“The Craigslist Killer” Moniker: “Journalistic” Jingoism and the Growing P.R. Problem at Craigslist

It turns on  alliteration sharper than a sword, besides plumbing the association of murder most foul  with the can-do-goodism of a people’s advertising daily named Craigslist – the internet upstart that  has, since 1995,   upended  the advertising model of the  old media; the same media that is now  blithely tarring the internet upstart  with the “killer” moniker.

What gives? The logic behind the knee-jerk association rarely stands up to  reason. Take the most recent case in this  saga: The tragic killing of Garret Berki,  an 18 year old college student, following  a meeting in San Diego  at which the student was hoping to buy a MacBook Pro he had seen in the  Craigslist classifieds. The meet-up turned into a robbery which ended tragically  when the student who had been robbed of $600 and a couple of cell-phones,  cornered the  perpetrators in a residential cul-de-sac. One of them shot Garrett who died about an hour later from a wound to the chest. A  sad, tragic story if ever there was one – but the representation of it across the printed and electronic media raises  questions about how old media operatives who should know better  have been labeling this story. Coincidence or collusion? You decide.

My marriage to the Microsoft Windows platform has become a marriage of convenience

The love is gone, but I am staying for the children, biding my time until they grow up and leave the nest. The children being a couple of of Windows desktops, and two Sony Vaio laptops, all running the Windows XP operating system, which is rated by some to be the most stable operating system the boys in Redmond have ever produced after the customary missteps of the beta versions. The other children include documents encoded in Word, other software and peripherals.

I ditched the Windows Mobile 5 two years ago after having been initially  enchanted by the HTC 8525. The software updates and instalments proved unnecessary headaches and when expiring certificates rendered some of the features unusable, it was time to give the handheld the old “das boot.” I have never looked back and would be more than happy to use the former smart phone as a door stop. All the kings horses and all the kings men would never be able to drag me within sniffing distance of a Windows phone now. Not in this lifetime anyway.

My latest annoyance with Microsoft came this evening when I discovered that one of my laptops no longer has the Internet Explorer desktop icons. I do not use Internet Explorer in favor of the more robust and functional Firefox. However I do need Internet Explorer as an alternate browser, especially when visiting sites that require the browser to view or download things, the Microsoft Update website being one of them.

A search of the web showed that Internet Explore had been unbundled from Windows by Microsoft as a result of anti-trust litigation in Europe. The unbundling had been done through updates which in addition to the actual uncoupling of the browser from the operating system, erased the browser icon from the desktop. I had been too busy working with the Firefox browser to notice and now that I had, I didn’t know where to begin. Several proposed solutions, some of which involved editing the registry, didn’t work. Finally when I was near my wits’ end, I found this little software gizmo called the  Microsoft Fix it 50228 on the Microsoft website:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945402

It did the job, but I am still pissed that it took me all this time to find something which shouldn’t be too hard to find given the ubiquity of the problem of disappearing Internet Explorer icons  since the release of the soft-ware that uncoupled the browser from the operating system.  I am also pissed at the way some of these Microsoft updates  screw you over by installing stuff you don’t like.  The way the update prompts tried to push the bloated  Internet Explorer 7 or 8 was annoying.  One had to be vigilant about nixing it each and everytime.

I am so done with Microsoft its not even funny. The weird menage a trois between  Microsoft, myself and its hardware partners has run its course.

Cyberaxis Media Center

The Bane of Media Usage: Unrelenting commercialism interrupted by useful tid-bits of information, is still there but there is something to be said for "free" TV, news, movies & documentaries that that one can get through the magic of the world wide web. The computer as your own personal console to the world of "free" content, as in non-subscription, is a revolutionary concept that for-profit cable companies don't like to think about much.

The internet and the erosion of subscription TV, cable and associated media

copyright© 2009 cyberaxis.wordpress.com

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Please  report any broken, dead or misdirecting links via the comments section below. Some become defunct after we post them on this page. Thank you for your cooperation.

AGGREGATORS

Hulu Television, Video and Documentaries

TV.COM Television

VEOH Television. Video and Documentaries

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NEWS PLUS

ABC News: Diane Sawyer

ABC Video

ABC Tech

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NBC

Today On MSNBC

MSNBC TV

Nightly News: Brian Williams

American Greed: MSNBC

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CBS

CBS Video: Up To The Minute

CBS News Main

CBS News:  Katie Couric

CBS 60 Minutes

CBS Face The Nation

CBS 48 Hours – Full Episodes

CBS 5 – KPHO Video, Phoenix, AZ

WRAL TV Video

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Portuguese TV

RTP Portuguese Television – Main Page

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CNN CHANNEL

CNN Video

CNN Main

CNN Tech

CNN Live

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VHI VIDEO

VH1 Video Main

VH1 All Music

VH1 Top 20

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YAHOO

Yahoo Video

Yahoo Tech

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KRON 4 TV News

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MOVIES

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BUSINESS

Bloomberg TV

Forbes Video

Fox Business Main

Fox Business On-air

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DOCUMENTARIES

Trails From The East

Future Express – Australia

DocumentaryWire.Com

Link TV Documentaries

Top Documentary Films

SnagFilms.Com

TV.COM Video and Documentaries

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NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

National Geographic

National Geographic – History

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EDUCATIONAL

Research Channel – USA

Link TV Main

Link TV Clips

BBC One

Fora TV

History Channel Videos

Diet TV

Wall Street Journal Tech Video

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MUSIC

O Canal De HipHop Portugues!

Link TV Best Music Videos

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MISCELLANEOUS

Entertainment TV (USA)

The Art Channel – USA

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SPORTS

High Stakes Poker

Poker TV

Yahoo Sports

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WEBCAMS

Appendix: The internet and the erosion of subscription TV, cable and associated media

This list of free TV, video, film and radio  is a work in progress. Links are gonna be added and deleted as time progresses. So if you find something you really like, save it to your bookmarks. Meanwhile, consider this your own Free Media Console. The smoothness of the play will depend of several factors like your connection, settings and or the streaming aspect of the website you are accessing. So be patient.

copyright© 2009 cyberaxis.wordpress.com

“After Israel, Australia is the country with the highest percentage of immigrants in the world. A quarter of the population originates in other countries. Almost half the population is of Asian descent in the big urban centers. Most of them are young and well-educated. They are a new type of immigrant, able to fit in anywhere in Australia and around the world.”  (Link TV)

The internet and the erosion of subscription TV, cable and associated media

The best television is free. So is video when one considers the cost-benefit ratio of what the masses usually get. Crap is the coin of the realm and what passes for content is an unrelenting stream commercialism interrupted by bits of pertinent information and entertainment.

Going without cable or satellite is unthinkable to many Americans — just over 90% of U.S. households subscribe to some form of pay TV. But just as mobile phones have replaced many customers’ land-line service, Vittore said on-demand Internet video will soon whittle that 90% figure down. (Vince Vittore, Analyst, Yankee Group)

But all that is in the process of changing under the unrelenting onslaught of  the internet and associated technologies. Say hello to the more democratized milieu of the world wide web.

We at Cyberaxis are not deluded however. The ancien (media) regime is not dead. Corporations and their governmental cohorts still rule the world, but cracks in the edifice still do appear from time to time: cracks in which hardy foliage grows.

The internet has changed a lot of the rules of the game and the vested stakeholders, both corporate and governmental, are scrambling to jostle for new pole positions. (Read up on internet neutrality, privacy and custodianship of information in the brave new world.) And nowhere is this dissolution, this lysis, more evident than in the area of the old media versus the new.

Cable had a chance earlier in the decade to give us an a la carte service. They chose not to. It may be too late for them. The model is changing so fast they may never get the lost viewers back no matter how nice they decide to play now.  (Everett Hutchinson)

The subscription model of content as purveyed by the cable and satellite industry is being whacked by the internet just like the film, recording and newspaper industry were undermined by the same. The aspect of retributive justice is not lost on many. Free is the new good in the millenium of bits, bytes, hotspots and the brave new world of the world wide web. The Google story is very instructive of what has happened in terms of free content.

On the beaches of the world wide web, free is good. Hallelujah and thank you Jesus! (Photo by Avava)

As far as electronic content is concerned, start your search here for the yellow brick road that leads to the Emerald City. What we hope for is none other than a living manifesto of liberation ……  Liberation of the new netizen from the chains of the ancien regime.

Start with the Cyberaxis Media Center here.

This list of free TV, video, film and radio  is a work in progress. Links are gonna be added and deleted as time progresses. So if you find something you really like, save it to your bookmarks. Meanwhile, consider this your own Free Media Console. The smoothness of the play will depend of several factors like your connection, settings and or the streaming aspect of the website you are accessing.  In some cases you need to let the video load at little before commencing play. So be patient. We’ll get there.

