Videogame Character Threatens National Security?

Watchful Babbler writes "Apparently, 'the lead item on the government's daily threat matrix one day last April' was clear and definite: a reclusive millionaire had formed a terrorist group with the intent of launching chemical weapons attacks on Western cities. The White House was notified and the Director of the FBI briefed as the government raced to find information. But then, according to USNews.com, a White House staffer decided to Google for information on suspected threat Don Emilio Fulci and found him -- in a video game - Sega's action title Headhunter. No word on exactly which sources and methods came up with this gem, but word in the E Ring is that Fulci had issued the cryptic warning, 'You have no chance to survive make your time'."

Hmmm

[Neil Blender]

Sounds like the government was trolled.

Re:Hmmm

[Bobdoer]

So, do you think they'd fall for the Goaste link? Or would they be more susceptible to Tubgirl?

Re:Hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course, the Goatse Guy *is* in fact a threat to National Security. He is clearly demonstrating a viable way to smuggle WMD's across the border.

Re:Hmmm

[wackysootroom]

Don't you mean weapons of *ass* destruction?

Re:Hmmm

[DavidBrown]

So, do you think they'd fall for the Goaste link? Or would they be more susceptible to Tubgirl?

I think that Goatse was implicated in the recent Iraqi prisoner mistreatment scandal.

Re:Hmmm

[Frymaster]

-1 national security threat

Re:Hmmm

[mfh]

> Sounds like the government was trolled.
By Sega, no less!

Re:Hmmm

[Bobdoer]

With their history [beta-7.com] of it, I can't say I'm surprised.

Sounds like we were trolled.

[jamonterrell]

When I just googled, I saw nothing of the like... only 3 results, the usnews article was the top then some french article I didn't bother to read.
Anyone know of this character or even the game? I'm not really a Sega person... speaking of which... Sega? When was the last time you saw a Sega? And this happened last April.... hmm... something fishy.

Re:Sounds like we were trolled.

[1u3hr]

When I just googled, I saw nothing of the like... only 3 results,

Google Search: "Don Fulci" [google.com] Results 1 - 10 of about 81 for "Don Fulci".
PSXNATION: Run by a crack team of hardcore gamers.
NTSC-uk review > Dreamcast > Headhunter
GamePartisan.com | Sony | Review
etc...

Re:Sounds like we were trolled.

[jamonterrell]

Okay, to take my theory that we got trolled a little bit further for those who didn't bother to at least stop and think about it.

There are a couple of a problems with this kind of story:
1.) It's very sensational and funny. Something you woudln't expect to happen but 'did'.
2.) It's only being carried by ONE news site. Something this humorous and blunderous that has such far reaching claims of incompotency in our intelligence departments should have made bigger news. Why didn't it? The other news agenc

National Security Threats

[commodoresloat]

Come on folks, don't be naive. Just because this guy is a video game character does not make him any less a threat to national security. Do we really need another 9/11-style attack before we wake up? Remember after 9/11 when it turned out that the Sesame Street character Bert (of Ernie and Bert) was working closely with Osama bin Laden [slashdot.org]? Now I don't know a lot about this Don Emilio guy but I will feel much safer when he is locked away in Guantanamo, or at least huddling in a cave in Pakistan somewhere taunting us with audio tapes while American bombs explode nearby....

Notice how the date is in April?

[foidulus]

Could the world's most elaborate April fools be amiss?

Re:Notice how the date is in April?

[Anonymous Coward]

Could it be that you are all being had? Did anyone here bother to cross-examine the validity of this story or do any research? I guess when Slashdotters take things on faith they *must* be right because, well, that's just how the world works. Facts are facts because they fulfill our wildest fantasies.

*sigh*

Re:Notice how the date is in April?

[DJStealth]

I once had a security officer in an Airport stop to ask me "Where is South Park" (I was wearing a South Park T-shirt with writing in Hebrew & English), trying not to laugh, I responded that its a TV show. He then proceeded to ask me to take off my shoes and checked me for explosives.

In other news

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Government sues Mario. Nintendo execs in jail...

Re:In other news

[KeeperS]

I'm not surprised. Mario is a communist [the-i.org], after all.

Amazing

[DiscordOfFive]

Wow. At least we know their intel gathering stuff works.... It just can't tell reality from fantasy.

Aha!

[sterno]

That would explain the missing WMD's quite nicely :)

All your Iraq are belong to U.S.

