"Botnet" Stumps for Ron Paul, Researchers Allege

[tjwash]

First, "home made" signs that upon closer inspection are massed produced and showing up everywhere, and now this. Come to think of it, I have been spammed with a hell of a lot of "Paul For President" emails lately.

Wired.com article

If Texas congressman Ron Paul is elected president in 2008, he may be the first leader of the free world put into power with the help of a global network of hacked PCs spewing spam, according to computer-security researchers who've analyzed a recent flurry of e-mail supporting the long-shot Republican candidate.

"This is clearly a criminal act in support of a campaign, which has been committed with or without their knowledge," says Gary Warner, the University of Alabama at Birmingham's director of research in computer forensics. "The question is, will we see more and more of this, or will this bring shame to the campaigns and will they make clear that this is not a form of acceptable behavior by their supporters?" Warner pointed to provisions of the federal Can-Spam Act.

Ron Paul spokesman Jesse Benton says the campaign has no knowledge of the scam. Warner himself says that he has no reason to believe that the Paul campaign had anything to do with these messages.

Some participants in the online political world have long suspected Paul's technically sophisticated fan base of manipulating online tools and polls to boost the appearance of a wide base of support. But the UAB analysis is the first to document any internet shenanigans.

[Ian David]

1. I've noticed the Ron Paul signs are painted on Tyvek. n/t

[Ian David]

2. All Your Computers Are Belong to Paul! n/t

[ProgressiveFool]

7. Their in r base, lectin r przdent.

[lurky]

3. They thought it was the Chinese hacking our computers...

Turns out it was the Libertarians. :scared:

[baldguy]

4. Worse

Chinese Libertarians

:scared: :scared: :scared:

[lurky]

5. Come to think of it,

The system in China today is kind of like Mao's approach to political freedom combined with Ayn Rand's economic ideas. Scary indeed!

[yella_dawg]

6. Republicans using illegal tactics in a campaign?

Can't be.