I cut my cable service completely. I don’t pay for a home phone either. I found out that Comcast does not like that at all. They doubled what I pay for internet and capped how much data I can stream per month. $60/mo for internet is close to ridiculous. I read somewhere that internet only takes up the bandwidth of two channels. That means I’m paying $60/mo for two stinking channels. I hate Comcast. The value of cable has become so inflated, the market is bound for a correction at some point. I hope mobile broadband can give the cable company a run for their money. (Fill Westcott)

copyright© 2009 cyberaxis.wordpress.com

Appendix:

Cyberaxis Media Center (Cyberaxis)

Estimate: 800,000 U.S. Households Abandoned Their TVs For The Web (Tech Crunch)

Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin – The Microsoft Story And The Future Of Computing: Select readings from the net

Is It Ballmer’s Fault by Matt Asay

Microsoft is in significant disarray, fettered by its desktop dominance as the world goes mobile. Would this have happened anyway, or is Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to blame?

Ballmer, after all, knows how to sing to developers, but he doesn’t really speak their language. Former Microsoft CEO and co-founder Bill Gates did. Now, more than ever, Microsoft needs to get in front of developers but finds itself playing catch-up.

Gates announced his resignation back in 2006 and formally discarded his full-time Microsoft duties in 2008. But it has been a long time since Gates’ hand was full time on the steering wheel. (Matt Asay,  The Open Road – CNET News)

Mark Anderson to Microsoft: Your consumer business is dead by John Cook

Microsoft Is Losing Fight for Consumers, Analyst Says by Steve Lohr

“Except for gaming, it is ‘game over’ for Microsoft in the consumer market,” he said. “It’s time to declare Microsoft a loser in phones. Just get out of Dodge.” (Mark Anderson)

If Microsoft loses in smartphones, Mr. Anderson noted, “It is pretty grim. Those applications are going to move upstream.”

The underlying problem, Mr. Anderson said, is cultural. “Phones are consumer items, and Microsoft doesn’t have consumer DNA,” he said.

“Walk the halls at Microsoft and you can see it is not a place that gets consumers,” Mr. Anderson said. “Just as if you walk the halls at Google, it’s obvious it is not a place that gets the enterprise world.” ( Steve Lohr, The New York Times – Technonogy)

The End of the Microsoft Empire? by Alex Salkever

The abysmal quarter reported last week by Microsoft was hardly a one-time occurrence. While Redmond may bounce back somewhat in the future, a host of headwinds makes a return to dominance highly unlikely for the software giant.

“… The sun is clearly setting on the Age of Microsoft as the pre-eminent software company in the world. Shareholders have known this for a while.” (Alex Salkever, July 27, 2009)

Putting Lipstick On Microsoft’s Pigs by Philip Elmer-DeWitt

“Microsoft has always touted itself as an innovator,” Wolf begins in a section entitled The Sincerest Form of Flattery. “But the company’s true genius has stemmed from its ability to copy the ideas of others.” (Charles Wolf as quoted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt)

The Second Clone War by Gerry Patterson

“Much of Microsoft’s marketing power depends on its perceived market dominance, or leadership, which is the term the corporation now prefers. If the the customer base, or more correctly consumers perceive that the desktop village is just a one-horse town, and that horse is stabled in Redmond, then of course, an individual consumer would be unwise to purchase anything but Microsoft products. This is an effect which could be termed the VHS principle, in deference to the Video Wars. And it all depends on perceived market share. If Microsoft shows the slightest concern about Open Source, however, the tiny cracks in the dam may widen rapidly.” (Gerry Patterson)

The Future Looks Bright for Microsoft? by Gerry Patterson

“Is the future bright for Microsoft? It would certainly seem so. However, there may be some dark clouds looming on that bright horizon.” (Gerry Patterson)

A Future Without Microsoft by Tony Mobily

“Regardless of how much hype Microsoft creates, the world still runs on Unix—and most of those servers are GNU/Linux machines. Your Netgear router has Linux in it. Your Internet provider is very likely to be running on GNU/Linux servers. So is your office. It’s a little hard to come by hard numbers, because anybody can download CentOS and deploy a top-class server in minutes. Each GNU/Linux server has stolen market share to the proprietary, expensive Windows NT—and Microsoft is immensely unlikely to get that market back.” (Tony Mobily)

Platform Wars: The Clone Wars by Tim Oren

“IBM counted on the power of its marketing, distribution, and reputation with customers to force these changes through. IBM lost its bet, badly.” (Tim Oren)

The New Microsoft PC Ads: As Fake As Lauren’s Red Hair

“Microsoft cannot expect people to buy Lauren’s argument without insulting their intelligence at some level. There are more factors (that go into buying a laptop than mere price. These include Microsoft’s product history and its  most recent  egg, the Vista operating system. Microsoft should be dealing with that instead of churning out lame ads …
“Right next to reinventing itself from the guts, the Microsoft needs to sever its marketing and advertising arm along with crappy ad agencies  like McCann Erickson Worldwide,  and Crispin Porter + Bogusky…. With a $300 million, budget, Microsoft  could have done way better. The CNN Money/ Fortune assumption that this lame campaign has put Apple on the defensive is terminally silly.” (Cyberaxis)

**

Microsoft in 2010: Four Challenges That Lie Ahead by Shane O’neill

CIO – When you’re a technology mongrel like Microsoft, challenges are constant – and 2009 was chock full of them. It was a tumultuous year that saw the software giant’s first widespread layoffs and its worst quarterly revenue earnings ever.

“If Microsoft delays much longer on producing a decent mobile platform with software, services and partners,” says veteran industry analyst Roger Kay, “then it will be out of the game.”

Microsoft’s Long Slow Decline by John Gruber

“Windows is at the core of everything Microsoft does that makes money. They sell Windows, then they sell software that runs on Windows. As Windows goes, so goes Microsoft, and right now Windows is heading south.” (John Gruber)

The Case of the AT&T $10 DSL Plan That Really Never Was: Who is looking out for the small guy here?

This is an infuriating case of corporate chicanery coupled with FCC regulatory complicity. And while you are at it you can also tar and feather the mainstream  media for not taking the blow-torch to the accomplices’ derrieres. (Was it fear of  biting the hand that feeds it – at least as far as the electronic media is concerned?) For the record, here is AT&T’s dossier as fearlessly  dslreports.com’s Karl Bode:

“When the FCC allowed AT&T to acquire BellSouth in one of the largest telecom deals ever, the agency enacted a series of wimpy conditions (pdf). Not only were most of the conditions simply for show, but the FCC made it very clear they really had no intention of enforcing them. AT&T was supposed to offer naked or 768kbps $10 DSL for two years after the merger, but skirted around the condition’s purpose by never advertising the services, and making it difficult to order them until people really started complaining. The FCC napped.

AT&T denied obfuscation and tried to claim that nobody really wanted dirt cheap unbundled DSL service anyway. Worse perhaps than the weak and unenforced conditions were the meaningless conditions the FCC knowingly signed off on. Designed more for showmanship than substance, several conditions made consumer advocates, an unskeptical press and inattentive politicians from both parties feel good — but accomplished virtually nothing.” (Karl Bode Broadband DSL Reports)

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/New-FCC-Same-Regulatory-Rubber-Stamp-For-CenturyLink-103109?nocomment=1

DSL for the price of a small pizza and a coke: AT&T evidently conspired not give the public this service that it had promised the FCC in exchange for permission to buy out BellSouth in a merger that would have been verboten a few years prior.

Evidence of AT&T  Chicanery: The key page promoting AT&T DSL plans does not show the $10 plan.

http://att-promotions.com/att-dsl.php

Neither does this one:

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=7709&CI=CJ_AFFILIATEHSIA&RI=CJ1&RD=37922269&GUID=95B7260E-916B-4FEB-AD2C-D30B4C8908A1;49475679-7463-41E2-B617-7B5E86D1DDCA

However a “$10 DSL” Search will lead you to this page:

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=7690#hsi

The information about the $10 DSL is tucked within a dense block of unbroken text about 7 lines from the bottom of your screen. As it turns out you have to have a residential phone account and must be a new AT&T and Bell South DSL customer, new being defined as not having possessed their DSL in the last 12 months.

“$10.00 Per Month Basic DSL Offer: For qualifying residential AT&T High Speed Internet customers only. Basic speed ($10.00 per month) available for new customers only. New customer is defined as not having AT&T High Speed Internet or BellSouth High Speed Internet in the past 12 months. Purchase of local service from the applicable AT&T incumbent local exchange carrier required. This is a limited time offer and is only available for AT&T High Speed Internet. Static IP products not included. Speed references based on maximum downstream DSL synch rates and may vary. $150–$200 additional charge will apply if technician install is required or desired. Billing begins on the date service is provisioned by AT&T, even if customer has not yet registered. Service not available in all areas. Subject to change without notice. Maximum speed achieved depends on customer location. Acceptance of Terms of Service required. Taxes and additional fees extra. Other restrictions, including credit restrictions and qualification, apply. Price expires on 12/29/09.”