[macshune]

While I won't say whether I agree with the war or not, a spontaneous parody is definitely in order.

In A.D. 2003
War was beginning.

Saddam: What happen?
Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb.
Operator: We get signal
Saddam: What!
Operator: Main screen turn on.
Captain: It's you! We met in the '80s!
RUMSFELD: How are you gentlemen!!
RUMSFELD: All your Iraq are belong to U.S.
RUMSFELD: We are on the way to your weapons of mass destruction.
Saddam: What you say!!
RUMSFELD: You have no chance to survive make your time.
RUMSFELD: Ha Ha Ha Ha...

Re:Aha!

[MagikSlinger]

He did show proof, but as the inspectors pointed out, it wasn't the legal standard of proof they needed. They were shown documents and videos of weapon program destruction, but because specific ammounts, etc. weren't recorded, he got in trouble because he couldn't prove he destroyed exactly 20,000 litres of VX.

But as it turns out, Hussein's scientists probably lied to him about the original estimates anyway.

Imminent Threat

[copponex]

No, the questions were:

1. Does Iraq have weapons of mass destruction that can be used against the United States?

2. Is Iraq planning to use those weapons?

As is plainly evident, even to the man the Bush Administration hired to find the weapons couldn't find them, and I've seen no document saying that Iraq was planning an attack.

I think we all remember Colin Powell circling some stuff on a map, and then holding up a vial saying, "They have this here." Well, where the did "here" go?

What about North Korea?

Re:Imminent Threat

[copponex]

He had weapons.
In the early nineties, sure. And then nearly all of it was destroyed, correct? By the U.N.? Did he a) have weapons in 2003 and b) directly threatened the United States, and did he c) have the technological capability to achieve that threat?

The world told him to show proof that he had disarmed. He didn't. The only safe assumption a Commander in Chief could make based on that evidence is that he still has the weapons. Anthrax just does not dissappear, after all.
So, if I ask Cuba to show me

Re:Imminent Threat

[fucksl4shd0t]

Cuba is not under international orders to disarm with an authorization to use military force to get them to comply, and Cuba has not shown a willingness to use WMDs in the past.

Man, oh man, is history ever repeating itself. The only difference is that there isn't a superpower opposite the US in polarity to help out Iraq. What we just did in Iraq we would have gladly done to Cuba in 1960. In fact, we tried it. Then Cuba got some nukes from the Soviet Union, and what happened?

That's right, we couldn't

Re:Imminent Threat

[cheezedawg]

I'm so glad you mentioned Cuba, WMDs and so forth. We made invasion noises at Cuba immediately after Castro showed up, very similar to how we've been making invasion noises at Iraq for some time. Of course Saddam was looking for some way to deter us from invading his country.

The UNSEC unanimously voted 17 times under chapter VII of the UN resolution that Iraq needed to be disarmed. The same can not (and could not) be said about Cuba.

Now, I'm not trying to take Saddam's side in this, I just don't think

Re:Imminent Threat

[grozzie2]

The chemical weapons he has used in Iran did not come from us. They came from either Japan or Germany.

The chemical weapons used in iran came in 2 forms. The first form was aerial delivery. American supplied chemicals were delivered from american supplied helicopters, originally justified as 'crop dusters'. The second form came as mortar shells. American made chemical shells were fired from german made mortars. The german supplier of the mortars brokered and acted as middle man in the purchase of th

Re:Imminent Threat

[cheezedawg]

The chemical weapons used in iran came in 2 forms.

From the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute [sipri.se]

The absence in the sample analysed in Sweden and Switzerland of polysulphides and of more than a trace of sulphur indicates that it is not of past US-government manufacture, for all US mustard was made by the Levinstein process from ethylene and mixed sulphur chlorides. That process is also said to have been the one used by the USSR. From similar reasoning, British-made mustard, too, can probably b

Re:Imminent Threat

[sterno]

1) Actually, many of the weapons he had do just dissapear. Many of the nerve toxins, etc, will degrade over time.

2) As for an imminent threat, Saddam was never a threat, imminent or otherwise.

Time for a little lesson about the concept of mutually assured destruction. The lesson that should have been learned from 9/11 that was not, was that non-state actors can be a serious threat to our country. Saddam has one motivating interest, his own power.

Let's assume, for the moment, that he got himself some nu

Balls ... AND BRAINS????

[willtsmith]

I am glad that the man in charge of protecting our national security DOES have the balls to act when necessary.

