State Of Alaska Threatens CrackHo After Confusing Redirect With Hijacking...

from the why-lawyers-should-have-some-tech-knowlege dept

Wed, May 13th 2009 1:57pm — Mike Masnick

It's always bad news when the technically illiterate start filing lawsuits over technology issues. A few folks have sent in the news that the state of Alaska, under Sarah Palin's governorship, has (we're not making this up) sent a cease and desist letter to the website CrackHo.com supposedly for hijacking a page from the state's website and using the official seal of Alaska without permission -- which the state claims violates both state laws (fines up to $500 or six months in prison) and federal copyright laws.

So what did the site CrackHo.com do to deserve this? Well, it simply redirected anyone who went to Crackho.com to Sarah Palin's website on the state webpage. Yes. A simple redirect. And the state claims that this is hijacking the website, a misuse of the seal of the state and a violation of federal copyright laws. Based on that logic, with a few simple magic tricks, I've just made TinyUrl, Bitly and Is.gd guilty of the same things.

I mean... I'm sure the lawyers working for the state of Alaska have some free time on their hands right now... but... seriously? Did no one bother to actually investigate what they were threatening?

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Filed Under: alaska, copyright, crackho, hijacking, redirects, sarah palin

39 Comments

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pegr, 13 May 2009 @ 2:05pm

hahahahahahahaha!
hahahahahaahahahaha!

Oh, I'm sorry (snicker)... Ahem, let me start again...

Can someone please send them a copy of "Stupid Web Tricks"?
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Tgeigs, 13 May 2009 @ 2:11pm

Does that mean www.lilcrackho.com goes to Bristol?
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- Anonymous Poster, 13 May 2009 @ 5:51pm
  
  Re:
  You win the comments.
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RD, 13 May 2009 @ 2:16pm

Clueless
Please repeat after me, and do this EVERY time a technology issue comes up like this, likely forever:

POLITICIANS AND LAWYERS DO NOT UNDERSTAND TECHNOLOGY!!!

(unless the lawyer is a specialist in a tech area)

Is it any wonder they keep missing the mark when they "go after" these "problems"?

Idiots running the country.
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- Azrael, 14 May 2009 @ 12:44am
  
  Re: Clueless
  (unless the lawyer is a specialist in a tech area)
  
  Please, PLEASE, tell me where you have found a lawyer that's an expert in anything other than extorsion.
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Petréa Mitchell, 13 May 2009 @ 2:16pm

Hmmm...
Okay, hijacking the site: No. Copyright violation: No. Misuse of the state seal? I could see that sticking, depending on how the law is worded.

The analogy I imagine being presented in court would go something like this: Suppose you walk into a store that says "CrackHo" on the sign and are teleported into the governor's office. Many people might surmise that the governor's office is inside the store.

Yes, yes, yes, I know. You and I and most of the other people reading this would do a double-take, look at the address bar, and know we'd been redirected. But are we representative of the majority of Web users?
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- Matt, 13 May 2009 @ 2:45pm
  
  Re: Hmmm...
  misuse of the seal? how?
  
  This is a core part of internet, this would be like complaining that we can turn an IP address into a URL. Pointless.
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- hi, 13 May 2009 @ 3:49pm
  
  Re: Hmmm...
  you're retarded
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  - DJ, 13 May 2009 @ 6:13pm
    
    Re: Re: Hmmm...
    Nuh uh! I am!
    
    wait...
    
    What just happened?
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- Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 13 May 2009 @ 7:36pm
  
  Re: Hmmm...
  Petréa Mitchell wrote:
  The analogy I imagine being presented in court would go something like this: Suppose you walk into a store that says "CrackHo" on the sign and are teleported into the governor's office. Many people might surmise that the governor's office is inside the store.
  
  And if you were teleported to the planet Venus, would people also assume that the planet Venus was inside the store?
  
  Since we’re doing analogies and all...
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  - Azrael, 14 May 2009 @ 12:48am
    
    Re: Re: Hmmm...
    " would people also assume that the planet Venus was inside the store? "
    
    From that case i must conclude that you don't have a direct job connection to the average customer. Otherwise you would have known that people (especially the average ones) will assume everything at face value without thinking (not that they are actually capable of that).
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  - Petréa Mitchell, 14 May 2009 @ 11:49am
    
    Re: Re: Hmmm...
    "And if you were teleported to the planet Venus, would people also assume that the planet Venus was inside the store?"
    
    In Internet terms, yes, they would.
    
    Please remember that most people understand the workings of Web browsing about as well as you and I understand the finer points of Alaskan state law.
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Weird Harold's former #5 fan, 13 May 2009 @ 2:30pm

If their IT guys had half a brain they could check the referer tag and further redirect crackho.com requests to http://www.state.gov/secretary/

Or, if they wanted to be boring and keep their jobs, just return a 404 instead.
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Judsonian, 13 May 2009 @ 3:12pm

Miss-use of the state seal ......
Sounds like the lawyers up there are miss-using some state seals!
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Brooks, 13 May 2009 @ 3:16pm

Good fun
I always use southlate.com when booking Southwest Airlines tickets. It just amuses me.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 May 2009 @ 3:17pm

http://www.iwasmakingajoke.com/
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anonymous coward, 13 May 2009 @ 3:47pm

The IT department is busy at the moment.
"If their IT guys had half a brain they could check the referer tag and further redirect crackho.com requests to http://www.state.gov/secretary/

Or, if they wanted to be boring and keep their jobs, just return a 404 instead."