As indicated the $10 DSL plan is being offered until 12/29/09.  AT&T has not indicated whether it will extend it. Here is an MSNBC cover story soon after news of the deal broke (Notice how charitable they are when it comes to characterizing AT&T’s reluctance to publicize the offer):

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19305115

Like squeezing water out of a rock: Even downgrading from a $30/month plan to an advertised $20/month plan was not easy. A call to an AT&T service representative/operator did nothing to dispel the notion that AT&T makes it relatively hard for people to downgrade. The AT& representative feigned ignorance when asked about the $20/month plan. She only conceded to it after we indicated that it had been clearly advertised on TV and indicated the web page on which it could be found. The conversation was distressingly eye-opening.

OK, so we know corporations are crooked when it comes to the almighty dollar. The question to the  FCC is: Who is looking out for the little guy?

Microsoft Lauren seems to be M.I.A.

In the wake of a mini-fire storm about her creds, Lauren De Long‘s place in Microsoft advertising seems to have been taken by a couple of  teeny boppers with no S.A.G. credentials. The fake element – as in hair and supposed customer credentials has been removed, but not the ad itself which employs the same old  script, same Best-Buy-like locale and same rationale for trying to bash Apple. Good luck!

It looks like someone at Microsoft has been reading the blogsphere; hence the dropping of Microsoft Lauren. But as usual, the genii in Redmond are bull-headedly refusing to ditch the whole campaign. This kind of reminds us of how Microsoft holds onto flawed products …. like the Zune for example: A wanna-be iPod Killer that has become the butt of late night jokes. Some things will never change.

Philip Markoff, Julissa Brisman and Craig Newmark’s Annus Horribilis

Craig Newmark is a nice guy who likes doing nice things for people he likes to call  “the community”. The only problem is that in 2009,  that community is no longer as small and as homogenous as the one Craig engendered in 1995;  the year he launched Craigslist as an e-mail list for friends and acquaintances in San Francisco.  On top of all the growing pains, the horrific killing of Julissa Brisman has taught Craig that it is harder to play the nice guy role when people are  screaming  “bloody murder” (figuratively of course) over intimations of freedom of expression and Craigslist’s once touted virtues of  “community policing.“

(Community policing is Craigslist’s system of screening out objectionable content after the fact through what is called flagging. A post that receives a certain number of flags from users is automatically removed from the website. In the case of the once-embattled Erotic Services section, Craigslist used to rely on so-called  community policing until several state lawmen threatened to sue the pants off of Craig in the wake several crimes that could be linked to his website.)

Julissa Brisman & the end of accomodation: Before her killing in a Boston Marriott on April 14, 2009, anti-Erotic Services lobbies were chomping at the bit to get at Craigslist's collective behind.

In the wake of all Craigslist’s troubles one could argue, and argue convincingly, that the legal saber-rattling by state attorneys general, comes a distant second to the prospect of losing the nice guy/philanthropic mantle that Craigslist has earned over its 14 years of existence. There is a method to figuring this out, and it doesn’t fall far from the values of community,  service and doing things in innovative new ways that have been described as bohemian, if not downright “communist.” Consider this if you are an inverterate skeptic: The money Craigslist stands to lose defending nonsensical lawsuits  pales in comparison to the money it has left on the table by not charging for its classifieds in hot metro markets like San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles. Now about that “communist” moniker: If it is not a back-handed compliment to the man the world knows as Craig, then we don’t know what is.  But someone needs to tell those fire-breathing Attorneys General.

Under the fumes-fomenting spotlight of the media their  diatribes were nothing but blistering.  The Connecticut Attorney General, George Blumenthal,  accused Craigslist of promoting “pimping and prostitution in plain sight” and lambasted it as a “blatant internet brothel.”  South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster had threatened Craigslist with criminal investigation if the company’s executives had not removed the Erotic Services section by May 15 of 2009. And  Cook County Sheriff, Tom Dart, had described Craigslist as the “largest source of prostitution in America” and filed a lawsuit.

Throughout all of this, the political posturing and hypocrisy by South Carolina Attorney General, Henry McMaster, did not go un-noticed.  The selective prosecution of Craigslist when there are other publications that are  publishing way more graphic sexual content, has raised more than the ire of Craigslist. McMaster is treading on thin ice atop a sewer lake without a harness.

Philip Markoff and the de facto end of Craigslist's presumed innocence. The death of Julissa Brisman was unlike the others. Craigslist could not weather the "Andrea Gail"-like storm it created. The issues run deeper and wider than rhetoric, but that is not the stuff tabloidry .... or Public relations.

The Julissa Brisman Killing: The Julissa Brisman killing was the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of creating a public relations atmosphere in which Craigslist felt extremely vulnerable, inspite of being protected by Federal Law CDA Section 230 which holds it not liable for content posted by users.  But the Julissa Brisman killing was different. The seven Attorneys General couldn’t have asked for a better public relations milieu to energize them while putting Craig and company on the defensive.  In the wake of the killing, the lawmen did what any good politician would do: They ratcheted up the attack on Craigslist’s  Erotic Services and threatened all kinds of lawsuits in addition to the few that they did file.

Craig’s first instincts were to stand his ground, but when arguments about the effectiveness of community policing of the Erotic Services became untenable, he blinked …Well,  in a manner of speaking. Craigslist C.E.O. Jim Buckmaster experienced the same metamorphosis.  The Craigslist Erotic Services was (as a result) deactivated starting on 5/13/09, with ads that were already posted being allowed to stay up for 7 days before being deleted.  The section has been replaced by the newly constituted “Adult Services” – a less gauche spread along the lines of the adult classifieds in the Yellow Pages or Metro weeklies in any major city. The genius of this compromise can turn out to be in its potential for allowing opposing parties to claim victory. However CNN quotes Connecticut Attorney General, George Blumenthal as saying that they will be watching Craigslist like a hawk “to make sure prostitution and pornography do not migrate and move elsewhere.”

“We will be monitoring closely to make sure that this measure is more than a name change from ‘erotic’ to ‘adult’ and that the manual blocking is tough and effective to scrub prostitution and pornography,” he said.

“Our continuing investigation will assure that these steps are substance, not just spin, and that Craigslist really shuts down its open online red-light district.”

What this whole drama has proved is that inspite of  legal or legalistic justifications, Craigslist is still vulnerable to being found guilty in the court of public opinion. Playing Mr. Nice Guy comes at a big price.

In The Beginning Craig Newmark Created ….. Things were much simpler when Craig started his little website  in 1995. The community then was a rag-tag collectivity of San Francisco friends, acquaintances and fellow geeks  that he cobbled into a social network through a humble e-mail list.  The list  advertised local events,  shindigs and various forms of entertainment. That was long before the e-mail  list morphed into a burgeoning website plugging anything from computers to companionship.  And that  was about a decade and half before a med student named Philip Markoff would instantly be dubbed the Craigslist Killer,  for allegedly killing an escort he found through the  Boston metro Craigslist. The name stuck like crazy glue while a coterie of lawmen from Massachussetts to South Carolina started circling the San Francisco upstart like famished great whites.

Craigslist’s response to the crisis was as slow and shoddy as George Bush’s reaction to Hurricane Katrina. Someone at H.Q. should have sounded the alarm as to the seriousness of socio-legal as well as P.R. backlash in the wake of the Boston killing.  Fairly or unfairly, the fall-out from the Julissa Brisman death is gonna follow the San Francisco company’s  for a long time.

This is a strange dock for the reticent San Franciscan who would rather be battling spammers, seeding community enterprises or traversing the net as  Craigslist’s ambassador at large.  Jim Buckmaster, may be C.E.O. and  indispensable spokesperson in the current crisis, but Craig Newmark remains the heart and pulse of the organization. He may not be as savvy and smooth at dealing with the media at this juncture, but he is adapting and hewing to his best instincts, which is part of what made Craigslist what it is today.

Vignettes in progress:

A tale of two killings: The Julissa Brisman was not the first time someone had been killed through a connection made on Craigslist. (Google Katherine Ann Olson for a comparative case that raises interesting questions about how the current case is being treated. )The reading of what went into those transactions and placing of ultimate culpability is what has created the perfect firestorm engulfing Craigslist right now. Be that as it may, tales of Craigslist’s demise are just way too exaggerated. The insidious threat to Craigslist’s heart, mind and soul may lie more with spam and the possible up-ending its free ads platform than in the morality-laced debate convulsing the realm right now.

Is this the posture & mask of a killer? Philip Markoff in Boston Municipal Court, on April 21, 2009. Shades of Jeffrey Dahmer? Time will tell ....

The Phillip Markoff Story (A possibly chilling vignette straight out of a Coen brothers flick): The break in the Julissa Brisman case came hours after police released new security camera photos showing a clean-cut, 6-foot-tall man casually fingering his Blackberry as he non-chalantly walked to and from around the scene of three crime scenes.  Was this sheer coincidence or evidence of murderer in action? Was the casual mien the tell-tale sign of a cold-blooded killer?

The exterior presentation reminded people of another cold-blooded killer from a different generation; Ted Bundy, the serial killer who charmed his way into the confidence of many a young woman. The possibility that Philip Markoff could have been another Ted Bundy in the making is extremely unsettling. Killers who look clean-cut and normal are more unsettling than two-headed monsters.

Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? Markoff as preppy med student suits up. The possibility that he was Mr, Hyde in the making is scarier than the stuff of Friday the 13th.

