Hey, Corporate America! Show Taxpayers Some Appreciation!

Please DO NOT reply to any of the postings that purport to be from
votenader.org. Their approvals were forged (the moderators did not approve
them). In fact they should be ignored entirely.

They are "Joe Jobs", a term that is defined here:
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Joe%20Job

Just curious, why do I rarely see these on other news groups I
subscribe to? I'd think a moderated group would make these less likely
but for some reason, they seem more frequent here.

On 14 Apr 2004 04:57:17 GMT, Jim Logajan <JamesL@Lugoj.com> wrote:

>
>Please DO NOT reply to any of the postings that purport to be from
>votenader.org. Their approvals were forged (the moderators did not approve
>them). In fact they should be ignored entirely.
>
>They are "Joe Jobs", a term that is defined here:
>http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Joe%20Job

Chuck <cberg@mn.rr.com> wrote:
> Jim Logajan <JamesL@Lugoj.com> wrote:
>>Please DO NOT reply to any of the postings that purport to be from
>>votenader.org. Their approvals were forged (the moderators did not
>>approve them). In fact they should be ignored entirely.
>>
>>They are "Joe Jobs", a term that is defined here:
>>http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Joe%20Job
>
> Just curious, why do I rarely see these on other news groups I
> subscribe to? I'd think a moderated group would make these less likely
> but for some reason, they seem more frequent here.

I suspect some of the following factors combine to make these posts more
frequent on moderated newsgroups:

1) Although the vast majority of groups are unmoderated and there typically
exists an alternate unmoderated group for each moderated one, some people
simply can't abide the mere existence of groups where postings are
screened. Posting forged approvals is probably considered a tweek in the
nose to the alleged "newsgroup fascists" (us moderators) who no doubt revel
in silencing all opinions we do not agree with. The postings are probably
intended to make the "newsgroup fascists" appear powerless - which is a
redundant demonstration in my humble opinion!

2) It is trivially easy to forge an approval. But unless one works at
subterfuge to hide their true identity, forging an approval will likely get
one's Internet access shut pulled if someone can make a provable complaint.
Forged approvals are normally a violation of one's Terms of Service (TOS)
with one's Internet Service Provider (ISP). (There is probably a clause
about misrepresentation or fraud which would probably be applicable if
misuse of Usenet news or moderated forums are not mentioned explicitly.)

3) Marketing. Posting such stuff to unmoderated groups isn't going to be
noticed much because readers are acclimated to seeing all sorts of
nonsense. But posting such stuff to moderated groups is going to stick out
like the proverbial sore thumb.