Yeah, hindsight is 20/20. But memos titled "Bin Ladin determined to strike in the US" tend to elicit some activity. It could generate a question like, "Hey Ashcroft, is this the reason you only fly private charter now????"

Ascroft's response of course would be ... "No, It's because I de-prioritized counter-terrorism efforts. Bin Ladin has nothing to do with it. In fact I'm in the process of

Re:Aha!

[cheezedawg]

Saddam never opened up for us to "come look". There were a dozen UNSEC resolutions during the 1990's condemning him for his lack of cooperation. In 1998 he completely gave up the pretense of cooperating and forced the inspectors to leave. It took 250,000 troops on his doorstep in 2003 to make him change his mind. And even then, he was unable to account for all of the weapons that UNMOVIC knew he had.

Re:Aha!

[cheezedawg]

Good question. If Saddam had actually complied with the UN resolutions, we would know the answer to that question, now wouldn't we?

Easy solution

[Anonymous Coward]

Just recruit Mario Mario and his brother Luigi Mario. They're able to stop any trouble that comes their way.

Oh, you may need to pardon them for their mushroom usage, but it's for a good cause.

Is it me....

[WarlockD]

... or is terrorism winning?

It certainly feels like evey time we get a false positive we panic.

Re:Is it me....

[Frizzle Fry]

Who's "we"? I don't remember panicking about Fulci. It sounds like the only people reacting to this were FBI employees, and that's their job.

If you ask that sort of question ...

[burgburgburg]

or in fact ask any questions or even allow yourself in the solitary darkness to in any way doubt the true path that our holy warriors have been set by our commander in chief and recipient of the true word, then the terrorists have won.

A relocation expert from sunny Guantanamo Bay will be coming by in a few minutes to assist you in understanding the heretical error in your ways. I hope you're photogenic.

Re:Is it me....

[stratjakt]

The poster says the lead item on the government's daily threat matrix, in quotes as though he was quoting the article, which says no such thing.

Keep in mind the nature of the source, sort of a tongue-in-cheek political gossip column as well.

Some guy phoned in a tip, some low-level FBI grunt kicked it up the chain - as is his job. It was later found to be a hoax and thrown out. There was no panic or mayhem.

This happens all the time, everyone from assholes to crazies phone in to report bad guys from movies, etc. I remember reading an article about the rash of calls law enforcement got after Silence of the Lambs came out - people actually thought Hannibal Lecter was a real guy.

Re:"says no such thing" ?!?

[AndroidCat]

Meanwhile, the real Don Emilio Fulci is laughing his ass off in his secret lair. "All it took was a few million dollars in bribes at Sega to have myself added to a video game, then a careful leak to the FBI. Now no US government agent will dare to say that he suspects Emilio Fulci. BWAHAHAHA!" :^)

Re:Is it me....

[lpangelrob2]

Okay, fair deal. You try being National Security Advisor for a day.

It's their job to separate real threats from, well, fantasy threats. It always has, and they happened to suck it up one September day three years ago. Repeatedly, may I add.

What's the alternative? Close your eyes and hope? Iraq or not, September 11 or not, there's always going to be someone that doesn't like America, and there will always be people shouting "1984" when the gov't decides to do something, and people holding pictures of loved ones killed by terrorists when the gov't doesn't prevent incidents.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Re:competence

[Doc Ruby]

Anonymous Ashcroft Coward, your non-sequitur implies that some kind of FBI/CIA "wall" of noncooperation prevents the Dep't of Homeland Security from ruling out cartoons as top terror threats. And you moreover repeat the ridiculous lie from the Justice Department that there's even a "wall" at all, or that Gorelick created one. Where do you get this crap from? Why do you hate America? You hide behind your Anonymous Cowardice like some chickenshit terrorist programmer brainwashing a kid to detonate in a pizza

It's not just you

[Barlo_Mung_42]

History shows that war on any common noun does not go well. Where are we with the war on drugs? How's that war on poverty going?

For a war to really get traction and be effect it needs to be against a Person or Place, not just a Thing.

Again an example...

[j0keralpha]

Of a very knee-jerk reaction to security here in the US... What I dont get is how Grade B (uncorroborated, domestic, single-informant) information winds up at the top of the threat matrix, unless someone was trying to play a joke?

Re:Again an example...

[jd]

That ranks as high as Grade B? I'd fail it with an F!