The portrait of Philip Markoff  coming into slow focus is a Rorschach of sorts. What you get depends on who you talk to:

His then fiance, Megan McAllister, first described him as  “beautiful in and out.” The rosy portrayal may have been the wilful act of a woman in probable denial. She has since backed off her support in tortured press releases through her attorney. The bottom line is that she has shelved plans  to marry the young med student.

Some of the few friends Markoff had have described him as smart but geeky and awkward at times. They say he had  a goofy smile and was often the butt of collegial jokes. A female pre-med associate, who fought off  his aggressive sexual advances one drunken evening, describes him as ” very intelligent but definitely lacking in some social skills.” (Was Philip Markoff Leading a Double Life? 48 Hours Mystery)

The 48 Hours special, “Seven Days of Rage: The Craigslist Killer” fleshes out this story further.

Craigslist: A Victim of its own success spiked with  schadenfreude?

The sense that Craigslist is perhaps being singled out for sober behandlung is not imaginary (Backpage.com adult entertainment for years mined the same raunchy terrain that CL did.) But that choice may have been  influenced more by Craigslist’s popularity and efficacy than anything else.  In other words Craigslist has probably become a victim of its own success in terms of its high penetration of major metro markets and upending of  the older, more costly old media. Read that newspapers, magazines and weeklies.  The ill-will that Craigslist has created is no doubt creating waves of  schadenfreude, not only within the old media, but sleazy Craigslist wannabes that are chomping at the bit to monetize what they see as a highly lucrative market.

Be that as it may, the practical indictment of the Craigslist flagging regime in Erotic Services hints at some of the shortcomings users have been carping about in other sections of Craigslist. Will this lead to the throwing out of baby with the bathwater as  more moderated/paid postings take out the freedom and instantaneity out of posting that made Craigslist such a hit with users?  

copyright© 2009 cyberaxis.wordpress.com

Appendices:

“Craigslist Killer Phillip Markoff Commits Suicide” (ABC News)

Craigslist Killer Gets Arrested – 2 CBS News Interviews    (CBS, Youtube)

Craigslist strikes adult services under pressure (Christopher Leonard, Associated Press)

Craigslist computer and electronic classifies in new york and san francisco under bot spam attacks (Cyberaxis)

Scapegoating Craigslist is not going to solve the problem of underage prostitution (Don Hazen, AlterNet.Org)

Spam-and-scam artists attacking Craigslist computer/electronic classifieds for Chinese websites

“Barton understood the common denominator in people –  that most people can be appealed to at their basic core:  Greed.” (MSNBC American Greed)

A chintzy internet scam with apparent ties to the Chinese mainland seems to be metastasizing throughout the web while attacking Craigslist world-wide with bot generated spam. But in the wider scheme of things, Craigslist doesn’t seem to be the only target. Reports from the web indicate that the racket runs the whole gamut from computers to colon cleansing concoctions. Backed by flashy-but-trashy looking websites, and the promise of electronics and designer doodads for the price of a song, the scam is spawning new websites,  even as old ones get shut down or compromised by internet watchdogs.

Craigslist.Org H.Q. in San Francisco, CA: The free ads upstart that has become carrion for internet spam-and-scam vultures. The irony of this is that these vultures would have nothing to feed on if Craigslist had no wherewithal to restrain them and thereby sustain itself and the vibrant marketplace it has engendered.

The Ultimate Perplex: Despite what one would consider common sense on top of prominent warnings by Craigslist and anti-scam websites, people are still being scammed and ripped off with promises of cheap electronics, shoes, clothes, and accessories. And by cheap we mean goods that are being advertised at 33% of what they would otherwise cost in a legit store.

The trend boggles the mind until one realizes that the scammers are relying on the greed, ignorance and the relative naivety of internet newbies  to provide them with a fresh “meat”. And they increase their chances by spawning more websites and spamming everything from Craigslist classifieds to its community forums. This  trend represents a subversion of internet-driven entrepreunerialism (characterized by low overheads) and Chris Anderson’s long tail economics.

Cyberaxis first became aware of the growing problem in early February of 2009 when evidence of spam-and-scam infiltration became highly visible on the computers and electronic classifieds of the New York and San Francisco webpages of Craigslist. There has since been evidence of an ebb and flow to the infiltration with Craigslist and the spammers deploying measures and counter-measures  with varying degrees of success.

Craigslist is (a bit) like the old Soviet Union. They rule with an iron fist of censorship but they are also slow to respond.  (Kokomo, CL Apple/Mac Forums 11/03/09)

To date, company sources and analysts say spam has just been a nuisance, but  the implications of even moderate success on the part of spammers can have ominous implications for Craigslist.   Check out “Inside Craigslist’s Increasingly Complex Battle Against Spammers” by John Nagle.  Could this be the Capitalist’s revenge by proxy?

The Two-headed Monster – Spamming & Scaming:  Spam is nothing new to Craigslist but there is a difference between spamming and jamming. Spamming debases the Craigslist user experience by filling the classifieds with redundant, useless or non-local ads. And jamming takes it to a whole new level by flooding local classifieds with spam to a point where the locals almost give up on finding local ads because of the need to wade through endless spam crap to get to them.

This should be the first tip-off as to the motives of  spammers currently jamming the  New York computer/electronic classifieds and trying their darndest to infiltrate the flagship San Francisco website.

To get a perspective on things, you really have to think like a local who just wants to buy a used widget from your neighbor Bob or someone across town.  Now given that scenario, are you gonna trust a spammer, two continents removed, just because they are selling a MacBook Pro for the price of a song? Are you gonna trust someone who doesn’t leave you or your neighbor Bob  space to advertise your wares in your own local classifieds? Hold onto the  thought if you haven’t gotten the gist of this yet.

Letter to Cyberaxis from Craigslist user, Jay, 11/06/09

I have just been scammed by these A$$H01E$!! at http://myelecshops.com/ !!

I knew that it was to good to be true before I did it, but I decided to gamble anyway. Well, I lost.  After I sent the required $300 to them, I received an e-mail saying that they had received the maximum amount of money for the year, and  could not accept any more Western Union payments.  So I went to Western Union and they said  they couldn’t  do anything  about it at that point.

I am not complaining because I knew going into this that this was probably too good to be true. Don’t do like I did. Please follow the old advice; “If it seems to be good to be true,  it usually is.”

Jay, Craigslist User, (See other  responses at end this article)

The spammers currently attacking Craigslist have been reported to be scammers,  and with each wave of bot-generated spam, they have become emboldened to the point of rubbing Craigslist’s nose in it.  (And Craigslist, which seemed caught up in its own annus horribilis with the Phillip Markoff/Julissa Brisman cause celebre,  seemed relatively powerless to do anything at the time. We could not blame them. The legal, human and P.R. stakes associated with the  case were just too high to ignore. But we digress.) The scammers involved in the current attack on Craigslist seem to be based in China, the location of scam website servers notwithstanding.  (The actual servers could actually be off-shore or anywhere in the world.) The  waxing-and-waning evidence seems all over the New York computer/electronic classifieds.

The  San Francisco computer/electronic classifieds have not yet succumbed to the onslaught because of the vigilance of the flagging community in San Francisco. But the flaggers will,  sooner or later,  need more than a wish and a prayer from Craigslist before flagger-fatigue sets in. The section intermittently gets cornered, with sporadic breaches  being made, especially at night when the flagging hordes are asleep. There is always the hypothetical chance of the site being over-run (like the New York or Toronto sites at points in the past) which would be the cyber-equivalent of the parasite killing the host.

UPDATE (As of 8/23/09) Whether the recovery/cleaning up of the New York website is the result of new CL filters or more aggressive flagging on the part of New York Craigslisters  is not yet clear. Bottom-line: The problem persists. There is also new evidence as of October 2009, of the Toronto computer classifieds being hit.

The big question: Now if spam-and-scam artists can hit Craigslist at will like this, what is there to stop the anti-Craigslist lobby from hitting it across the board with nonsense postings just to undermine its free ads platform and promote competing schemes? (Read that monetized alternatives.)

Think of the Craigslist user in affected areas. Where do they go right now if they want to browse or post in the computers and or electronics section? Get the point?

Partial list  Craigslist sites that have been hit: (Look for this to change from time to time)

San Francisco Computers and Electronics Classifieds

New York Computers and Electronics Classifieds

Los Angeles Computers and Electronics Classifieds

Chicago Computers and Electronics Classifieds

Atlanta Computers and Electronics Classifieds

Boston Computers and Electronics Classifieds

Toronto Computers Classifieds

You can usually identify the scam ads by the unusually low prices and idiosyncratic or nonsensical location information. The write-ups are usually cut and dried and look like they were copied and pasted from product write-ups from company or manufacturer web pages. They are done in about the same style and layout.

