By Gary Kirchherr
A new favorite pastime of otherwise-reputable news organization is hyping "problems" on the Internet. Such stories used to be content focusing on "dirty" Web sites. But the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes" took Internet sensationalism to a new low earlier this month with "The Rumor Mill." I've enjoyed watching the show for more than 20 years because I believed its muckraking stories were objective and credible. Now I'm not so sure.
For those who missed the program, "The Rumor Mill" focused on Internet-accessible information of dubious credibility. The focus of the segment was that publishing information on the Net is so easy, any loony can get his message out. Why, kids may see this stuff and believe it!
Give me a break, Leslie. Are you jockeying for a position at Weekly World News, or what?
One of the major sources of the story is Andrew Kantor, senior editor at Internet World -- an ironic choice given his own credibility problem with many Usenet veterans. About a year ago, Kantor faced some tough questions about his objectivity vis-a-vis one of IW's major advertisers. After fumbling badly and being called on it, he got into a snit and responded with a post that has become a classic: "It's not often a mag with half a million readers has someone willing to spend this much time 'in the trenches.'" After readers of that post finished laughing, they flamed Lord Kantor to a cinder.
Now here's "Trenches" Kantor on national television, showing Stahl a sampling of the MMF (Make Money Fast) postings on the Net. Then Kantor created a Web page for Stahl. In her best gee-whiz voice, Stahl gushed: "In about 30 seconds, Kantor turned me into an instant publisher on the World Wide Web." And golly, with a point-and-click, Kantor changes it into "Mike Wallace's Home Page"! Why, anyone can put up a Web page that claims to be from anyone else! Innocent children may see this and believe it!
OK, let's all calm down, take a deep breath, and look at this rationally, shall we?
First, MMF schemes have long been a major nuisance on the Internet in general, and Usenet in particular. But do you know anyone so stupid that they'd mail $5 to a stranger on the top of a list, and expect $50,000 in return? I don't. That some morons try to make money this way doesn't mean anyone's falling for these illegal scams.
But the hand-wringing over "Mike Wallace's Page" is especially dubious. Are we supposed to believe that if I put on the Web "Hillary Clinton's Page," everyone will believe that the first lady made it? Even if the Web-page address weren't a dead giveaway, reasonable people would doubt it, wouldn't you say?
The same is true of wild conspiracy theories on the Web, another oh-golly topic Stahl fretted about. That a Web page claims a missile blew up TWA Flight 800 is a cause for deep concern, according to the segment. But no one explains why this drivel would have credibility just because it's on the Internet. Long before the Net, all sorts of nutty pseudofacts have been published and prominently displayed in supermarket checkout lines. So why is this suddenly a crisis?
Stahl then turns her attention with the problem of fake identities on e-mail and Usenet. Kantor showed Stahl how easy it is to pretend to be anyone else by changing a few settings on one's e-mail or newsgroup program, and making the e-mail or post originate from the Internet server of one's choosing. Suddenly, you can pass yourself off as anyone. Just like that.
Well, sorry to ruin a great piece of yellow journalism, but it isn't that easy. Yes, changing one's return address is a piece of cake. One of the oldest and most tired jokes on Usenet is posting as "SteveCase@aol.com." Does anyone believe that the CEO of America Online is making these posts? Of course not. The biggest giveaway with this prank is the message's "return path," which shows among other things the message's originating ISP. Now Kantor is correct that one can use another ISP's server to mail or post a message. But it's not that easy. If it were, practical jokers would be doing it all the time. And it simply isn't happening.
Again, let's use another real-world, non-Internet analogy. If I wrote a nutty letter to The Sentinel and signed it "John Engler," would the editors believe it came from Michigan's governor just because that's how it's signed? Even if it were on what appeared to be Engler's stationery?
Stahl wraps up the segment by reminding us that not everything you see on the Net is true -- duh! -- and intoning: "Think about this the next time your ninth-grader goes online." Well, Leslie, by the time my kid's in ninth grade, I expect she'll have enough cognitive skills to recognize B.S. when she sees it. It's too bad you and "60 Minutes" don't give your viewers that much credit.
In my Feb. 9 column I made a throwaway comment that taxpayers "are helping foot the bills" of the Macatawa Area Free-Net. Marvin Martin, acting executive director of the Macatawa Area Community Network, took issue with that. "MacNet does not receive any contributions consisting of tax dollars," he e-mailed me. However, he added: "We are a 501(c)3 and therefore have the indirect subsidy of not paying taxes on most of our revenue." Miller also acknowledged that MacNet uses the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council office as a mail drop and legal address.
This is my last "Computer Curmudgeon" column for The Sentinel. I've accepted a position with the Anchorage Daily News; later this week my family and I will fly to Alaska. This column may return to the Web later on after I'm settled in my new home.
Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to give me feedback on my musings. I'm glad this column proved useful to some. And that was my intent all along.