real or fake?

trythebill · Post by **trythebill** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 5:22 am

my buddy sent this link to me for a college-themed message board he posts on. he thinks someone is actually getting busted but i say it is a shitty april fool's joke. anyone know if the FBI goes around shutting down message boards and putting up what is essentially an "out of order sign" while they do it?

p.s. i never got around to posting on the above board. the ratio of smart people to idiots is way way to unfavorable for that.

Wolfman Walt · Post by **Wolfman Walt** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 5:29 am

If you know the server who presented the forum you could write a customer service letter asking why "your" forum is down. If they look at you funny or tell you everythings alright, then its a prank.

Also, yea the FBI does stuff like this supposibly all the time, but this is the first time I've seen it.

jetbaby · Post by **jetbaby** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 5:44 am

Supposedly they do. I wonder what the "disseminating information which could be used to initiate a terrorist attack." would refer to? I say we <strike>blow some government shit up.</strike> go out for ice cream. Wouldn't want to get us all thrown in jail and my favorite forum kicked off the internet.

However, I have seen this once before.

trythebill · Post by **trythebill** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 5:53 am

jetbaby wrote:However, I have seen this once before.

and?

i do think the timing is too coincidental to be real myself, but we shall see.

Neon Dingo · Post by **Neon Dingo** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 6:01 am

Yeah, when the FBI closed down some random illegal game distribution site (forget the URL) it said "This website is property of the FBI and will be taken down within a few days." and it had the FBI seal.

jetbaby · Post by **jetbaby** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 6:21 am

And... I forget. It was shut down and I never went back. I can't even remember what it was anymore. It was a good two years ago.

Are you a regular of this website? If so, would this be in context with what the admins do? Were child porn or links to child porn posted? I think it would be real, that would just be a lame prank, to take the forums away for a few days and put that there.

trythebill · Post by **trythebill** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 6:26 am

jetbaby wrote:Are you a regular of this website? If so, would this be in context with what the admins do? Were child porn or links to child porn posted? I think it would be real, that would just be a lame prank, to take the forums away for a few days and put that there.

not really, i'd check it out when my buddy would tell me something funny had been posted but never stuck around long enough to actually register. as for links and such there were no banner ads or admin sponsered links at all, the board was bone stock Phbb(sp?). i'm really kind of curious as to what gets a board shut down by the FBI nowadays.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 6:31 am

Well back here in Finland there was a bomb strike in a mall where the bomber (accidently) and 2-6 other people died, can't remember specifically. Anyhow, this bomb-dude had been asking for tips how to build explosives and add fragments to them on some chemistry forum. This forum got shut down immediately after that and the parliament full of greasy old men with no idea what internet is about, tried to ban / close / delete everything from the WWW that could cause some harm. Needless to say, they soon found out that you can't really fight a place of no laws with regulations and settings. Not to mention while working from a single country.

But the dealio was, that they closed the board "involved" in the bombing and some dozens? other boards pretty soon after the incident.

Lunchmeat · Post by **Lunchmeat** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 6:47 am

I'm pretty sure I've seen this same thing (pretending to be closed/seized by the FBI) on another site before as an April Fool's joke, so who knows.

Radoteur · Post by **Radoteur** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 7:16 am

Isn't Finland one of the most wired countries?
Sheesh, I'd expect the politicians to know something. Eh, who am I kidding? Politicians that are qualified? Impossible.

Also, I doubt the FBI would spell apologize as apologise.
Two types of English accents: American and wrong

Neon Dingo · Post by **Neon Dingo** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 7:22 am

Also, I doubt the FBI would spell apologize as apologise.
Two types of English accents: American and wrong

Very perceptive. You win teh prize1

What a fucking lame April Fool's joke.

ExtremeDrinker · Post by **ExtremeDrinker** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 7:33 am

It's fake. It's been done to death. And it's lame.

jetbaby · Post by **jetbaby** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 8:06 am

Radoteur wrote:Two types of English accents: American and wrong

'

haha. It's right, but yes. Wrong.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 10:14 am

Radoteur>

Well, yeah, the internet is everywhere but it's at a big scale it's pretty much only used by the young and those who are into compu-tech stuff. The elderly and those who do not need to work with the web are pretty much clueless about the possibilities and/or dangers of the internet.

All those laws and regulations, concerning the content of the www, they tried to push through were quite soon pulled down as a few expert opinions pointed out how obviously stupid, useless and expensive these measures would've been.