Blanket Warning to Craigslist Users: Do not send money to these spammers-and-scammers. Check out a verbatim post out of Miami Dade Craigslist:

________________________________________________________

south florida craigslist > miami / dade > computers & tech

Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally! Beware any deal involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer, cashier check, money order, shipping, escrow, or any promise of transaction protection/certification/guarantee . More info

DO NOT WIRE MONEY  TO JIANHUAN GUAN FROM WWW.SERVICE158.COM. IT’S A SCAM (CHINA)

---

Reply to: sale-ktyrz-1137774825@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]} Date: 2009-04-24, 10:14AM EDT
http://www.service158.com is a scam. I wired hundreds of dollars on purchases from their website they only accept wires so I wired them the money I never heard from them ever again and they never sent my products it was a scam! If you see their posting flag them we have to keep them out of our craigslist community and if anybody by the name of JianHuan Guan asks you to wire money to him/her do not do it this was the person that scammed me. He might had changed the website name because other people have also posted that they’ve been scammed by this same seller. He can change his website name and even his fake American name he use as a representative JianHuan Guan calls himself Chris but his real name cannot be changed because wires require you use a government ID to prove your identity in order to claim money wired to him and his real name is JianHuan Guan! Do not wire a penny to him he’s a scammer with a professional website that doesn’t send what you purchased from him.

• Location: CHINA
• it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 1137774825          Copyright © 2009 craigslist, inc.

_____________________________________________________

Craigslist Spam and Scam List: Please do not buy from or interact with these scammers! The contact information of these apparent spam-and-scam websites is maintained here as cautionary registry. Please do your own research via Google and other search engines to reach your own conclusions.

The New Hide & Seek Trick: While most will put out their contact information right inside the ad, a few have started withholding that information in the hope that you will reply to their baited ads with your true e-mail address. Some newer websites are posting without phone numbers or physical addresses or what passes for them.

Notice how they use the same chintzy template. Someone who is really familiar with China should do some basic research into the addresses presented on this list and do a corresponding write-up. Some, if not all, are probably fake or made up, but it would be interesting to find out from someone who is familiar with the lay of the land.

Please have updated security and anti-malware software before clicking on these websites, if at all. (You can get free versions of AVG or Avira Antivir from the web as part of your security net.) Some of the spam-and-scam websites on Craigslist have have been reported by Google as attack websites – which is really  great public service. See the Google advisory on Safe Browsing towards the end of this post. And FYI, you can read more about malware and virus disseminating websites at stopbadware.org and related site you can find via Google.

Please Note:  Most of these websites may be now be defunct as the result of being jammed or closed down by official or unofficial action.

1. http://www.rich-deal.com (Probably defunct)
MSN:r.ichdeal@hotmail.com”>r.ichdeal@hotmail.com
Email:r.ichdeal@yahoo.com”>r.ichdeal@yahoo.com
Address: No. 88 East of Quinghua’s Rd
Haidian District, Beijing, China.
Tel: 0086-010-83270641

2. http://www.service158.com/ (Probably defunct)
MSN: service.158@hotmail.com
Mail: servce188@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-83250647
Address: 2307 Yuanyangshiji, Haidian District.
Beijing, China.
Tel: 0086-010-83250647

3.  http://bargaineb.com/ (Probably defunct)
Address: No. 108 YuanYangKeji Haidian District
Beijing, China.
MSN: bargaineb@hotmail.com
Mail: bargaineb@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-86199634

4.  http://ebchain.com/ (Probably defunct)
Address: No. 108 YuanYangKeji Haidian District,
Beijing, China.
MSN: ebchain@hotmail.com
Mail: e.bchain@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-83270634

5.  http://iseller168.com/ (Probably defunct)
Address: Room 2018, SongGang Mansion,
Bao An District Guangdon 518105, China.
MSN: iseller1688@hotmail.com
Email: iseller1688@hotmail.com
Tel: 0086-010-86263601

6.  http://captin-b2b.com/ (Probably defunct)
Address: No. 2307 Yuanyangshiji Haidian District,
Beijing,  China.
MSN: captin-b2b@hotmail.com
E-mail: c.aptinb2b@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-81863897

7.  http://olx118.com/ (Probably defunct)
Address: Room 2013, Zhongguancun Mansion,
Hai Dian District Beijing 100088, China
MSN: olx118@hotmail.com
Email: olx118@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-86263601

8.  http://export-sell.com/ (Probably defunct)
Address: No 2307 Yuanyangshiji Haidian District,
Beijing, China.
MSN: export-sell@hotmail.com
E-mail: e.xportsell@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-81898105

9. http://www.tutvw.com/ (Probably defunct)
MSN: tutvw@hotmail.com
Email: tu.tv_w@yahoo.com
Address: No. 118 Dongshong Street,
East City Region, Beijing, China.
Tel: 0086-010-81155361
Tel: 0086-010-86360794

10. http://www.wto198.com/
MSN: wto-198@hotmail.com
Address: No 2 Donghuan Road, Tai Hu Town,
TongZhou, Beijing, China
Tel: 0086-0377-66978060
Tel: 0086-010-89869000
Address: No 24 198 Lane, Silk Factory Road,
Nanyang City, Henan Province, Beijing, China.

11. http://www.ebay188.com/ (Probably defunct)
Address: Room 2018, SongGang Masion, Bao An District,
Guangdon 518105, China.
MSN: e.bay188.com
Email: e.bay188@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-86263601

12. Webpage: http://www.hi8888.com/ (Probably defunct)
Address: Room 2018,  SongGang Mansion,
Bao An District, Guangdong 518105, China
E-mail/MSN: hi88.88@hotmail.com
MSN: laptops.8@hotmail.com or electronics8@hotmail.com
Tel: 0086-010-86263601

13.www.stores-seller.com (Probably defunct)
http://www.stores-seller.com/
MSN: stores.seller@hotmail.com
E-mail: s.toresseller@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-85925754
Address: No. 108 YuanYangKeJi,
Haidian District, Beijing China.

14. www.fair-cheap.com (Probably defunct)
http://www.fair-cheap.com/productinfo.asp?id=5956
MSN: faircheap@hotmail.com
E-mail: faircheap@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-85925784
Address: No. 108 YuanYangkeji
Haidian District, Beijing, China

15.www.store-hot.com (Probably defunct)
http://www.store-hot.com/
MSN: store.hot@hotmail.com
E-mail:s.torehot@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-859265
Address: No 10 Huayuandonglu,
Haidian District, Beijing, China.

16. www.well-deals.com (Probably defunct)
http://www.well-deals.com/
MSN: welldeals@hotmail.com
E-mail: welldeals@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-85925765
Address: No 118 Dongzhong St.
East City Region, Beijing, China.

17.  http://www.yebyshop.com/ (Probably defunct)
Address: No. 108 YuanYankeji
Haidian District, Beijing, China
Tel: 0086-010-85925754
MSN: yebyshop@hotmail.com
E-mail: yebyshop@yahoo.com

18.  www.etcvictor.com (Apparently defunct)
MSN: etcvictor@hotmail.com
Mail: etc victor@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-85925797

19. www.fair118.com (Apparently defunct)
MSN: fair118@hotmail.com
E-mail: fair_118@yahoo.com
20.  www.buy-2009.com
MSN: buy-2009@msn.com
Email: buy2009@188.com
Address: Room 2013 Zhongguancun Mansion,
Hai Dian District, BeiJing 100088, China

21.www.latest-sell.com (Probably defunct)
MSN: latest-sell@hotmail.com
Email: latest.sell@yahoo.com
Address: Room 2013, Zhongguancun Mansion,
Hai Dian District, BeiJing 100088, China

22. http://www.ripe-deal.com/ (Probably defunct)
MSN: ripedeal@hotmail.com
MAIL: ripedeal@yahoo.com
TEL: 0086-010-85926554
Address: No. 88 East of Qinghua’s Road,
Haidian District, Beijing, China

23. http://www.sage-buy.com (This  has been reported as an attack website.)
MSN: sagebuyl@hotmail.com
MAIL: ripedeal@yahoo.com
TEL: 0086-010-89887994

Newer Websites

24. http://toptog.com/company.asp?id=5
Business Manager: Amy Chen
Business MSN: toptog2008@hotmail.com
E-mail: toptog2008@gmail.com
Notice the lack of purported brick-and-mortar address or phone number. This is a new twist.

File this non-electronic website one under “highly suspect” for not having a physical address and a phone number (verified or otherwise) and relentlessly spamming Craigslist forums  on top of  steering prospective “customers” towards questionable payment schemes without a verified brick and mortar location or verified professional association. the same shady payment schemes.  This website is listed as a spammer at blacklisted.spambag.org. Their supposed “sales people” offer extra discounts if you buy lots of stuff and  send your money via Western Union . Automatic red flag right there!

They do take credit cards even though they try and steer new customers towards Paypal (Another red flag). Their credit card information window asks you to give  out all your information, which can lead to an outright rip-off or identity theft when you are dealing with a company that does not have a verified physical address, phone number or professional affiliation. You are basically sending your vital credit information to a nameless, faceless company, thousands and thousands of miles removed from home.