Re:Again an example...

[corbettw]

Of a very knee-jerk reaction to security here in the US

Knee-jerk in what way? I don't remember Fulci being placed at the top of the Most Wanted List. Was there an APB put out for him? Did Bush get in front of the microphones and say we had a new, greater, enemy in the war on terror? No, some nutjob phoned in a "tip", and after it went through various channels someone discovered it was a hoax. It happens all the time, nothing to see here, move along.

I also hear...

[decipher_saint]

...that the Princess has been captured again. Good thing Google is up to date on terrorist kidnappings too.

Re:I also hear...

[geekschmoe]

sorry mario, but your terrorist leader is in another castle!

Re:I also hear...

[MisterFancypants]

Sorry, Dubya, but the WMDs are in another bunker !!!!!

Re:I also hear...

[LostCluster]

After what The Pentagon thought was successful military invasion to rescue that princess, they discovered what they thought was the woman and brought her out only to be told "Thank you GWB, but our princess is in another castle!"

CAPPS II

[JohnGrahamCumming]

I wonder if he was added to the CAPPS II system as a "no fly" person.

John.

not released in the US

[L-Train8]

I don't think the Dreamcast game Headhunter was ever released in the US. You can find PAL versions on eBay, and some game websites have old stories on the game, (for example, gamespot.com [gamespot.com]), but the stories don't indicate a release date, or if the game ever actually came out. Only in Europe and Japan apparently, although the sequel, Headhunter: Redemption [gamespot.com] is slated for US release on PS2 and XBox

Re:not released in the US

[Dimensio]

It was released in the US, on the PS2, and its initial retail price was more than I paid to have the European Dreamcast version imported (note: Dreamcast games don't have PAL/NTSC distinctions, the video output is dependent on the console used).

Re:not released in the US

[drinkypoo]

Some DC games will not display properly if you go between NTSC/PAL. This is mostly just the early ones. This is because NTSC and PAL video have different resolutions. Similarly, many games don't work in VGA mode, for the same reason. It (like NTSC and PAL) is considered to be a separate video mode.

Re:not released in the US

[shadowcabbit]

As other replies mentioned, it was indeed ported the PS2 and released in the US.

If you ask me, that was a terrorist act.

FBI Tipster revealed to be drunken frat boy

[stratjakt]

When asked for a name, he responded "I. P. Freely".

This links comes from what amounts to a trashy "dc insider" gossip column. Though, this sort of stuff happens all the time. People phone in bogus tips all the time. If they sound legit, they get investigated.

I also object to the articles description of Headhunter as "popular".

DOS attack on use non-intelligence

[sPaKr]

If the US can so call intelligence community can be fooled into sending out alerts based on a Sega game how hard can it be fore AlQuda to send out false threats to yo-yo with the servalince. Since all this does is tell real people to do things sooner or later they will get tired and ignore the warnings thus allowing for a real threat to go further then it would without the DOS attack. I mean the terrorist aholes should start scaring people left and right, force the threat level up and down. How much risk is there to leak false intelligance.. then not follow through. Sooner or later we will get fed up, let our guard down and whamo they get a free ride. Jebus I really should wash my gray hat its looking darker and darker every day.

"Sir, we've received a terrorist threat!"

[Nova Express]

"Against what?"

"Every single military installation worldwide!"

"Really? What did it say?"

"'All Your Base Are Belong To Us."

Re:"Sir, we've received a terrorist threat!"

[in7ane]

Not funny, and I quote:

"a borderline terrorist threat depending on what someone interprets it to mean." [wwmt.com]

/struggling to keep a straight face.

Almost unbelievable...

[stefanlasiewski]

The story is so silly it's almost unbelievable.

But then Powell used a Graduate Student's Thesis [channel4.com] to justify a war against Iraq in front of the entire world.

Re:Almost unbelievable...

[cheezedawg]

The story is so silly it's almost unbelievable.

Its a freaking rumor. It probably has little truth behind it.

But then Powell used a Graduate Student's Thesis to justify a war against Iraq in front of the entire world.

No he didn't. Here [state.gov] is the text of Powell's UN address. He didn't mention anything from the UK dossier.

Re:Almost unbelievable...

[stefanlasiewski]

He didn't mention anything from the UK dossier.

He praised the document. Here's a quote from Powell's speech [slashdot.org] (On 2/5/03):

I would call my colleagues' attention to the fine paper that the United Kingdom distributed yesterday which describes in exquisite detail Iraqi deception activities.

