…and this is a 
You may recall that I'd mentioned how Cheri Yecke was hiring a company called "reputationdefender" to expunge unflattering references from the net. One of her targets was Wesley Elsberry, who had reported that she was in favor of allowing local school districts to elect to teach creationism (this is not permissible in Minnesota). She claims that's false; unfortunately for her, Wesley has found a video recording of her at that time proposing exactly that. Ooops. So Yecke is trying to get her own words removed from the net? How interesting.
In a related issue, I'd mocked the whole premise of "reputationdefender" — they claimed to be able to get any offending article on the web taken down for only $20, using "proprietary" techniques. There's no word yet on exactly what their techniques were, but another, similar company has had their procedures exposed. They sent letters to the host of the offending article.
This letter is being sent to you in the name of more than 500 businesses. No matter where you go, we will cause you a problem. Your life is in danger until you comply with our demands. This is your last warning.
Your neighbors already know about your criminal dealings and how you are making many people loose (sic) their business. You will soon be beaten to a pulp and pounced into the ground six feet under with a baseball bat and sleg (sic) hammer. You will soon be sorry not just from what I am capable of doing to you, but what other members will do as soon as they know exactly where you are. Its (sic) just a matter of time until I get to you.
That didn't work, so they sent another one.
We warned you ed magedson. Did you hear the gun shots last night? Because of you innocent people will die. Your tenants, family members and those that work with you. Think we're joking? I told you that your site will be down and it is. That is all we want and we will not hurt anyone.
This was not the same company that Yecke hired, and I haven't heard that Wesley received any mail with a similar tone. It's still about what I expected the only effective way of getting an article removed from the web might be: extortion.
Comments
Posted by: Kseniya | June 29, 2007 3:54 PM
Nothing screams "proprietary technique" like pouncing someone six feet under the ground with a baseball bat.
Posted by: Sarcastro | June 29, 2007 3:55 PM
Pouncing? Methinks they missed a sic.
Posted by: speedwell | June 29, 2007 3:56 PM
Sounds a lot like the "fair game" intimidation threats from Scientology, actually. They're rather fond of accusing someone of their supposed "criminal acts" in a transparent bluff attempt, Hubbard having pontificated that anyone who opposed him and his crew of ship rats must be a criminal at heart, really, a servant of dark forces and a perpetrator of evil deeds who could be "tricked, sued, lied to, or destroyed."
Posted by: Dan | June 29, 2007 3:57 PM
See what happens when you promote the hired muscle to middle-management? You wind up with ineffectually written manifestos such as the above. And, it's hard to scare people when they're laughing their asses off at you.
Posted by: speedwell | June 29, 2007 3:57 PM
Oh, and let's not forget that Scientology claims its tactics are protected by copyright. "Proprietary," hmmmm? (...says speedwell in the tone of the wife of the Calgon-using Chinese laundryman...)
Posted by: Kseniya | June 29, 2007 4:06 PM
Simon Tam: What do you pay him for?
Mal: What?
Simon: I was just wondering what his job was. On the ship.
Mal: [pause]
Mal: Public relations.
Posted by: Pinko Punko | June 29, 2007 4:12 PM
If you've followed the AutoAdmit story, you can see where a company like "reputationdefender" might be useful. I have no idea what they do, my expectation is they go after people for potentially libelous statements.
Posted by: Blake Stacey, OM | June 29, 2007 4:21 PM
A second Molly for Kseniya!
Posted by: Firemancarl | June 29, 2007 4:54 PM
Great, this yutz Yecke is making inroads here in Florida? Now I will be on the attack. I do not want my children subjected to nonsense and fairy tales in school-in so far as religion is concerned!
Posted by: LeeLeeOne | June 29, 2007 4:55 PM
Threats, implied or real, are legal offenses. As we all know, the Internet can and does lead to footprints that cannot be erased or falsified.
If I were the recipient of such a vulgar form of E-mail, I would not hesitate to go to the nearest FBI office with notification of such harm.
