Statement on MN Senate Race
I would like to begin by apologizing to the Klobuchar campaign for placing the organization under inappropriate scrutiny and diverting the public from the issues that are important in this campaign.
This campaign should be about the issues that are important to Minnesotans. This is not one of those issues.
Several days ago, after Mark Kennedy’s campaign launched the first negative campaign ad against Amy Klobuchar, I decided to research Kennedy’s media consultant, Scott Howell. This research led me to the website of Scott Howell’s consulting company. Several of Scott Howell’s previous political ads for his clients were no longer on this website, nor were they on the websites of his clients.
While searching for political ads, I clicked on a link titled ‘netview,’ which then brought me to another webpage. No other information was requested. I therefore typed in the name ‘Allen.’ Nothing more, nothing less. This redirected me to a webpage containing three pieces of information. Kennedy for Senate, a date, and a hyperlink. Upon clicking the hyperlink, I was directed to the aforementioned political advertisement. At no point in this process did I circumvent or misrepresent myself. The website containing this ad can be accessed by anyone online. It is possible to directly go to this website. It is in no way secured.
CLARIFICATION: The word “Allen” was used because Scott Howell has also been retained by Senator George Allen. No user was asked for.
September 20th, 2006 at 10:27 pm
And yet Klobuchar turned you over to the FBI and misrepresented what you did to the star tribune… I dont think I will be voting for Klobuchar anymore, you did nothing wrong but they decided to put you in a miserable situation anyway… I would like to see the URL though….
September 20th, 2006 at 10:31 pm
[…] Noah of Blanked-Out did part of it. I would like to begin by apologizing to the Klobuchar campaign for placing the organization under inappropriate scrutiny and diverting the public from the issues that are important in this campaign. […]
September 20th, 2006 at 10:45 pm
[…] I just thought I would write down another take on the recent story from WCCO and others about the Klobuchar campaign. Apparently a local blogger found a yet unreleased ad from the Kennedy campaign and sent a link to his favorite campaign to ruminate over before it went live. The Klobuchar campaign thanked him by turning him in to the FBI and made false statements to the local media, about having circumvented passwords. This kind of computer phobia makes me really upset, don’t put data out on a public network if you don’t want people to see it, copy it, and talk about it. I think its time to consider alternatives for November. […]
September 20th, 2006 at 10:49 pm
[…] Well, it’s 10:37 at night, and we now know the mole was Noah Kunin from Blanked-Out: […]
September 21st, 2006 at 12:14 am
Why did the Klobuchar campaign release say that access was gained by use of passwords? Is this another example of “saying one thing and doing another?”
September 21st, 2006 at 1:54 am
This looks like the URL, from the description that Noah gives:
http://www.scott-howell.com/netview.html
Of course, typing the name “Allen” in the box does nothing, now. The Klobuchar campaign release was probably correct in using the “passwords” term for the way access was gained.
The way they handled this, by turning this over to the FBI, though, is simply not called for. I suppose they should contact them about “me”, since I’ll actually be running a bot to gain access, tonight.
September 21st, 2006 at 2:45 am
Investigative Report is coming soon on Minnesota Stories showing how anyone could access online video campaign ads like Noah did. Perfectly legal — unless knowing how to use a web browser is somehow illegal.
September 21st, 2006 at 5:13 am
Because it WAS accessed with a password? Granted, it’s a very weak, very simple password setup, but it is technically a password.
Anyway, I can’t believe this has turned into the big deal that it has. McGuinness shouldn’t have lost her job. There was no good reason for her to resign or to be forced to resign.
September 21st, 2006 at 8:34 am
Noah was schnooring around. Don’t we all do that on net? Boingboing did that post a week or so ago about all the confidential files you can find online by googling “Not for distribution.” Is is now unlawful to do that?
Hang in there, Noah.
September 21st, 2006 at 8:35 am
damn, apologies for my typo-laden comment. it’s early. sorta.
September 21st, 2006 at 8:41 am
technically *not* a password - here’s proof.
