FredBugle.com

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It’s a classic line of political slander when you start a comment with the words, “with all due respect.” It’s classy gift wrap for what tends to be a negative attack.

I had the honor of (presumably) being one of the first to check out FredBugle, a website based in Roanoke dedicated to harassing Mayor Bill Beck and the recently elected members of City Council.

With all due respect, FredBugle is thinly veiled and ‘scurillously’ funded propaganda with one purpose alone – to antagonize and cajole the crusaders for good-government.

Of course, sitting members of City Council aren’t the only ones to feel the fire. Tom Byrnes gets a few pokes in the eye, as well as former Rappahannock Area Grassroots chairman Paul O’Neill. And who is throwing the bombs? Why, none other than Peter Parker of Spider-Man fame, and Sherman Oaks – both proud individuals willing to stand up and be counted amongst their peers.

The anonymity of the website doesn’t do much to serve their purpose of demonstrating wide public support. Neither does the ownership of the website. If one performs a WHOIS search on the registrant, you’ll find a “Domains By Proxy” registrant, meaning that the owner does not want to be discovered.

Fortunately, DomainsByProxy.com is very throurough in determining who is the owner, and due to serious legal considerations is very compliant about releasing this information to law enforcement (and other) officals in cases of slander or libel:

http://log.does-not-exist.org/archives/000299.html

http://amsterdam.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0304/msg00040.html

and most importantly, a legal opinion:

http://www.udrplaw.net/ExclusiveNews14.htm

And there are others who have had legal issues with those using Domains By Proxy as a shield for ‘scurrilous’ behavior:

http://www.webcastersalliance.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=226

The disclaimer at the entry of the website speaks volumes, because it means that someone had the money to get a lawyer who knows this information to sit down, think through the legal consequences, and advise that a disclaimer would be adequate enough to blunt criticism. “With all due respect,” of course. . .

Seems as if Hizzoner and those affected do indeed have legal recourse here. Furthermore, it is illegal to forge an ICANN registrar information on a WHOIS account, so Fredericksburg could be refining more of Virginia’s jurisprudence on something other than FOIA requests.

Of course, yet another lawsuit may be exactly what the founders of FredBugle want. Certainly they are already claiming a wide readership. One such letter to the editor exclaims the virtues of their site:

I now read both the Free Lance-Star’s editorial page and FredBugle.com every morning before I go to work. It provides me with what I feel is both sides to the story. . . . The Bugle calls a fish, ‘a fish’ when it smells it, and that’s what I love about coming here to read. It seems to be a website that isn’t afraid of attention.

This letter was published on 18 November. FredBugle’s earliest post was 01 November 2003 with a grand total of 11 articles – nine of which were satire pieces. The letter author (pseudonym B.D.) has more:

I just checked out FredFact.com for the first time and liked what I saw there too, so now I have three websites to read before work. I hope my boss understands if I’m late to work once in a while. I work for the City of Fredericksburg, and I hope to be proud of that again soon! And for the record, Mr. Howson, I’m not a ‘political terrorist’.

Just FredBugle? Why not ShaunKenney.com every morning for his blazing wit and sharp political commentary?!

Of course, for the real scoop on FredBugle, one only needs to take a look at the “about us” section:

Based in Roanoke, VA, we scan newspapers from all over the country then establish operations in those localities where local governments seem so inept and controversial that there seems to be an opportunity to establish an independent for-profit operation there. The City of Fredericksburg, we think, is among one of the best opportunities we have seen in recent years for our services. When we read, with amazement, that a City Council majority had paid nearly $3 million for land it could have had for free- we immediately knew we should take a gamble and hope it pays off. With minimal research, we’ve learned that a great deal of unethical political activities go on in Fredericksburg that would never be tolerated in other towns- yet seems to be blatantly perpetrated.

Blah blah blah.

Based in Roanoke, with offices in Richmond, writing about local Fredericksburg politics. Does B.D. smell something fishy yet?

It doesn’t take much common sense to see where FredBugle is headed towards, nor does it take much to discern its purpose. This is a well made, well financed website instigated by those with something to gain from having City Council revert to the good ol’ days of developers first and citizens second.

If anything, FredBugle will have exactly the opposite effect. “With all due respect,” such duplicity and anonymity is typical of the pro-Silver crowd. Contrary to their preconceived notions, the good citizens of Fredericksburg are smart enough to pick up on slander when they see it.