That's asking an awful lot, they're busy eradicating color printing from the every state office at the moment. ;)
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Bettawrekonize, 13 May 2009 @ 6:20pm

I'm so glad that retard Sarah Palen didn't become Vice President. Imagine if somehow (God forbid) the president died and she became president. Then we'll REALLY be in a mess.
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- Anonymous Coward, 13 May 2009 @ 6:38pm
  
  Re:
  I would bet my first born/only son that she is lot smarter than you, and a million times smarter than obama. Hell he still doesn't realize that socialism/communism won't work, or is such an evil sob that he doesn't care about the human suffering his cramming that crap on this once great nation is going to cause. Heil Obama.
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  - The infamous Joe, 13 May 2009 @ 7:04pm
    
    Re: Re:
    That's quite a bet considering you know about Palin only what you've been told about her, and probably nothing about Mr/Mrs Betta.
    
    However, we did just learn something about you. ;)
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- Anonymous Coward, 13 May 2009 @ 7:29pm
  
  Re:
  You mean instead of the fucking mess we're in now that the Exalted Communist is in power?
  
  Dumbass
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Bettawrekonize, 13 May 2009 @ 7:27pm

"I would bet my first born/only son that she is lot smarter than you, and a million times smarter than obama. Hell he still doesn't realize that socialism/communism won't work, or is such an evil sob that he doesn't care about the human suffering his cramming that crap on this once great nation is going to cause. Heil Obama."

I didn't vote for Obama. I wanted to vote for Ron Paul, I agree with so much of what he says. BTW, he is a doctor, lets see if Palin knows more than him.
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- Anonymous Coward, 13 May 2009 @ 7:32pm
  
  Re:
  I wanted to vote for Ron Paul
  Oh well that explains your moonbattiness.
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- lulz, 14 May 2009 @ 4:50am
  
  Re:
  Damn, betta, can you use the 'reply' function, or are you committed to spread out threads like butter on toast?
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Bettawrekonize, 13 May 2009 @ 7:29pm

My initial choice for president was Mike Huckabee, even before Ron Paul, but before I'm convinced I have to know his position on health freedoms. If he does not endorse health freedoms in the same sense that Ron Paul does then I won't vote for him. Otherwise he would be my primary choice.
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Bettawrekonize, 13 May 2009 @ 7:30pm

"You mean instead of the fucking mess we're in now that the Exalted Communist is in power?"

Lets not forget it was that idiot George Bush that put us in this mess.
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Bettawrekonize, 13 May 2009 @ 7:36pm

"Oh well that explains your moonbattiness." I'm not the one defending Sarah Palin and if you really think she is Smarter than Ron Paul let me see her become a doctor. Even if she did become a doctor I would be afraid for any child who has their parents take them to her if the child is sick.
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Jeff Smith, 13 May 2009 @ 8:04pm

Too funny
You all don't REALLY think that Sarah Palin was perusing the internet, surfed over to crackho.com, got offended, and set the lawyers loose...do you?

Wait...I think you do!
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Nick (profile), 13 May 2009 @ 8:36pm

Watch this! http://bit.ly/crackho
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colorado springs, 13 May 2009 @ 9:38pm

Consultant Ted Stevens
Perhaps Alaska is using former Senator Ted Stevens as their tech guru.
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Bettawrekonize, 13 May 2009 @ 9:59pm

"You all don't REALLY think that Sarah Palin was perusing the internet, surfed over to crackho.com, got offended, and set the lawyers loose...do you?

Wait...I think you do!"

She seems pretty stupid, I wouldn't be surprised.
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George Bush, 14 May 2009 @ 5:42am

How about...
I wonder if stupidignoranttechnoidiot.com is available... It might be worth the $10 to register it and point it to her domain.
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Killer_Tofu (profile), 14 May 2009 @ 6:25am

Just Funny
This is really funny. She does kind of act like a crack ho though ...
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Anonymous Coward, 14 May 2009 @ 6:27am

Please - Do Not Feed the Trolls
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Tgeigs, 14 May 2009 @ 6:42am

A simple request
To all of the crazies out there on both sides of the aisle, please stop equating government systems that aren't equal.

1. Capitalism does not equal democracy
2. Socialism does not equal communism

For a breakdown: http://graphcomp.com/home/bfree/opinions/economy.html
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- nasch, 14 May 2009 @ 9:23pm
  
  Re: A simple request
  Also don't equate government systems with economic systems. Some examples follow.
  
  Forms of government:
  democracy
  oligarchy
  totalitarianism/dictatorship
  theocracy
  
  Economic systems:
  capitalism
  socialism
  communism
  
  In theory, you can mix and match from the two (incomplete) lists in any way.
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Cyrus Lesser, 14 May 2009 @ 7:20am

Dumb lawyers; dumber judges
99.9% of lawyers and 99.999% of judges don't know the difference between a megabyte and a mosquito bite! Nor between a database and a naval base.

So there's a high risk the dopey case will be heard before a dopey judge with a dopey outcome very likely!
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the problem child, 14 May 2009 @ 12:06pm

One of those lawyers you all seem to hate
But whatever.

I appreciate that this post confirmed what I had "known" but not been able to put into techie language: that the Alaska AG's office is full of shit. Now I have the technical language to express it, and this site to cite the information to. Ain't the internetz grand?
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anonymous, 15 May 2009 @ 11:15pm

No State of AK IT was informed about this that I know of.
This was a crazy surprise that shook my office to the bones! We did not know! Of course, we'd spot this right away and know what to do. There are a lot of educated, intelligent, experienced IT proffesionals working for the State of Alaska.
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