September 21st, 2006 at 8:51 am
This is completely absurd. And the major political parties want to know why people don’t participate in the process? Uhhh, hello? It is asinine reactions like this! I say the only person who should be fired or be in trouble is Scott Howell for being a bumbling buffoon when it comes to Internet security.
You hear that, Scott? You are a bumbling buffoon.
September 21st, 2006 at 8:58 am
It’s a password in name only.
Whatever you enter isn’t authenticated: it’s just added as a string into a link. You get sent to http://www.scott-howell.com/cybersession/[text].html, where [text] is whatever you type into the box. There’s no communication with a server, no encryption, nada.
What utter garbage. If it were a .htaccess/.htpasswd-protected directory, that would be one thing. But this is a flash embed which does nothing more than accept a string and use it for a redirect. It’s the equivalent of going to a site with a http://foo.bar.com/page2.html page and manually entering ‘page1.html’ to see if there’s an unlinked page with that name.
September 21st, 2006 at 9:24 am
Don’t you just love concern trolls, Noah? Might be time to see how many of the ones pretending to be Democrats-disgusted-with-AK are actually posting from Kennedy HQ. It’s not as if Republicans never do that sort of thing.
September 21st, 2006 at 9:39 am
What would the Kennedy campaign do in the same situation?
September 21st, 2006 at 9:50 am
Anyone who knows how to surf the internet can do this. This is a non issue. The indignation from the Kennedy campaign is really unwarranted and reveal an ignorance of how the internet works. Let’s move on to the issues, folks.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:15 am
You and Ellison both think you are above the law. The funny thing I bet if you asked him for legal help now that you need it, he won’t help you.
You deserve each other.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:18 am
Two words: Manuel Miranda.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:29 am
Purloined Ad or Agency Screwup?…
A summary of the leaked Kennedy ad story. Noah Kunin gives his version of what he did, with apology. Chuck Olsen shows why the password Noah typed to gain access to ad —accidentally, according to Noah — was not a…
September 21st, 2006 at 10:38 am
Better start practicing the Jailhouse Blues:
Well I wouldn’t mind staying in jail, but I’ve gotta stay there so long
Well I wouldn’t mind staying in jail, but I’ve gotta stay there so long
You know it seem like all my friends, you know they done shook hands and gone
Thirty days in jail, with my back turned to the wall
Thirty days in jail, with my back turned to the wall
Yes you know some other skinner must be kickin’ in my stall
Hey mister jailer please, will you please bring me the key
Hey mister jailer, will you please sir bring me the key
I just want you to open the door, cause this ain’t no place for me
September 21st, 2006 at 10:40 am
Ahhh … the latest tempest in a teapot. Hang in there, Noah.
The Big E
http://www.mnblue.com
September 21st, 2006 at 10:57 am
If you acessed a website uising a password that was guessed or that was inappropriately given, then you broke the law and should be (likely will be) charged with fraud and theft.
Dirty tricks are just that–dirty.
September 21st, 2006 at 11:11 am
Noah is only letting positive comments come in. Grow up. You got your hand caught in the cookie jar. You wanted to play politics.
September 21st, 2006 at 11:41 am
Too funny. I especially love the angle of election fraud, where Dems are always going all Venezuelan the day after the elections, claiming that Karl Rove used the Vulcan Mind Meld to extract the secrets of … blah, blah … but then the only actual election fraud is always done by Democrats.
Are you guys really all nuts and queers? I mean, I always say that, but I never really believed it until now. It’s true, isn’t it? All the normal people are Republicans?
September 21st, 2006 at 12:04 pm
“It’s a password in name only.”
“technically *not* a password”
Doesn’t matter. It said “password” on the screen. AK made the right decision politically to dissociate herself from the controversy by firing those involved, and she made the right decision politically and legally but NOT DETERMINING herself whether it was legal or not but referring it to the FBI for an investigation. It would be a conflict of interest.
“Anyone who knows how to surf the internet can do this.”
No, I know a lot of folks who get around fine on the Internet who would have no idea how to “guess” what “Password” meant on that web page. It either would stop many people cold as being wrong to try, or they would just have no idea what to guess.