25. http://www.35usd.com/index.asp
Company:      TANGCHAO Trading Co. Ltd
ADD: FUZHOU ,FUJIAN,CHINA
MSN :     love35usd@hotmail.com
Email:  love35usd@gmail.com
(Please note that this website has the same model and scheme as http://www.toptog.com)

Here is their payment instruction for 35usd.com quoted verbatim, typos and all:

In order to protect our customer’s interest and avoice scame, we  accept paypal as payment. If you want pay by Western Union,pls contact our live chat  to get our payment info,then you need to do:
1. Find a local client of Western Union. You can visit http://www.westernunion.com , on which you will know how to do and where your local agent of western union.
2. Fill our information of Western Union in a Tabel and send the money.
3. After you send the money,you will be given a receipt,in which you will see the MTCN (Money Transfer Control No.). Please tell me the MTCN.That will be OK.

26.  http://www.waredeal.com/
Address: No 10 Huayuandonglu Haidian District,
Beijing, China,
Tel: 0086-010-89887994
MSN: waredeal@hotmail.com
E-mail: ware_deal@yahoo.com

27. 27. http://www.mutualshops.com/
Address: No. 108 YuanYangKeji, Haidian District,
Beijing, China
MSN: mutualshops@hotmail.com
E-mail: mutualshops@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-85926585

28. http://www.deal-bar.com/
Address: No. 3 Dongzhimen South St.
Dongcheng District, Beijing, China
MSN: deal-bar@hotmail.com
E-mail: dealbar1888@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-85926578

29.   http://www.tops-bargain.com/
Address: No 10 Huayuandonglu Haidian District,
Beijing, China, Tel: 0086-010-85925797
MSN: topsbargain@hotmail.com
E-mail: topsbargain@yahoo.com

30.  http://www.eshoppingsky.com
MSN: eshoppingsky@hotmail.com
MAIL: eshoppingsky@yahoo.com
TEL: 0086-010-85925764
NOTE: There is no physical address given (for what its worth).

31.  www.happyuse.com (Probably defunct)
MSN: happyuse6@hotmail.com
E-MAIL: happyuse6@yahoo.com
Tel: 0086-010-86263601

32.  www.elecstrading.com
MSN: electstrading@hotmail.com
E-MAIL: elecstrading@yahoo.com

33. http://richshoping.com/

MSN: richshoping@hotmail.com

E-mail: richshping@yahoo.com

Tel: 0086-010-81818073

Address: No 13, HuaYuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China

33.    http://goalprofit.com/

Address: No. 6 Chaowai Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China

Tel: 0086-010-89183742

E-mail:  goalprofit@yahoo.com

MSN: goalprofit@hotmail.com

34.  http://choicestbuy.com/

Address: No 3A Dongzhimen South Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China

Tel: 0086-010-89155346

MSN: choicestbuy@hotmail.com

E-mail: choicesbuy@yahoo.com

35.  http://firm-deals.com/

Tel: 0086-010-86177041

MSN: firmdeals@hotmail.com

E-mail: firmdeals@yahoo.com

36.   http://vividsshop.com/

Mail: vividsshop@yahoo.com

MSN: vividsshop@hotmail.com

Tel: 0086-010-86350394

Address: No 36 North Third Ring Road East, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China.

The names of these fraudulent websites may change but their basic modus operandi remains the same. They are virtual copies of each other (Same or similar software & interface). We wouldn’t be surprised if they are put up by the same individual or group of individuals. Look for new ones to crop up as older ones get outed, busted or closed down.

Red flags & some useful pointers for investigating these scam websites:

1. Check  prices of  goods being advertised. If they are too good to be true, they probably are.  Remember behind every bait-and-switch scam is a naked hook. The real catch they are angling for is your money.

2. Check the Whois database for the names, places and contact information associated with the company and or website. What e-mails are associated with the website? Are they free e-mail accounts from Yahoo or Hotmail?(Red flag right there. Reputable companies tend to have company e-mail tied into company websites and domains. Fly-by-night scamsters tend to rely on free e-mails which they can dispose of on the fly.)

3. Check the period of registration in the Whois database. Is it a long-term registration or simply a one year registration? (Red flag. Fly by night scamsters opt for shorter registrations to allow them to ditch any website that gets outed.)

4. Check the preferred method of payment for goods. Requests to wire money or use Western Union made out to an individual as opposed to a company should be an instant red flag. Craigslist clearly warns people against the Western Union moneygram thing.

5. Check Google for other reports and reviews about the company, including what Google has archived in cache form. If the collective reports are negative, hold onto your money as onto Jesus.

6. Google “Chinese scams” and read up on the reports of different kinds of scams being perpetrated. It may be  a cliche, but yes, knowledge is power.

While at it, here are more tips for verifying the authenticity of a company in China (even though language may be  something of a limiting factor):

http://resources.alibaba.com/topic/17530/Tips_for_you_to_verify_Chinese_companies_.htm

7.  Check the status of the website your are researching on sites like www.sitetruth.com.

8. Finally, any company that is unscrupulous enough to spam Craigslist the way these Chinese websites have spammed Craigslist is probably not gonna be scrupulous about not screwing  you out of your money. Their eggregious intrusions speak volumes about their ethics and concerns for the locals beyond their shores.

The Wider World of Spam and Scam-ology: The Postini map below shows that  scam’s are a world wide phenomenon with continental and regional clusters with common characteristics. They  spread quickly within regional underworlds. The Chinese model targets people in ways that are  somewhat different from the Nigerian and European scams. The use of a crude but flashy website with unbelievably low prices, represents a sub-type that has metastasized quickly among operatives on or off the mainland. (Where mutual greed is involved, language and or cultural barriers are rarely a deterrent. European and Nigerian scammers have proved that beyond a shadow of doubt.)

The spam-and-scam list on this blog is thus  a minuscule tip of the iceberg. For more information on the wider world of  Chinese scammers please check out these two websites:

1. “The bigger list of Chinese Scams”:

http://www.firetrust.com/en/blog/chris/the-bigger-list-of-chinese-scams

Scroll down to the bottom of the page for an exhaustive list of scam websites that have been included for one reason or another. The criteria are mentioned in the article. This list is very helpful as a starting point of your own research. Caveat: The  “Firetrust.Com” webpate is  linked to a commercial product called “Sitehound“  which is  an anti-scamming toolbar. It comes in two versions: The basic version which is free and the enhanced version which  is being sold for $29.95.  We are not necessarily endorsing this product. You can read up on it on Google and make up your own mind as to  whether it is a valuable investment to you.

2. Fraud Watchers website:

http://www.fraudwatchers.org/

3.  Scam-checker website

http://scamchecker.net/website-scam-checklist.html

4.  Have security software on your computer that will detect attack  sites that may have malicious ware downloaded onto your computer without your knowledge. One such site that was blocked by Google for suspicious activity in September of 2009 was  sage-buy.com.

Please Note: We will update this list as new websites and contact information becomes available. Meanwhile, you can read the other  Cyberaxis article on the spam-and-scam problem here.

World spam activity map. Source: Postini Inc.

copyright© 2009 cyberaxis.wordpress.com

Appendices:

Feds seize 150 websites in counterfeit crackdown (Alicia Caldwell, Associated Press – USA Today, November 28, 2011)

 

China Scams (Hobotraveler.Com) Reported examples of people scammed.

How to check a Chinese scam site

Craigslist computer and electronic classifieds in New York San Francisco under bot spam attacks (Cyberaxis)

Beware of Craigslist Scams: CBS Video

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4858957n

Chinese Scammers Launch New Offensive by Lain Thompson

Inside Craigslist’s Increasingly Complicated Battle Against Spammers

Internet Crime Complaint Center

My mental migration to Apple is almost complete …

I have loaded up on the supplies I need to make the transition to the land that Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne built; a couple of PC laptops with Windows XP to tide me over to the next generation of  Macbooks; the much anticipated2009  laptop and desktop incarnations with Snow Leopard OSX. My two aging PC desktops will not be replaced by anything that runs Microsoft on it. Been there. Done that.

A single block of aluminum.

Windows Vista was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I would not buy any machine that had Windows Vista on it. I would not cross that craggly line. Remember the eons it took to get Windows XP stable with daily doses of updates and hot fixes by IV. Been there. Done that.

Sans the monopolies and heavy-handed ways, Microsoft is the high tech equivalent of the domestic auto industry. Its penchant for conducting  software research and development on the backs of hapless customers is the epitome of cynicism that should be actionable. I will not be a part of that anymore.

I have consulted my crystal ball. The stars are lining up for Apple. Says John Martellaro of ZDNET:

“Recent presentations from  Microsoft strategists have focused on the Surface input technology and software as a service (SaS). The problem is that neither of these pie-in-the-sky approaches remotely address the needs of users.

Microsoft’s new approach vaguely reminiscent of the days when Mark Andreessen said that Netscape is the OS, no need for Windows. Microsoft may now believe that after all.

“Apple’s strategy, in contrast, recognizes that users not only view content but create it. The faster the desktop client experience is in doing that, the better the overall experience for the user. In fact, Apple’s vision of the desktop as an elegant digital hub has never wavered.” John Martellaro, ZDNET

The next two years  are  gonna represent a watershed epoch in the  Microsoft versus Apple war.  Mark my words.

copyright© 2009 cyberaxis.wordpress.com

Craigslist computer and electronic classifieds in New York and San Francisco under spam-and-scam attacks!

