Scams

Scams

by Mike Masnick




Extortion By Yahoo Message Board?

from the seems-pretty-pointless dept

It's always surprising when we hear about a company getting upset about some anonymous posts on a random stock message board -- because you would think, by now, everyone knows not to pay much attention to the posters on those boards. However, as alarm:clock notes, one company found their stock board troll wasn't just persistent and annoying, but actually tried to extort money and stock from the company in order to get him to go away. Of course, the only thing he got out of the company appears to be a lawsuit.

12 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

Reader Comments

(Flattened / Threaded)

    Jun 13th, 2006 @ 8:39pm
  • 1st post

    by Azeem

    Yahoo is Evil....
    ... its Google's fault

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Jun 13th, 2006 @ 8:42pm
  • Hmm...

    by Adam

    So someone tried to extort Yahoo by being annoying? "Let's piss people off until they'll pay to be rid of me," was their whole plan? And when it doesn't happen quickly enough, they explain this plan to Yahoo?

    No one let the Slashdotters hear about this, there could be some real trouble.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Jun 13th, 2006 @ 8:57pm
  • by eastside

    How aboutMicro$oft and their "Pay us $150 per computer or you can't have patches for our flawed OS" campaign?

    THAT is extortion!!!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Jun 13th, 2006 @ 9:47pm
    • Re: by eastside

      by Pongidae

      Your kidding right?
      While I am not a big supporter of Micro$oft how do you validate getting free patches for a OS (program) you didn't pay for? So your upset that they actually want you to buy the product before they will give you updates? Really ...
      Try this in another industry and see if it makes sense:
      Would you go to a auto dealership and demand that they give you the replacement items for a recall (updates) on a car you haven't purchased? 'Nuf said ... your a dolt!
      So are you just a fanboy of some other OS or just unwilling to pay for a product that you can steal? What's next your neighbors car, wife, or candy from a baby? They may all be easy targets but does that make it right? I wouldn't suggest attempting any of these if you were my neighbor, I still believe in a persons and a companies right to protect that which belong to them.

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

      • Jun 14th, 2006 @ 6:16am
      • Re: Re: by eastside

        by Tashi

        Where in his post did he mention not paying for it?

        and while people may have different OS choices, in jobs, professions and school that choice is practically nonexistent. I took classes online and Windows was mandatory as most of the software used including Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Project among others are proprietary to Windows.

        (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

        • Jun 14th, 2006 @ 9:00am
        • Re: Re: Re: by eastside

          by Linux Love

          OpenOffice.org ..... OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute.

          (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

      Jun 13th, 2006 @ 10:13pm
    • Re: Extortion

      by Eric

      Get a life. You free distro people get annoying really fast.

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Jun 14th, 2006 @ 6:01am
    • Re:

      by Tom

      That would only be extortion if you had no choice other than Microsoft's OS. These days you have plenty of alternatives.

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

      • Jun 14th, 2006 @ 2:28pm
      • Re: Re:

        by Anonymous Coward

        "These Days"? Oh yeah, I forgot. In the beginning, when Microsoft first invented operating systems, you had no choice because that was all there was. But these days you can choose one of the cheap imitations that have come along if you really want to.

        Get real. In many situations you have no real choice because someone else is mandating that you use Microsoft products.

        (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

        • Jun 14th, 2006 @ 3:30pm
        • Re: Re: Re:

          by Linux Love

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system

          Check the section on history, bucko. Sounds like you might not know what you are talking about.

          As for the mandatory Microsoft usage, if you had actually read what I said, you would have noticed that Openoffice.org can handle any (that's any as in ALL) format that MS Office software can. Besides the "you being wrong" part, though, it's also not built on the same premise as MS software. Openoffice.org is part of a movement to bring intellectual property out of the hands of a few large companies and into the hands of a community. OSS (Open-source Software) is usually cost-free, and always intellectually public. Governed by the fact that real people are making it, and that it was only created a few years ago, it's progressing far faster than MS Office. StarOffice is a cheap alternative to MS. OpenOffice.org is a moral alternative

          (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    Jun 15th, 2006 @ 12:32pm
  • by Anonymous Coward

    "In many situations you have no real choice because someone else is mandating that you use Microsoft products."

    Yes, the owner of the machine gets to choose the operating system and software used.

    Why is that such a difficult concept to understand or accept?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Nov 24th, 2008 @ 12:01pm
  • insurance

    by John

    The media is reporting that several major life insurance companies are taking the extraordinary step of acquiring banks in order to qualify for some of the government’s $700 billion rescue fund.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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