September 21st, 2006 at 12:06 pm
“but NOT DETERMINING” should be “by NOT DETERMINING”
September 21st, 2006 at 1:22 pm
Mark -
Do you mean Ernesto Miranda, or maye Carmen Miranda?
September 21st, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Noah, I want to say a bit more than “hang in there.” I would like to express my deep admiration for what you are doing. Several weeks ago, you also did some amazing research into Republican donations to a certain Democrat (who I will now forgive for challenging the endorsement, as soon as she publicly backs Keith Ellison). I had also been doing my own research into campaign contributions, but your evident superior internet research abilities put me to shame.
Clearly, we will occasionally have some very negative things to say about our competition. For example, I might point out that George W. Bush has already been responsible for as many American deaths as Osama (see the most recentl Iraq death figures), or that he is currently responsible for about a World Trade Center’s worth of civilian deaths each MONTH in Iraq. That is certainly negative information, but it seems to me that it is completely moral to point it out.
On the other hand, I found a contribution to a candidate from a medical marajuana group. The candidate had never made a public statement demanding up that all marijuana users be flogged, so I considered it completely irrelevant to the issues of the campaign. I would have considered it at least mildly immoral to use that perhaps inflamatory information against a candidate.
Your highlighting public campaign information about Republican contributions was completely appropriate, especially considering the transition the DFL is now going through. Some of us want the DFL to stand in sharper contrast to the Repugs. Others don’t mind heavy compromise, as long as we “win.” It’s nice to know where the candidates actually stand.
Likewise, since the Republicans have generally decided to avoid all discussion of issues while they concentrate on personal smears, it thing it is entirely fitting to try to figure out what crap they are planning on dishing out next. The Republicans have decided to make negative ads the campaign mainstay. What in the world is wrong in noting that and being as ready as we can for the next round of bulldung?
September 21st, 2006 at 3:12 pm
Dude!
You got your very own pdf by the MN GOP!! Make sure to add that to your resume!
September 21st, 2006 at 4:25 pm
Wow. It’s amazing what tactics the Democrats manage to sink to.
First, Matt Entenza ships money to South Dakota, so it can be funneled back to Minnesota Candidates.
Then, in an effort to sink Entenza, Attack Dog Hatch gets his minions to fax records of those transactions in anonymous fashion to various news outlets. This was necessary because, even though he outed Entenza for having done a couple of hundred dollars worth of research on him–oh, $40,000, I stand corrected– it wasn’t enough to blow up his campaign.
Then Keith Ellison, a lawmaker who ignores the basic laws of the land as well as good citizenship, gets the nod from the ever impractical Fifth District. Nice!
Now, you sink to the underhanded tactics of stealing information off the web. You just happened to type in “Allen”?
Sure. How many other passwords did you try first, bud? 10? 50? More?
If I put my Social Security number on the web, you still don’t have a right to use it.
So, in the interest of full disclosure, why not tell us who’s paying your legal and PR firm fees? Hmmm?
Or do we have to hack into someone’s FTP site to find out?
September 21st, 2006 at 7:13 pm
Mr Kunin, with all good intentions aside, why in the world did you not keep this to yourself? With the Republican spin machines out there, you should have known that something like this might happen! Now, according to your attorney, Steve Silton, he stated you had no idea he was in an area that was not public. I stress this very highly…you still needed to keep the information to yourself…no sharing! I am just hoping this doesn’t lead to AK’s downfall!
September 21st, 2006 at 7:48 pm
Is Amy the female version of Senator Dayton?