This is not FREE SPEECH...... these are THREATS. Libel or not, refuted to be harmless or not, anyone who is the recipient of such threatening E-Mail should report such threats and follow through.
If left up to their own devices, whether we personally consider these threats empty or not, with these threats, who's to say the next person to receive them will automatically not be vulnerable to these types of attacks?!
While we still have some type of "law in this land", please use the judicial system, if not for yourself, but for the others who are seemingly incapable of defending themselves.
I find Internet "attacks" or threats to be a threat against the person themselves and would expect no less treatment of those initiating these "internet attacks" to be no less responsible if they had hand delivered or mailed such a threat!
Posted by: Tim | June 29, 2007 4:59 PM
I think it's pretty clear that these incarnations of hired eGoons will die off. Bad writing, misleading claims about what they can do, illegal threats, and a goal that would require a lawyer they can't afford to pay. Here's (wistfully) hoping the selection pressure is too high for a marginally successful strain to emerge.
It just hit me: These people using eGoon services are probably ordering lots of "CANADIAN MEDS CHEAP!!!1!" and "ZOMG PENIS ENLARGEMENT LOL", if you get my drift.
Posted by: Kseniya | June 29, 2007 5:01 PM
*giggle* @ Blake! XD
Posted by: stogoe | June 29, 2007 5:21 PM
Ah, the 'verse. Not a bad bit o' storytelling.
Frak those goram purplebellies at Fox.
Posted by: Chinchillazilla | June 29, 2007 5:30 PM
Man, that's exactly what I told my friend yesterday when he backed out of coming to a party with me. "Ben," I said, "if you don't come to this party I will come to your house and kill your family."
Seriously! Only I didn't intend for him to believe it. And he didn't, because he didn't come. :(
I would be so, so amused if I got one of those emails.
Posted by: Christian Burnham | June 29, 2007 6:57 PM
I expect the Pharyngula site will go down within a few days. PZ will be DESTROYED by a cease and desist letter with no legal status whatsoever.
Posted by: Jeff | June 29, 2007 7:09 PM
From their web site FAQ: "Reputation Defender is a strong supporter of the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Our correction/removal ("Destroy") service was designed to help private citizens regain control over unintentionally posted or outdated personal information accidentally disclosed to the public Internet, and address potentially libelous, slanderous, defamatory or invasive information about them that serves no public benefit."
So, anything about Yecke, good or bad, serves public benefit, since she runs for public office. Therefore RepDef can do nothing for her, by their own standards.
Posted by: Anna Z | June 29, 2007 7:21 PM
You'd think the fact that she considers her own words defamatory to her reputation would clue her in. I guess that's expecting too much from some people.
Posted by: Wesley R. Elsberry | June 29, 2007 8:29 PM
I haven't gotten anything untoward from ReputationDefender.
I have recently added the following to the bottom of my post:
Dr. Yecke, if you are reading this, I would suggest that if you have actually changed your mind about the legitimacy of "intelligent design" creationism and other forms of antievolution, you should simply hold a press conference and announce that upon reflection, you have changed your position, and that Florida's students deserve to learn in their science classrooms only science that has passed the muster of scientific scrutiny, and that narrow religious viewpoints won't be taught as science on your watch. Do you think you could do that? It would make moot the documented stance you took back in 2003, and it would just be the right thing to do. "Intelligent design" originated as a sham in 1987 to evade the Edwards v. Aguillard Supreme Court decision, and the actions of the professional "intelligent design" avocates since then have not indicated any improvement in its moral character. Consider the company you keep as an unshriven IDC advocate, for instance, that of defender of a Holocaust denier William Dembski.
(N.b.: "moot" != "harmless")
Posted by: Crudely Wrott | June 29, 2007 11:07 PM
There is nothing like speling errors, unusual sentence structure or jolting word usage and fractured syntax to point the finger at hucksterism. Reminds one of certain Nigerian efforts.
