted by chrisd on from the flash-popups-to-follow dept.

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."

14 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. Web Bugs? by Bonker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

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    1. Re:Web Bugs? by MisterFancypants · · Score: 2, Insightful
      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!

  2. The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger by swm · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  3. Re:Does anyone actually look at them? by NeuroKoan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

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    "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation."
  4. It's a bargain by TopShelf · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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...

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  5. Re:Bulgar takes the fifth by Bobman1235 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

  6. This is familiar. by racerx509 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why does this remind me of minority report?

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    13 year old white supremacists are shitty web designers.
  7. Finally a good use for banners! by Lobsang · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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?

  8. Re:Bulgar takes the fifth by Dirtside · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.)

    --
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  9. Where's Whitey? by jpellino · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

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    1. Re:Where's Whitey? by pmancini · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

  10. Re:White noise, anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful
    If Bulger was smart, he would not have killed and extorted for a living..

    Duh!

  11. Re:Misleading headline by AntiFreeze · · Score: 3, Insightful
    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.

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  12. Re:White noise, anyone? by privacyt · · Score: 2, Insightful

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