September 21st, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Congrats man. Looks like all the trolls are coming out of the woodwork on this one too. Who’s that guy above me? Creepy. Anyway, good luck getting through this business with an arm the size of kentucky.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:05 pm
check out http://medialawminnesota.blogspot.com/2006/09/political-hack-or-not.html
September 21st, 2006 at 10:38 pm
The real issue here is, did the alleged “password” scheme provide a reasonable expectation of privacy? Anyone could, and did, look at the source of the web page and see that it simply redirected you to a URL containing whatever word you typed as the final directory name. Viewing the source of the web page is entirely legal, attempting to access unsecured directories on a web server is entirely legal. Copying and viewing files from an unsecured web server is entirely legal. These files did not REQUIRE any sort of password to be viewed. Anyone with nothing more then the web address could view them to thier hearts content. It is likely that the password prompt provided an expectation of privacy to the Howell group. Was this expectation reasonable however? Clearly it was not a reasonable expectation. If a farmer were to put a freestanding door at the edge of his field and then found someone wandering through said field could he reasonably say that they had broken into his field? No. No he could not. No law was broken here. The real story here should be the astounding lack of security that political contractors use, or rather don’t use. Let’s hope that the groups that politicians contract after they take office take actual precautions.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:41 pm
You got busted hacking a site- yes, even if the password was ridiculously easy to guess (and according to the hosting company, you tried 18 times), you still broke the law and every conceivable notion of ethics.
Be a man and fess up. No one is buying this blatantly dishonest “oh I just clicked a link and typed Allen” bit. You happened to quess “Allen” on the first try after doing some research to figure out what the password might be? Please.
You screwed up. People respect contrition, not dishonest excuses. she doesn’t have my vote, but I do respect Amy Klobuchar for doing the right thing. To bad the same can’t be said of you.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:53 pm
Honey, what did I tell you about using the internet? Now get up here and rub my feet. Oh, and make sure you tell everyone that Scott has had his secure site open for years.
http://web.archive.org/web/*sr_61nr_30/http://scott-howell.com/cybersession/*
In fact, if you look at the cache on one site, you can still see the ad. And all his porn.
September 21st, 2006 at 11:15 pm
Liar.
A story on the Strib has you attempting a password 18 times. Busted! I’m gonna guess “Allen” as one of your password guesses wasn’t for George Allen, but for Dan Allen, one of the owners of the site. You were clearly trying any password til it worked and now you’re trying to lie your way out of it.
My advice, stop digging that hole and fess up to the whole story because the truth has a way of coming out if it’s from you or someone else.
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:12 am
And yet you tried 18 times before you got in. Not so simple as just typing “Allen.”
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:36 am
I still don’t see how it is stealing when an unprotected url can be sent to someone else and they can view it by cutting and pasting it into the address box of any browser.
It is like leaving the Hope Diamond in the middle of a park with a cardboard box over it.
We want to trust the net to fools like Kennedy — and for that matter — Klobuchar?
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:03 am
If you take that diamond without turning it into the police that’s stealing.
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:21 am
From the Star Tribune story:
“Logs of Internet traffic show that blogger Noah Kunin made 18 attempts to gain access to an ad agency’s website containing an unreleased ad for Mark Kennedy”
‘18 attempts’??? Sure sounds like you were just stumbling around the ‘net to me….(sarcasm)
Your response is indicative of the ‘enlightened’ - those on BOTH sides of the political process that are so much smarter, so much more noble, so much more caring and compassionate and altruistic than the average person. ‘It doesn’t matter that I did something wrong. I can explain…and because I’m ‘fighting for change’ (or whatever hackneyed term you would like to use) - I’m above the law.”
I bet your conscience is clear, too. ::/
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:22 am
Good lord. Campaigns will complain about “teh haxx0rs” at the slightest provocation. Kind of like how “teh haxx0rs” brought down Lieberman’s sight when it was really just a ton of traffic before election day. I remember a few years ago, a incumbent Senate campaign accused his challenger of “hacking” his website… because their website had directly linked to one of his (goofy as hell) pictures.
Seems like a raw deal for McGuinness.
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:41 am
18 tries, eh? That’s a locked door, son. You broke and entered.
McGuinness would make a great target for phishing, too. What an idiot.
Amy did the right thing. But you and McGuinness opened the door for Kennedy’s camp to go into their howler monkey smear routine.
Nice work, f-up!
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:55 am
Noah tried 18 times to get in…he can’t even tell a straight, truthful story. You need to clarify your statement once again. Wicked web of lies. Your political career, if you even had one, is toast.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:38 am
I apologize in advance for the length of this post.
I have a little different perspective. What happens if we assume (for the moment) that each person involved is telling the truth until we see evidence to the contrary?
