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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."
and win a free wiretap!
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I am an expert in electricity. My father held the chair of applied electricity at the state prision.
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.
--
http://nemilar.net - Not your grandmother's soup kitchen
Now ad blocking is no longer just stealing, it's a violation of the good samaritan law. ;)
"''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?
If you can't beat them, embrace and extend them.
...you've won a free pardon! Click here!
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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.
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"Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong." --Dennis Miller
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!
Shawn
Because you gotta bitch
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...
(email addr is at acm, not mca)
We are Number One. All others are Number Two, or lower.
--The Sphinx
"Ad Banners Finally Have a Purpose"
from the other-than-causing-epilepsy dept.
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.
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