In the face of unrelenting  spam-and-scam attacks of the computer/electronic classifieds in super metro areas like  New York and  San Francisco, what does Craigslist have up its sleeve to combat these virulent onslaughts?

We here at  Cyberaxis first broached this story after we noticed an unrelenting campaign of spam flooding the New York and San Francisco classifieds from China.  The spammers were posting with impunity bordering on contempt. (We first noticed this around February of 2009, but  it is highly probable that they started much earlier. Craigslist has not responded to our queries.)  The spammers’ prodigious output was swamping the computers and electronics classifieds and affecting Craigslist users’ ability to find local items for sale. If nothing happens in the next couple of months the San Francisco computers and electronics classifieds section might just go down like the New York one – the micro-equivalent of the parasite killing the host. (See the “Update” appendix at the end of this post.)

The big question: Now if spam-and-scam artists can hit Craigslist at will like this, what is there to stop Craigslist haters  (or their operatives) from hitting it across the board with nonsense postings just to undermine its free ads platform as a means of promoting their own schemes? Think of the Craigslist user in San Francisco, Los  Angeles, New York, Chicago and Atlanta. Where do they go right now if they want to browse or post in the computers and or electronics section? Get the point?

Updated list of  other U.S.  Craigslist Sites that are increasingly being hit: (As of 05/12/09)

San Francisco Computers and Electronics Classifieds

New York Computers and Electronics Classifieds

Los Angeles Computers and Electronics Classifieds

Chicago Computers and Electronics Classifieds

Atlanta Computers and Electronics Classifieds

Boston Computers and Electronics Classifieds

Major Warning to Craigslist Users: Now it turns out that this spam is most probably linked to an unsophisticated but effective wire scam, if a post out of the Miami Dade  ads computers & tech section is anything to go by.

Please see a copy of the post and vital anti-scam  information here:

cyberaxis.wordpress.com/2009/05/03/spam-and-scam-artists-attacking-craigslist-computerelectronic-classifieds-for-chinese-websites/

Do people who send money to unknown businesses when the conspicuous warning on Craigslist is clearly against that deserve to be scammed? The answer is yes with a qualified no. With very minimal exceptions, people should not be sending their hard earned money to strangers even on a websites  as well known as eBay.

The Chinese spammers on Craigslist  have been using location blurbs like “Come on baby ….. Shengcunyishangshenghuoyixia” or “Beijing, Beijing” (a sardonic play on New York, N.Y.) in an apparent attempt  to  taunt  Craigslist flaggers and moderators.  Spam is nothing new to Craigslist, but this recent onslaught seems to be unrelenting in a way that raises a lot of questions.

Could these barrages be  probes by tech emboldened bandits to test the integrity of Craigslist’s anti-spam  system? Could they be trying to see how the automated  and human assisted controls (flagging and moderation) can withstand unrelenting attacks. Could Los Angeles, Dallas, and Washington D.C.  be next? The current attacks seem to go beyond simple attempts to con people  out of their money. The brazenness seems to speak to a certain desire to prove something to Craigslist.

Partners in "crime" of free advertising for the people: Craigslist legend, Craig Newmark (left) and C.E.O. honcho Jim Buckmaster outside their humble San Francisco headquarters. Newmark's paradigm shattering ads coupled with user generated content hobbled newspaper advertising from coast to coast.

The Craigslist’s flagging system often seems overwhelmed and while the IT department has quite a few tools in its toolbox, like lowering the flagging threshold,  it doesn’t seem to be commensurately effective against the spam in question.  The ace up the attackers’ sleeve  seems  to be the  newer software  designed to game or bypass Craigslist controls. Craigslist’s ultimate threat of blocking IP addresses of spammers and or hackers doesn’t seem to even come close to fazing these guys.

Charging for posts in computers, as some have suggested  would have the salutary effect it has had in real estate, employment and more recently the erotic section, but as a more global strategy,  it would threaten the very attribute that has distinguished Craigslist from its competitors, namely, free advertising.

The influx of spam from  off-shore operatives  also threatens the local focus of Craigslist websites which are really  independent location-based sites linked by a sub-domain. The mantra to “deal locally with folks you can meet in person” has, for the most part, served Craigslist well and minimized the scams that have wracked eBay over the years.

The law of unintended consequences: Even before the closure of the much maligned Erotic Services, there had been a glaring irony in all of this. In November of 2008, Craigslist had caved into pressure from law enforcement and associated groups by instituting a screening process which required credit card and telephone number verification, not to mention the then new $5 per post charge. The concession was meant to help police in their investigation of illegal activities like the exploitation of minors.

However the unintended effect of this that it immunized the Erotic Services section from eggregious spam while the more up-and-up electronic and computer classifieds were left to fend for themselves.   None of the  religious-cum-law-and-order types  had seen this coming.

Evolution of the Beast: The technology to defeat Craigslist’s controls have  been evolving faster than Craigslist’s  ability to deal with it.  But the problem goes beyond Craigslist, which is a bit downstream when compared with web and  e-mail giants like Yahoo, Google and MSN and Hotmail. The collapse of CAPTCHA sometime early in 2008  did not bode well even  for downstream  operations like Craigslist which relies on CAPTCHA derived controls to distinguish human posters from automated or bot posters. Be that as it may, conspiracy theorists have already started speculating about who may be behind the more recent onslaught against Craigslist, which certainly does not have a shortage of enemies, within and without, if you get my drift.

The Tech World article by Steven J. Nichols-Vaughn (Computerworld U.S. ) zeroes in on this problem:

“It’s not just free email sites that can be made to suffer, though.

John Nagle, founder of SiteTruth, a site that tries to identify bogus businesses and their websites, wrote in late May on Techdirt that while spam on the popular online classified ad service Craigslist “has been a minor nuisance for years … this year, the spammers started winning and are taking over.”

Craigslist tried “to stop spamming by checking for duplicate submissions,” Nagle explained. “They check for excessive posts from a single IP address. They require users to register with a valid email address. They added a CAPTCHA to stop automated posting tools. And users can flag postings they recognise as spam.”

According to Nagle, waxing sarcastic, “Several commercial products are now available to overcome those little obstacles to bulk posting. A tool called CL Auto Posting Tool is one such product. It not only posts to Craigslist automatically, it has built-in strategies to overcome each Craigslist anti-spam mechanism.”

It’s not the only one. There are, he added, “other desktop software products [such as] AdBomber and Ad Master. For spammers preferring a service-oriented approach, there’s ItsYourPost.” The result? “The defenses of Craigslist have been overrun. Some categories on Craigslist have become over 90 percent spam. The personals sections were the first to go, then the services categories, and more recently, the job postings.”

Of course, you don’t have to pay anything. There are now free CAPTCHA crackers available online.

Craigslist is fighting back. The organisation is now using phone verification for some ads. Crackers, in return, are working on a way to break Craigslist’s phone defences. With combat costs mounting, it’s hard to see how Craigslist, which has always been a free service, can continue to survive with its no-visible-means-of-revenue model.

It’s not, as the Craigslist situation shows, that malicious email is the only problem coming from broken CAPTCHA security. Paul Wood, senior analyst at MessageLabs, a UK-based e-mail security company, says, “MessageLabs have already begun to see examples of spammers exploiting other techniques once they have bypassed the CAPTCHA of Google and Hotmail – for example, using Google Docs to create spam content and including the link in the spam email messages, evading traditional antispam techniques that rely on identifying known spam domains in URL.”

Steven J. Nichols-Vaughn Tech World article (Computerworld U.S.

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Update as of 4/25/09 (See spam-and-scam alert in main post):

The San Francisco “Computers and Tech” page seems to be  much more aggressive at beating back the waves of spam that are swamping its New York counterpart, especially at night. And the probable explanation for this has more to do with hyperactive user flagging than in-built spam controls (which are for the most part the same across all Craigslist  sites with the possible exception of flagging thresholds.)

SF Bay Area Craigslist is the local village market in the  Bay Area ever since its  its inception in 1995. Its presence is as built into the cityscape as the Golden Gate Bridge and the waterways that flow into its meandering bay. The locals are as protective of Craiglist as yokels are of the local village market.

The SF Bay Area Craigslist also happens to be the busiest  Craigslist websites on the planet. Period. “Touching” this website (figuratively speaking of course)  is like touching the edge of a fast-spinning mill wheel. This applies as much to legitimate users as to  spammers who try to swamp its classifieds.  It is interesting to marvel at this phenomenon, but Craigslist  clearly needs to come up with a more solid solution to the problem of spam. Flagger-fatigue can easily set in and leave the San Francisco website looking like New Orleans after hurricane Katrina.

copyright© 2009 cyberaxis.wordpress.com

World spam activity map. Source: Postini Inc.