Klobuchar and her campaign first:
She makes a public announcement and apologizes to the Kennedy Campaign
1) She finds out about the ad;
2) It is her understanding that the ad was obtained through the use of “passwords” (let’s leave the definition of that term alone for now)
3) Klobuchar is an attorney (more specifically she is a prosecutor which carries a certain attitude about breaking the law) the Minnesota Rules of Professional Responsibility require her to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
4) She decides there could be a potential violation of law.
5) She asks for her communications director’s resignation
6) She contacts the FBI and follows their instructions
7) She files a report with the FBI
9) She did not “HAVE” to do any of this. It seems to me, if she had intended to steal the ad and use it, she would not have. If she had just sat on the ad, there is a good chance no one would have found out. Her decision to be proactive and step up increases her credibility regardless of what I think about her actions.
Noah next:
1) He decides to research Scott Howell
2) While noodling or “schnooring” around he finds the “Netview” page
3) He sees the line “Please enter your password”
4) He enters “Allen” and finds the ad.
5) He sends the ad to Klobuchar’s communications director setting in motion the events described above.
6) In his next issue of what appears to be a weekly column (I am not familiar with this blog) he apologizes, describes his actions, and indicates the ad was not secured.
Howell:
1) He learns about the situation only because Klobuchar stepped up.
2) He learns about Noah only because Noah apologizes
3) He indicates Noah made 18 attempts to find a name that worked.
4) He accuses Noah of lying and states “It’s a password-protected, secure site.”
These stories may seem contradictory, especially if you are computer literate and a blogger, but is there really any evidence that anyone here is lying? I do not think so. Please remember that people who set up their own blogs are much more computer savvy than most of us, including political candidates, ad agency execs and even communications directors. That is why IT departments exist. In light of that consider the following possibility.
Scott hires someone to set up his website. He wants it secure but also simple for his folk to use. His developer (who may not have considerted the necessity for extra protection for political ads) creates the Netview page to provide some security without requiring user names and passwords. If Scott is not strongly computer literate, this would seem like a secure “password-protected” website to him.
Noah, doing what so many of us have done, finds the site and tries some passwords to see what happens. He finds the ad, sends it on and describes what he did (saw “Please enter your password” and entered “Allen”) to get to the ad. I test software, and when we file a report , we don’t list everything we did, we only list the things we did that created a problem.
Klobuchar finds out about the ad and asks how it was obtained. She takes action based on her understanding of what she was told. Noncomputer geeks do not understand the difference between a password protected site and a fully secured site. Therefor, her statement about about “circumvented passwords” was not a misrepresentation. Neither was it inaccurate. Whatever side you fall on the debate, the Netview page called for the entry of a “password” and Noah “circumvented” it. I was hacking user numbers in the 70s when we still had paper tape and we did not do anything more than Noah described.
As a result, I do not believe anybody is lying here. Now to my opinions. First please understand I am a conservative.
Amy Klobuchar earned a lot of respect form me for how she handled this incident. In my opinion, whatever the verdict on her communication director’s actions, she (Klobuchar) acted ethically. She did what she thought was right when it would have been much easier to sweep it under the rug. She had to know the Kennedy campaign would not simply let this issue lie. She could have avoided their backlash simply by not disclosing what happened. Few other politicians would have fired one of their staffers this close to an election, much less make a public disclosure and an apology. That is the kind of person I want in Washington. Someone who is not afraid to do what is right, even if they pay a price.
The rest of this is a tempest in a teapot, including the debate about security in these posts. Forgive me, but I cannot buy the “If he did not want Noah there he should have made the page more secure. To me, that is too much like saying that “if she weren’t so mouthy, I would not have hit her” or “Karl Wallenda should not have been up there in the first place.” I am not judging Noah. We all do what he did. That fact does not change what it is we are doing or make it right. A lot of us drive above the speed limit or choose not to wear our seatbelts, but whne was the last time you got out of a ticket by saying “It’s not really speeding because it is so easy to do?”
The bottom line is we are accessing places that site owners would rather we did not. We are intruding on their privacy. As a conservative, that kind of intrusion bothers me. If we want to be able to tell the government to stay out of our sites (and off our phone lines and out of our bank records) then we need to respect others’ privacy and not play semantic with “password” and “security” to mask the essential reality of our actions.