Imagine a world in which the average person was aware enough to smell this crap coming from miles away. Sounds easy; apparently istn't.
Posted by: jimmy | June 29, 2007 11:38 PM
Perhaps George Bush, Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz should hire "reputationdefender".
Problem is, if they had to spend $20 on every "offending" article and comment in blogs, they'd go broke pretty quick.
In fact, I bet there isn't enough money in the entire galaxy to finance that salvage operation.
Might make more sense to get a new identity and then hire a service called "reputationinventor" (the Ivy League)
Posted by: Ichthyic | June 30, 2007 12:26 AM
Might make more sense to get a new identity and then hire a service called "reputationinventor"
They did. A long time ago. His name is Karl Rove, and he is the ultimate 'reputationinventor'.
He is also very handy at reputationdestroying. Just ask the governor of Texas previous to GW.
Posted by: Shell Goddamnit | June 30, 2007 12:29 AM
"eGoon services"
I love it. Just need a capital S and an Inc. and we have my new business name. It won't have anything to do with reputation defending or anything...I think perhaps a hobby catering business...but it'll still be named eGoon Services Inc.
Call eGoon Services Inc for all your tapenade needs!!1!
Posted by: Bob O'H | June 30, 2007 12:52 AM
It's clear that eGoon services would only last as long as it would take Major Bloodnock to take the funds into "safe keeping".
Bob
Posted by: llewelly | June 30, 2007 1:41 AM
It seems 'reputationdefender' does their client's reputation more harm than good.
Posted by: keiths | June 30, 2007 8:04 AM
Yecke -- what an appropriate last name.
Posted by: xebecs | June 30, 2007 9:57 AM
YECKE: Young Earth Creationist -- Krazy Embarassing?
Posted by: raven | June 30, 2007 10:10 AM
Not to state the obvious, but the eGoon threats are illegal. There are laws abut death threats, cyberstalking, intimidation, violations of civil liberties, etc. that cover these. Some are criminal felonies. It also would be covered by terrorism statutes as terrorism.
When something like this is received, common sense indicates that you turn copies over to the cops, local and federal (FBI). The locals might do something but probably won't. The FBI has a cybercrime division and can trace these through the net. Even a proxy server won't help if the cops are determined. Every once in a while the authorities bestir themselves to nail one of these cretins and they go to jail.
Posted by: Luna_the_cat | June 30, 2007 10:32 AM
Re: the "letters" above, I'm fairly sure that "sending death threats through the post" was a federal offense even before the internets came on the scene. This type of thing should definitely go to the FBI, with a "go have fun".....
Re: Yecke -- well, she has hardly established a track record for good decision-making or sensible thinking in the past. Why start now?
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | June 30, 2007 11:53 AM
Anyone in or out of the Sunshine State who wants to help do something about Jeb! Bush appointee Yecke and her dubious agenda should check out Florida Citizens for Science; present company might well be expected to gravitate to the FCS blog.
Posted by: David Canzi | June 30, 2007 1:20 PM
William Stanley responded to Declan McCullagh's article, claiming that the threats Stanley sent to Ed Magedson were written by Magedson himself, not by Stanley. It amuses me that Stanley's message contains a high rate of spelling errors, like "deth threat" and "lie dector", that would embarrass a person of normal intelligence -- the same symptom of a brain not firing on all 3 cylinders as seen in the threats sent to Magedson.
Posted by: Nix | July 1, 2007 10:15 AM
Stanley's a longtime ROKSO-listed spammer: of *course* he's an unethical shit with contempt for his fellow man and with a brain firing on only one cylinder.
Posted by: Bonzo | July 2, 2007 10:03 AM
Seems Reputationdefender has made the big time so to speak
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19544884/
This can only bode well for them.
Posted by: sözlere bak | May 22, 2009 6:16 PM
Arjay, exactly. Everybody was quite happy about Mobutu in the east, given that he ended the Simba Rebellian (which was pretty bloody) and supressed other conflicts. Were you doing research in the forest there?