The paper in question [google.com] was "Iraq - its infrastructure of concealment, deception and intimidation [number-10.gov.uk]".

Number 10 Downing Street later admited that they plagerized a document from a Graduate Thesis [number-10.gov.uk] (Search for "Iraq"). This certainly puts the quality of some of the intellegence in question.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,8909 16 ,00.html

I'm not arguing with accuracy of the text itself. But look,
this was Bush's chance to provide inarguable evidence that we should go to War.

Powell was presenting the President's argument for War in Iraq in front of the whole world.

The US is supposed to be the greatest nation in the world. We go to war only as a last resort and only when are arguments are sound and just. Right?

Bush could have convinced the entire world if he had used quality evidence, when a huge percentage of the world (and the US) doubted the reasons for war.

So what does Powell, when presenting this inarguable evidence, cite as a "fine paper"? A document was was largely lifted from a Graduate Student thesis.

Did they get this info removed from google?

[GraZZ]

Funny, I googled [google.com] and got nothing but the news story. Even googling without the quotes [google.com] doesn't give anything about the game.

Does the US Gov't have hooks into google to prevent "Terrorist" information from being found?

Re:Did they get this info removed from google?

[yeremein]

When I tried "Don Emilio Fulci" [google.com], I got one result, in French, which is a review for the video game.

Also, Googling for "Don Fulci" [google.com] gives several results related to Headhunter.

Re:Did they get this info removed from google?

[JDevers]

Searching for just the name and not the "Don" I found several non-English pages referencing the game...this isn't really TOO surprising since the game wasn't exactly a hit and wasn't actually released in the US at all.

Re:Did they get this info removed from google?

[stratjakt]

It was realeased worldwide for PS2.

There was moderate hype about it, but it was completely eclipsed by Metal Gear Solid SOL - of which Headhunter is but a second rate clone.

Re:Did they get this info removed from google?

[hool5400]

Try google for "Don Fulci" or "Don Fulci headhunter" . A lot more hits.

They Got Told

[RabidChicken]

*NSA Laughs and nervously rubs neck*
Yeah, that Splinter Cell is just a silly ol' game too.

Today's Threat Matrix

[raehl]

NYC sewer system may be target of a disgruntled mafia splinter group, ringleaders believed to be two brothers named Mario and Luigi.

Here's proof...

[sirgoran]

That the government flunkies don't get out enough.

Don't they know that "all work and no play makes jack a dull boy"?

Perhaps we need to coin a new acronym.

How about "DSFR".

Do Some Freaking Reasearch.

-Goran

Cover for real terrorists

[HermesHuang]

Once this story gets out someone's going to realize that they can disguise an underground movement by naming it after a video game's bad guys. Then the FBI will think it's just a video game clan.

Something's fishy.

[jamonterrell]

When I just googled, I saw nothing of the like... only 3 results, the usnews article was the top then some french article I didn't bother to read. Anyone know of this character or even the game? I'm not really a Sega person... speaking of which... Sega? When was the last time you saw a Sega? And htis happened last April.... hmm... something fishy.

Another News Flash

[rinkjustice]

Somebody better tell the US government there's flaming skull guys [doomworld.com] floating around too (and they look like they're up to no good).

Gameshark

[The_Rippa]

We'll, then all the FBI has to do is plug in their Gameshark and enter the following codes...

Hero Is Immortal 24509328 36F055F8
Enemies Are Blind 24109228 36705568

Update...

[hoggoth]

> 'the lead item on the government's daily threat matrix one day last April'

Slight typo, that was supposed to read:
'the lead item on the government's daily threat matrix day one last April'

In other news

[DrugCheese]

Sorry Mario, but our princess is in another castle ...

The Feds Are On The Case!

[Steve B]

They've already kept steps to keep this dangerous terrorist from getting his hands on a handbook for computer crime [sjgames.com].

BULLSHIT

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Try googleing on "Don Emilio Fulci" and you will get two links. One is the story that we saw, and the other is in Italian.

Are we expected to believe that our security agents were able to decode a web page written in Italian? That's just asking us to believe too much.

I don't see how...

[Cranx]

I don't see how so many of you conclude that the government doesn't know a real threat from a video game character. A threat can crop up in any one of a gazillion ways. Once made, they have to verify threats before they take them seriously. They did. They determined it was a video game character.