Finally, to the Kennedy campaign and his supporters:
I can understand the frustration of being behind in the polls, but I do not believe attemptiing to label Klobuchar as dishonest and unethical in this situation is helpful (whether you do it directly or indirectly by attacking her staff for whom she is responsible). I believe a better tactic would be for Kennedy to accept her apology and acknowledge the fact she came forward when she could have made another choice. After all wouldn’t that lend more credibilty to his claims that he believes in corssing party lines?
Before you flame me as a liberal fascist (which is an oxymoron anyway) think about these questions.
1) If Klobuchar is unethical and dishonest, if she asked Noah to find the ad and intended to saboutage the Kennedy campaign, why did she come forward? Why not simply keep quiet and use the ad?
2) If, in fact, she did not know about the ad, what else would you have her do to demonstrate that she is ethical and honest?
Thanks everyone. I apologize again for the length of the post and the overwhelming number of typos.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:52 am
If I drove my car to the gas station, went in and paid, but left my car running and you came out and drove my car away, would it be considered stealing? I left the car running, doors unlocked, keys in the ignition. How could that be stealing? It is my fault. I deserved to have my car stolen. How dare anyone question you or your ethics for taking it.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:57 am
What Kev says.
But in fairness to you, the worst thing that can be said about you, Noah, is that you are a typical DFLer. You think that the ends justifies the means. That puts you in the mainstream of the DFL. Congrats on that.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:13 am
It’s really unfortunate that we all need to resort to this type of nitpicking. Whether or not Noah used a password is irrelevant to my opinion of Amy Klobuchar’s ability to represent me in Congress. Move on.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:46 am
“This campaign should be about the issues that are important to Minnesotans. This is not one of those issues.”
I think lying, cheating and illegal break-ins are as relevant today as they were in Nixon’s time.
What issues are the dems talking about? Bush is a liar, terrorists are are friends if we just treat them nicer, the UN would be our friend if it were’nt for Bush, baby killing is a legal right, hey, if ao people of various sexual allignments are “in love,” let them marry. Or…you mean rich people, I can make alot of money by going to Washington and stealing your money and giving it to “those por people.” The list of issues goes on and on. Our gov’t educational system would be even greater if the school district had more money to invest in early indoctrination programs.
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:24 pm
I believe the comments by so many people give a consensus that if one leaves a car unlocked, a door open, a package in a store, bus or park seat, it’s perfectly moral and legal to take those items and keep them as your own. (oh, except if your a conservative) (oh, but most of us would return it anyway)
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:36 pm
Regarding the example of leaving your car running and someone stealing I would point out that in Minnesota it is actually illegal to leave your car running and unattended.
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:44 pm
This is just the beginning Noah. What a way to get your feet wet in the political pool. A political pool filled with a lot of crazy assholes I might add. They are the warm pee spot in the political pool. Where am I going with this? Oh yes. I’m proud of how you’re dealing with this. And after this hoopla blows over I know you’ll come on top. and the Masticator. I like you. You make me want to Mas…no, no it’s too easy. good luck Noah. I’m glad you’re on my side. Besides, you’re much more attractive than nasty Karl Rove. Is that why conservatives are so angry. They have such unappealing looking people in their party. Yuck.
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Come OUT on top. NOT come on top. That would be weird. Ha ha (nervous laughter)
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:48 pm
This comment thread and the blog it resides on (along with the rest of the blogs) is a cesspool of disinformation, distractions, sublimation, and juveline posturing. Goodbye to the blogs forever!
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Doesn’t matter. It said “password” on the screen
Just because it says “password” on a screen does not make it a password.
For example, I can call the World Wide Web a waffle iron until I’m blue in the face, but that still doesn’t make it a waffle iron.
Face it: the agency effed this one up– big time. Noah wasn’t doing anything that any other inquisitive web surfer would have done, while doing research.
I’ve been doing web development work since 1997, and ANYBODY with the least bit of experience doing web work knows that ANY information on the WWW that is NOT SECURED behind a secure server IS COMPLETELY ACCESSIBLE to the general public.
