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recruiting dead peoplerecruiting dead peoplePosted Sep 22, 2005 0:32 UTC (Thu) by pjm (subscriber, #2080)Parent article: The return of Citizens Against Government Waste
The linked-to article does say at the end According to the Times, family members crossed out the names and signed for them. which suggests merely an out-dated mailing list rather than fraud on the part of CAGW. The article does mention Tuscon, Utah among an unspecified number/proportion of invalid return addresses, which is more suspicious (I'd have expected the signatory to have corrected the address), though these too are adequately explained by bad data and an inattentive etc. signatory rather than a made up signatory. The actions reported of ATL (deliberately giving the false impression that their letters were written individually) are deceitful and wrong; though I see no suggestion that CAGW were even knew of those actions, let alone were in any way responsible for them. In the interest of LWN credibility, I suggest (and indeed request) either removing the claim about recruiting dead people (perhaps replacing with funded in part by Microsoft), or link to some better evidence.
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recruiting dead people Posted Sep 22, 2005 1:07 UTC (Thu) by corbet (editor, #1) [Link] I just reworded it a bit, thanks.
recruiting dead people : the original Los Angeles Times Posted Sep 23, 2005 23:26 UTC (Fri) by NZheretic (guest, #409) [Link] Read the original Los Angeles Times ArticleThe Microsoft campaign goes to great lengths to create an impression that the letters are spontaneous expressions from ordinary people. Letters sent in the last month are on personalized stationery using different wording, color and typefaces, details that distinguish Microsoft's efforts from lobbying tactics that go on in politics every day. To quote Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch : "It's sleazy, This is not a company that appears to be bothered by ethical boundaries."
recruiting dead people : the original Los Angeles Times Posted Sep 24, 2005 13:12 UTC (Sat) by pjm (subscriber, #2080) [Link] Clarification: the block that NZheretic quotes refers to the letters written by Americans for Technology Leadership (ATL), whereas the letters of Citizens Against Government Waste (the group under discussion here) were identical except for the signature. Neither article claims that Citizens Against Government Waste were aware of or responsible for ATLs (reprehensible) letters. We can say that CAGW and ATL are each funded in part by Microsoft.
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