How else does it work? Magic? When a threat comes in, they use telepathic powers to determine that any given name is a real one and not a video game character? A quick google isn't to everyone's liking?

Dumbasses.

In other news

[mbkennel]

Rumors among the jihadi-message boards say that Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have started communicating to each other and their followers "in the open", under code names "Darth Sidious" and "Darth Maul".

The National Security Agency said that comment it will not, but you mustn't underestimate the power of the Emperor.

Slashdot citing blogs again

[Animats]

Lame, really lame.

So all you need to do is ...

[TheGavster]

So, it seems that all you need to do to get a terrorist plot ignored is to frame it with the plot from a popular videogame ...

contrarian...

[moviepig.com]

(Swimming upstream to find a contrary perspective on this...)

Consider the Pentagon folks who looked at this "threat" and suspected sagely (and rightly) that it was too fanciful to be credible.

How closely do they resemble the Pentagon folks who, in early 2000, looked at jet-hijacking scenarios and suspected sagely (and wrongly) that they were too fanciful to be credible?

(See answer in back of book.)

In other news...

[HaloZero]

Law enforcement agencies all across the United States are searching for Tommy Vercetti [imdb.com]. He is wanted for a string of felonies including (but not limited to) murder, assualt, battery, weapons sales, grand larceny, and above all else Grand Theft Auto.

Proof that video game ratings are necessary!

[Zhe Mappel]

Leave it to the extremists in charge of our nation to have their wettest dreams confirmed by...a Sega game. And a subpar game at that.

People without moral or practical imagination--the types who have gutted our liberties with the Patriot Act, and led us to invade and torture Iraqis--exemplify the kind of simpleminded sorts who shouldn't be allowed to play M-rated video games.

Or run governments.

TIA refund please.

[twitter]

So, billions of dollars later, this is what we can expect from Total Information Awareness? I'll bet a nickle that this floated up their system from being automatically gathered off people's computers and web pages. Enough hits made it right! I want a refund, my privacy back and for those morons to quit thinking that they can prevent crimes by reading my email, browsing and text on my computer.

Re:TIA refund please.

[EvilTwinSkippy]

Save you indignation until after we come to a collective realization that the trillions of dollars spend on Missile defense and the War on Drugs were also a giant waste of money. In some sense, worse than a waste of money. Cracking down on drugs simply made the profit margin insane. Going off and actively researching missile defense involved shredding a few disarmerment treaties with the Russians (not to mention pissing them off.)

Back on the subject, information by it's very definition is measured by it's

Well I've found the...

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

...WMD [sourceforge.net].

This reminds me of the Steve Jackson Games case

[Infonaut]

Way back (way back!) in 1990, Steve Jackson Games roused the ire of the US Secret Service for making a pencil and paper RPG called Cyberpunk, which was supposedly a handbook for computer crime. Never mind the fact that the game took place in a speculative future, SJG was raided. Thus began a legal wrangle that involved the nascent Electronic Frontier Foundation [eff.org] and sparked a much wider discussion about electronic civil liberties.

In the process of fighting the Secret Service [sjgames.com], even with help from the EFF, Steve Jackson Games almost went under.

BTW, I'm not saying that the Steve Jackson case is the same as the FBI's current screw-up. But law enforcement makes mistakes, and sometimes they make big mistakes because they're simply not clued in to popular culture, not to mention computer technology as it is actually used in society.

Et tu, Steve?

[MiceHead]

Steve Jackson Games [sjgames.com]' venerable story on how the US Secret Service raided them [sjgames.com] (and was subsequently forced to pay damages) is a good read, for those who've heard of the case, but are not familiar with the details.

On March 1 1990, the offices of Steve Jackson Games, in Austin, Texas, were raided by the U.S. Secret Service as part of a nationwide investigation of data piracy... More than three years later, a federal court awarded damages and attorneys' fees to the game company...

The EFF also has a Top Ten most mis-reported elements [eff.org] of the case:

10. Steve Jackson Games is a computer game company.

9. GURPS Cyberpunk is a computer game.
8. We're out of business.
7. We were raided by the FBI.
6. Some of our staff members were arrested by the Secret Service and charged with hacking.
5. This was part of Operation Sun Devil.
4. The raid was after GURPS Cyberpunk.
3. There was a hacker threat to sabotage the 911 system.
2. We have an employee named Lloyd Blankenship.
1. Steve Jackson Games is the second largest game company in the USA.