Appendices(Related Reading):

Beware of Craigslist Scams: CBS Video

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4858957n

Chinese Scammers Launch New Offensive by Lain Thompson

Inside Craigslist’s Increasingly Complicated Battle Against Spammers

The New Microsoft PC Ads: As fake as Lauren’s red hair

“Microsoft needs to reset itself to compete in the 21st Century, which promises to be the most painful thing it has done in its decades-long existence.” Matt Asay, CNET

What boggles the collective mind more than anything else is why Microsoft never gets it right  when its corporate rump is on the line as in the internecine ad wars between it and Apple.  The more mystical among the Apple faithful might put it down to some kind of Cosmic Karma; an idea which has  as  good a chance as any  of taking root absent some plausible explanation as to why Microsoft shoots itself in the foot each and every time it squares off against the Cupertino-based challenger.

Let’s take the most recent example as a case in point: Microsoft’s “I’m a PC ad”  starring an actress named Lauren De Long,  masquerading as a hapless customer.

Hot Chickadee: Lauren De Long heating up (and warping) the rails in this form-fitting top and blue jeans. This appears to be a portfolio shot taken some time before the whimsical redhead morphed into Microsoft Lauren - fried frizzly hair and all.

The question of whether Lauren De Long has become the “Joe the plumber” of the ad wars between Microsoft and Apple is rhetorical at this point.  More than an unwitting dupe, Lauren is a giggly accomplice  in a ruse by a giant whose marketing ineptitude  is only matched by its tech foibles. Lauren wins free publicity.  Microsoft loses more credibility …. again.  Tell me something new. Yawn.

Ad Story Line: Lauren is a hapless customer  in search of  a 17 inch laptop below $1000 (an apparent dig at the 17 inch Macbook unibody which, at the time of the ad, was selling in excess of $2,500. The ad also refers to a $2000 Macbook Pro, versions of which have since been lowered to under $2000, thereby leading to threats of an Apple lawsuit which led Microsoft to cut out the reference to price in subsequent ads. What a war! What a war!)

Lauren suggests that she is going into an Apple Store, and appears to come out with nothing before finding a $699 HP laptop in a Best Buys-look-alike store. (Critics point out that there is no evidence that she actually went into that store which she wrongly identifies as a Mac store.)

When the  Lauren ads first hit the airwaves there was a collective gasp and stir,  similar to when Sarah Palin  first hit the national stage in the 2008 presidential election. Perhaps Microsoft had gotten it right this time people thought! But the problem of the new ad soon became apparent: The sales pitch was not as finely tuned as to compare  apples with Apples and the customer  in the ad was as fake as a vaudevillian in classic black face.  Lauren won’t even tell the world how well she fared with  her $699 laptop,  thanks to a non-disclosure agreement she signed with Microsoft and or the advertiser.  Oi Vei!

The new campaign by Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Interesting name, that Mr. Bogusky) is a curious echo of the Chunky Charlie MS Butterfly campaign by McCann Erickson Worldwide. After making crappy, buggy software, does Microsoft  look for the worst ad agencies to plug its crappy softwares? Don’t answer that.

The problems with the Microsoft Lauren campaign are so myriad we will not count all the ways:

1.  Do not lie to people. If you are gonna use randomly chosen customers off of Craigslist, make  sure you do just that. Nothing complicated here. That, in and of itself, would have eliminated  Lauren, at least by dint of  the integrity.  Did we say integrity?

2.  If you want to project  genuineness, pick a natural redhead with a clean coif. Lauren De Long looked like she had been attacked by the a feral cat before her dye job had had a chance to be dried.

3.  Competing on price and price alone is the equivalent of (Microsoft and its PC cohorts) throwing in the towel on the issue of quality, style, value and ease of use in its fight with Apple.  Think the computer equivalent of the domestic vs foreign autos debate. Just as in the latter, there is a reason why Macs sell and hold their value better than PCs.

4.  Microsoft insults people’s intelligence with the Lauren argument. There are more factors (that go into buying a laptop than mere price. These include Microsoft’s product history. Think Microsoft’s  most recent  egg, the Vista operating system. Microsoft should be dealing with that instead of churning out terminally lame ads.

3. The Lauren ad  is all over the place with no  zinger of the order of “Where is the beef?”. By the time we get to the PC store scene, the ad is beginning to feel like a mini infomercial.

5. Lauren’s line, “I guess I am not cool enough for a Mac” is a contrived piece of  crap calculated to  wring the last dollop of mawkishness out of the gonzo script.

6. As the Geek Whisperer astutely points out, the ad inadvertently degrades the value of a PC by insinuating that “PCs are the computer you buy when times are rough… like now. But in the future the economy won’t be in the dumps (hopefully sooner than later).” Point made and case closed.

The Apple Insider’s take on this is interesting, if not instructive. Read this and be your own judge as to who is feeding you cant. You can read the entire article with vids, pics and graphs on the Apple Insider here:

“Shopping for hardware: The new ads don’t go into details on hardware purchases; they simply make the case that PC laptops can be found for cheaper, playing up tight funds in the tough economy. Best Buy actually does sell the DV7-1245DX, an HP notebook with 17″ screen, but it lacks fast wireless 902.11n, fast Gigabit Ethernet, digital audio inputs and outputs, weighs 7.75 pounds, and only features the screen resolution of Apple’s 15″ notebooks: 1440 by 900. Technically, it is a 17″ notebook in terms of size, but it doesn’t have the 17″ resolution of Apple’s MacBook Pro, which is 1920 by 1200.

One HP buyer pointed out that this model series “has the worst screen I have ever seen in my life. It’s the 1440×900 screen and the viewing angles are so poor that even when sitting directly eye level with the screen it is totally washed out. If I go a little bit off-axis the screen results in a negative image. I was using the default settings. Unfortunately I didn’t read reviews before i purchased.”

Shopping for software: More importantly however, the HP notebook runs Windows Vista, rated by ChangeWave as having the lowest operating system satisfaction rating in rankings that were led by Mac OS X Leopard and also included Linux and Windows XP. Many PC makers continue to add a “Windows XP downgrade” as a feature on their new PCs.

This makes it particularly interesting that Microsoft would advertise its product by citing the price of the hardware it runs on, rather than calling attention to any of the features in its own product. It’s not that Microsoft hasn’t tried. Vista’s first “Wow” campaign portrayed customers in a state of pleasant shock when using it.

Shopping for an ad campaign: After those ads collapsed in an avalanche of bad press complaining about arbitrary changes that did not improve anything and software and hardware compatibility problems, Microsoft rolled out the Mojave Experiment, which showed users a “new OS” that was really just a repackaged version of Vista. Those ads attempted to claim that Vista’s bad reputation was all due to customers not giving the system a fair shake, but the ads sidestepped the real problems users were experiencing by not allowing participants to run Vista on their own PC or with their existing software and peripherals.

Microsoft then announced a $300 million campaign to revive the Windows brand by associating it with skits featuring Gates and Seinfeld which promised to “tell the story of Windows.” Instead, the ads were canceled mid-production after being poorly received.

Following that, the company released a “Windows vs Walls” campaign reminiscent of Apple’s Think Different commercials, and then a series of “I’m a PC” ads that tried to defuse Apple’s Get a Mac spots by claiming that generic PCs were empowered to do anything, except of course, producing the ads themselves, as it was embarrassingly revealed that those ads were actually created using Macs.

Promoting cheap: Talking about price during a recession where the global PC market is actually shrinking for the first time ever is probably Microsoft’s best bet in trying to stem the tide of switchers buying Macs. However, the company has to be careful because it’s also competing against free software such as Ubuntu Linux, which also runs on generic PCs. In fact, those PCs get cheaper if they’re sold without Microsoft’s Windows, something the company has worked hard to prevent from happening. “

(Please Note: You can read the entire article with vids, pics and graphs on the Apple Insider here.)

Right next to reinventing itself from the guts, the Microsoft needs to sever its marketing and advertising arm along with crappy ad agencies  like McCann Erickson Worldwide,  and Crispin Porter + Bogusky. (For insightful analyses of Microsoft’s  foibles, articles by Gerry Patterson and Matt Asay under the “Appendices” heading below)

With a $300 million, budget, Microsoft  could have done way better. The CNN Money/ Fortune assumption that this lame campaign has put Apple on the defensive is terminally silly.

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Post Scriptum. To the bloggers who carp that these ad/PR campaigns are skewered, remember what’s good for the goose is even be better for the gander.

The Microsoft/PC  “bashing” ads, if you wanna call them that, have more than a ring of truth to them.  They are light-heartedly  funny, on top of being sharp, terse and extremely well produced. Watch them here and compare them with the droll Lauren clip.  And if that is not enough, go back to the equally droll and mind-numbingly abstruse   MS Butterfly campaign.

copyright© 2009 cyberaxis.wordpress.com

Appendices:

Microsoft to attack Mac pricing in new series of TV ad by Prince McLean (Apple Insider, March 26, 2009)

The Future Looks Bright for Microsoft? (Gerry Patterson, PGTS Journal)

Economy’s “fundamental reset” hurts Microsoft’s earnings and future (Matt Asay, CNET)