GOP Questions Newspaper's Role With 'MD4Bush'

WBAL TV ^ | 11/02/05 | Staff

[nunya bidness]

Newspaper Reveals Logging Into Internet User's Account

BALTIMORE -- The identity of an Internet user connected to the firing of a former gubernatorial aide remains a mystery. However, new disclosures from The Washington Post may shed light on how to solve the mystery.

The editor said that information came from someone associated with MD4Bush and that the reporter used it to log into MD4Bush's account several times before the story was published.

[conservative in nyc]

You beat me by two minutes.

[Cautor]

Bump. Very interesting.

[Dog]

Can I be added to your ping list?

[shadowman99]

Considering many of us weren't familiar with this story until today, and FR is getting major press, a WIKI would be useful.

[Mo1]

MD4Bush broke the agreement. FR should not have to protect him.

I agree

[conservative in nyc]

Nunya Bidness wrote a good explanation of the MD4Bush story here. Southack, Congressman Billybob and others have also written detailed explanations on other threads. And Backhoe has kept a master MD4Bush article list here.

[Califelephant]

The participation of the Washington Post makes this story exponentially more interesting than it would be otherwise. Their "journalistic ethics" (or more accurately the lack of them) are on display for all to see. With the problems the NYT has been having, the WaPo may be on the way to being the most influential paper in the country.

[Katya]

have you checked whether there's a rdoherty@meddems.org yet?

[Anti-Bubba182]

MDDDems Google Catch

[nunya bidness]

rdoherty@mddems.org has been wiped. It's still there if you use the Internet Wayback Machine.

[HAL9000]

MD4Bush broke the agreement. FR should not have to protect him.

The proper way to handle it is through the legal process.

Meanwhile, we can contemplate the prosecution of the Washington Post reporter for unauthorized use of a password and conspiracy charges.

[Dog Gone]

The WP may or may not get a black eye out of this, but I don't think it will be for logging into FR, even using someone else's ID. If they get a black eye, it will be for acting in cahoots with a Dem operative to ambush a GOP staffer in an entrapment scheme.

The login aspect to it is only a compenent of the overall picture. I imagine FR management has little fondness for the Washington Post after their earlier stunt, and they could make news at any time by confirming the identity of MD4Bush, which they could. We all know, but they could put the nail in the coffin.

One wonders how long the guilty will be left to squirm.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Co-worker walks away from workstation with an internet connection, with the browser logged in?... Could this point to a possible poster?

Alternatively, did someone perhaps scam a password at a Georgetown wi-fi hotspot? It's easy to forget how simple some of that sort of thing could be. If DNC activists could actually arrange to tape a cell phone of a conference call with Newt Gingrich ("on their way to the grocery store, in their car") it shouldn't be to hard for a determined Dem hacker to find a Freeper in Starbucks, and pirate their password.

But the simplest explanation might be - someone didn't log out?

I remember in college the way people who forgot to log out for a momentary break - were mercilessly abused. Mostly quick posts to newsgroups looking for some sort of remarkable encounter of the amorous variety. :)

Could this have been a more subtle / sophisticated of the "I'm looking for a date with a single poodle this weekend" sort of shenanigans with a logged on account, so many will remember (hopefully just seeing, laughing at someone else's misfortune)?...

Just a thought.

Remember to logout. Use a wired connection. Encrypt if you don't.

[Anti-Bubba182]

I don't think we can prosecute the WP for using a password
they were given. The most we could do, (If Jim and his Lawyers think it is the thing to do), is to disclose what FR
has logged on the MD4Bush name.

[conservative in nyc]

There has been a lot of speculation about how NCPAC's identity was outed - from simple good reporting using the tidbits of information he put on this site, to keystroke loggers, to a scorned and fired co-worker with whom NCPAC may have had a romantic relationship working in cahoots with the Maryland Democratic party, to deliberate shadowing of a political operative by political operatives.

The short answer is nine months after the original WaPo story broke, rank-and-file FReepers still don't know how NCPAC was outed. And we didn't know until yesterday that the Washington Post logged on as MD4Bush and had his password.

[HAL9000]

From the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act -

2701. Unlawful access to stored communications

2702. Disclosure of contents

[GUN TOTING TOAD KILLER]

The "postings" were FReepmails. You can't see FReepmails unless you log in. And the FReepmails were dumped on a public thread shortly before the Washington Post's article was published.

Right, I remember that thread and it was weird. I think there were several other threads that MD4Bush posted these freepmails into as well.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Never gonna happen.

[Palladin]

A word to the wise:

When someone you don't know well tries to engage you in the exchange of PM's or emails, watch out. This person may be trying to learn your identity for nefarious purposes.

I've had some trolls do this with me on FR, but I was ahead of their game.