This instance with Sega's fictional character, though embarassing for the FBI, is certainly preferable to the above.
_________________________
I long for the day when Google stops asking me, "Did you mean: inigo rage [google.com]"

What am I missing here?

[unperson]

An FBI employee recieves a detailed tip about some immenent terrorist threat. Instead of researching first, he makes a calculated judgement that since a specific threat was mentioned, he *might* just go ahead and send the info up and down the pipeline so people can be alert...after all, wouldn't it have been better to have a national bulletin that said "Immeninent attack!" at about 6:00am EST on 9/11/01 than to have a detailed summary four hours later!?

I just don't see how we should be upset about the handling of this event. Yes, its kind of funny. The linked article seems to indicate that everything happened in the timeframe of one day. I mean, don't tell me you expected this guy to recognize some character from a video game?

So, terrorists just need to pollute Google?

[NotQuiteReal]

So, if I am a terrorist, all I have to do is have my name come up under some video game, or other innocuous topic [like slashdot postings] more often than fringe websites and usenet groups, and I'm free and clear with the Feds?

heh, that will throw them off the trail. lol

And this is a problem?

[Black Cardinal]

From the (extremely brief) article it sounds like the system put in place to evaluate threats worked. A potential threat was identified somehow, then dismissed once it was turned out to be a nonthreat. Its not like any action beyond evaluation was taken. Even if the "potential threat" in this case was a videogame character, I would prefer to have a human being make that call then let some automated search engine do the screening based on some rules. Whatever automated system they are using is probably only designed to identify potential threats, not evaluate them.

Re:Jesus Fucking Christ.

[Anonymous Coward]

YHBT. YHL. HAND.

*points to GNAA link in parents signature*

relax, it's just an abhorrence

[kippy]

In all likelihood this is an anomaly of the highest order. They probably got this from some data mining software that processes internet traffic. I'm not surprised that a program would pick this up and not realize that it's a fictional character.

Anyway, you have to expect that no system is perfect and that mistakes will be made from time to time. This was just one of those wacky mistakes. I'd sleep easy. The rest of what they are doing is probably accurate and affective. We'll just never know one way

Re:relax, it's just an abhorrence

[Tackhead]

> They probably got this from some data mining software that processes internet traffic. I'm not surprised that a program would pick this up and not realize that it's a fictional character.

Which reminds me, never mind this Fulci guy, it's been over 20 years and they still haven't found Carmen Sandiego! Where in the world is she?

Re:Jesus Fucking Christ.

[Max Threshold]

I'd be more afraid if the government weren't incompetent.

Re:Jesus Fucking Christ.

[gangien]

OK they recieved a tip that certainly, if true would be extremely serious, so they took it seriously and this makes you paranoid? It's good to know that our government takes threats seriously until they can be proven not to be serious, as in this case. Makes you lose sleep? well it makes me sleep better.

Re:Jesus Fucking Christ.

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy cow. Calm down. What USA Today printed was a RUMOR- a rumor about a highly classified document. In reality, the story that made it to USA Today probably bears little resemblence to what actually happened in the White House.

You have gone to level three tin-foil-hat alert over a silly rumor.

Re:Jesus Fucking Christ.

[razol]

We're talking about the government with supposedly the most intelligence in possession of the most WMDs, the biggest army

I believe that Russia is actually the country documented with the most WMD, their biological reserves are quite vast.

I do not think the US Army is the largest, it was China the last time I checked.

they start a level three alert over a goddamned video game character

Level three alert? I must have missed this important distinction. Further, how do we even know this is t

Re:Jesus Fucking Christ.

[corbettw]

+1, Ironic. You claim the government is overreacting by shouting in hysterics because someone phoned in a hoax tip which was subsequently proven to be a hoax and dropped. Go outside, take a breath of fresh air, and relax for pity's sake.

Re:Funny, Not...

[jnicholson]

First of all, it might have been a real group using obviously fake names to make the threat seem less real, and thus needed investigation.

Second, anything that distracts shrub from coming up with more fun-and-games that turn into PR disasters in Iraq, is good.

Re:Bad intel?

[BoneFlower]

Actually, the US does get intelligence from CNN. CNN is actualy very good at ferreting out information other civilian organizations can't get, and often manages to get information before most of the US gets it... the Marines who went ashore in Somalia damn near killed a CNN camera crew that was there to greet them.