Noah’s mistake was sharing the URL with Klobuchar’s campaign people– not for doing research.
September 22nd, 2006 at 5:07 pm
Yes, i know it’s illegal to leave your car running and unattended……..note I did’nt say “running and unattended” Try to be honest , I know it’s difficult. However, note that if one did leave their car running and unattended, the person who stole the car , if caught, would get off while the person who left the car running and unattended would pay a fine…or if Hatch and you fellow dems would have it..Jail time. Again, you don’t address the dem’s “hand in the cookie-jar” excuse. You probably told your mom, when caught with your hand in the cookie-jar that she should have locked it or hid it. Or you might use the Clinton defense “It was’nt a cookie” Why? Because you people lack a moral center and self restraint.
September 22nd, 2006 at 5:40 pm
Anyway, I can’t believe this has turned into the big deal that it has. McGuinness shouldn’t have lost her job. There was no good reason for her to resign or to be forced to resign.
Yep, I bet the writer of this comment would feel JUST THE SAME WAY if it was a Repub blogger forwarding the same info to a Republican Candidate.
Yeah, go ahead….say you’d treat it the same. S U R E you would.
September 22nd, 2006 at 5:47 pm
My Moral Center is soft and chewy!
Davey-I’m sure the blogging world will be miss you. You sound like a laugh riot!
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:35 pm
It was a public URL. It’s like putting up nude pictures of yourself on the outside of your house, and then accusing people of breaking and entering to look at them.
THE URL IS (WAS) ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC WITHOUT EVEN USING THE ‘PASSWORD’ PAGE.
People who don’t have knowledge of how the internet works should not comment because your arguments are based on incorrect assumptions.
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:25 am
I find this whole situation absurd. If they’re stupid enough to place a video online they should expect people to access it. Ethics are not at issue here and the reaction is a distraction from far more important issues.
September 23rd, 2006 at 4:27 am
The Masticator’s comments are probably the most reasonable thing I’ve read on the ‘net in months.
September 23rd, 2006 at 6:52 am
If you ask me, the whole issue of the “password” is off base. What tells me this site is freely accessible to the public is that lack of asking for a username. Usernames are used to determine if one is a person designated to be allowed access to the site. No username means anyone is allowed if they know the right word to imput. The trouble with the password as a security measure is that it isn’t check against any list of words that allows entry. The word need only match a file(any file) in the index. NOT A PASSWORD PROTECTED SITE. Klobuchar did the right thing also. This isn’t a tempest in a teapot, this is just ants seeing a few raindrops and screaming that the sky is falling.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:22 pm
[…] Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. « corporatenuetrality […]
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:23 pm
re: bigkahuna
We can all agree that the developers of the site in question are idiots and don’t understand the basics of security. But that is besides the point. The page said “password:” and the author of this site continues on by attempting multiple times to ‘guess’ the password? That officially crosses the line. Noah’s mistake is that he intentially tried to subvert the controls of a site. Regardless of how lame they were that is unethical.
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:39 pm
hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:04 pm
“Just because it says “password” on a screen does not make it a password.”
Right- and many sites have fake password entry screens; many of these you are meant to make entry to. (like the myriad secret sites for “Lost”)
But in any case, I’m not sure how simply accessing a website and not a computer itself can be classified as hacking.
September 24th, 2006 at 2:10 am
[…] On Wednesday, it came to light that a blogger (Blanked Out), unrelated to the Klobuchar campaign, found a brand-new television campaign ad Kennedy was planning to use in the next few weeks. The blogger, (Noah Kunin , 24) found the ad last Friday on an unsecured website belonging to the Kennedy Campaign public affairs corporation out of Dallas, TX. Once realizing what he had in on his computer monitor, he passed the link off to the Klobuchar Campaign’s Director of Communications, assuming the unpublished ad would be of interest to Klobuchar. That same evening, Ms. Klobuchar dismissed the Communications Director and on Monday, she notified the Federal Authorities about the incident and Wednesday she went public by offering a formal apology to the Kennedy Campaign and to former CPA Congressman Mark Kennedy. […]
September 25th, 2006 at 9:25 am
[…] OFFENDING CAMPAIGN Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) Rep. Ben Cardin (D-MD) State Sen. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) Atty Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN) AGGRIEVED PARTIES NH blogs Blue Granite, NH-02 Progressive, The Yankee Doodler, Paul Hodes (D) campaign LG Michael Steele (R-MD campaign), Kweise Mfume, arguably Cardin, Jews Blue Jersey, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) Rep. Mark Kennedy (R) campaign, GOP consultant Scott Howell ACCUSATION Bass House office secretly concern-trolled NH liberal blogs Staffer wrote too-revealing secret campaign diary as blog Kean campaign secretly concern-trolled BlueJersey Klobuchar employees viewed illegally-obtained forthcoming Kennedy TV spot THE ACCUSED Unknown Hill staffer(s) Now-former Cardin employee Ursula Gruber Kean flack Jill Hazelbaker, unknown staffer(s) MN blogger Noah Kunin, Klobuchar ex-flack Tara McGuinness INTERNET SLEUTH(S) NH bloggers MissLaura, Keener, Republic Not Empire Wizbang’s Kevin Aylward Blue Jersey’s Juan Melli N/A TROUBLESOME BLOG N/A Persuasionatrix N/A Blanked-Out SOCK PUPPETS IndyNH, IndieNH @ 143.231.249.141 N/A usedtobeblue, cleanupnj, AmadeusNJ @ 70.90.20.85 N/A MSM COVERAGE N/A Sun, Post, BET, AP Times, Record, Ledger, AP Pioneer Press, AP BLOG COVERAGE Daily Kos Mary Katherine Ham, Insider Politics, Washington Prowler, Red State, Rhymes With Right, Atlas Shrugs, Alabama Liberation Front, Soccer Dad, Jessica Cutler Daily Kos, Skippy, Steve Gilliard, Blanton’s And Ashton’s, MyDD, Pam’s House Blend, Kid Oakland, Beltway Blogroll, Blogometer Power Line, Kennedy vs. the Machine, MN Publius, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, Wizbang, Beltway Blogroll OUTCOME None yet Gruber fired Denials to NYT, AP, etc McGuinness fired, Kunin apologized, FBI may investigate REMAINING QUESTIONS Will the Bass campaign be pressed to admit or deny? Was Gruber a senior staffer or junior staffer? Will someone fess up? Maybe Hazelbaker? Why did Klobuchar camp wait to report it? Was it actually illegal? ONGOING? Maybe Maybe Yes Yes […]
September 26th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Hi, I’m rightgirl’s logic, and I just went into the corner and shot myself. Why? Because rightgirl is comparing apples and oranges - a physical item to access to a website. It’s plain to see that rightgirl is wrong, yet she continues to use a flawed metaphor as her strawman argument.
I wish I could convince her to at least get her GED, but she refuses on the grounds that it might upset her moral center. As she continues to flaunt her poor arguments and misunderstanding, I thought that a minimum amount of education might help, but I don’t hold much hope.
September 28th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
When I was a kid, I got yelled at for crossing somebody’s yard to get to a public swimming pool. Noah Kunin got reported to the FBI for crossing the yard, not swimming at the pool. He tried 18 times to guess a password on a site that was clearly not intended as a public portal.
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/693219.html
October 30th, 2006 at 11:02 am
[…] My political memory is frighteningly short. It is highlighted by the distraction of the Lewinsky scandal, the perversion of the 2000 Presidential Election, Wellstone’s death and the 2002 electoral bloodbaths and the soul-crushing disappointment of Bush’s re-election in 2004. Last year was a good year, on a local level. And 2006? You can’t blame me if I’m a little jaded on the political process. […]
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:06 pm
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding Statement on MN Senate Race, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong
September 25th, 2007 at 8:36 am
[…] 10:19pm, Blanked-Out posted a statement outlining exactly what he did on Howell’s site: I clicked on a link […]
January 29th, 2009 at 10:54 am
[…] they idiots or are they setting up a trap to replicate what happened in 2006 with insecure information? I personally did not download this database but a number of MNpublius readers had emailed or […]