The Digg Fraud Campaign Behind Zune

A recent Digg blog campaign sought to credit Microsoft with an early lead in using its Xbox 360 against Apple’s iTunes, iPod, and the forthcoming iTV in rival efforts to sell movies online--or in Microsoft’s case, to sell exploding media rentals.

However, the story failed to mention that Microsoft has only sold 6 million XBox 360s in the last year, and most these require a hard drive upgrade in order to download movies. Digg users fell for the story and it was widely propagated through the blogosphere as a news item.

Is it possible that anonymous blogs, popping out of nowhere without any history, might lack credibility and have ulterior motives? Haha.

Michael Murphy, Professional Faux-Blogger

The anonymous “Apple Gazette” that pushed this story using Digg is actually run by the same Michael Murphey of Texas--aka whitebreadmike--who incessantly attacks anything critical of the Zune. Hmm.

Murphey maintains an array of anonymous blogs that all spread false information and cloaked FUD attacks by serving up rabid attacks on everything Apple, while sometimes also pretending to be an Apple fan site.

Murphey works as a pay for say ‘professional blogger’ who advertises his ability to push any propaganda through Digg for a fee.

Digg users have been eating up everything Murphey throws out.

For example, Murphey has been working to create rumors of an imminently available new “video iPod,” apparently in an effort to try to get iPod buyers to hold off on their purchases and perhaps consider the Zune.

Murphey has more alter ego aliases on Digg than he has website domain names. At one point he could claim whitebreadmike, MrsMurphy, themurph2099, and several others that have since all been banned for fraud use.

His accomplices also hide behind fake names, including carapi, monkeybutler, and lackawak, who was also banned by Digg for fraud. He quickly turned up again as lackawack2, 3, and is now somewhere around 6.

Censoring Digg

Mike Caddick--aka Zybch--also runs vigilant Apple censorship campaigns, complaining that the information he works to bury is “biased.” However, he turned down an offer to publish his own views here, and instead launched another anonymous blog devoted to attacking RDM: cynicalapple.com.

These characters really pushed things over the top by trying to mount a disinformation campaign against RDM, accusing me of “gaming” the system they’ve repeatedly censored and subverted to fit their own needs and business goals. Bloggers were happy to drink their KoolAid.

Pot, Kettle Black

If RDM is gaming Digg, why are my articles, which were regularly always on the front page, now immediately censored as soon as Zybch/Lackawak/Carapi notices the article and begins to harass Digg users in tirades of profanity, accusing them all of being sibyls?

Have Digg users in general suddenly decided that all they want on the front page of Digg’s Apple section is a series of press releases and funny pictures, or was it no coincidence that the censoring started the day Lackawak promised to start a “vigilante” fraud campaign against RDM, which happened to coincide with an article questioning Microsoft’s marketing, technology and fashion sense?

Astroturf Green

Further, who profits from repressing unflattering information about the Internet misinformation campaigns that promote everything from the Zune to the Greenpeace assault on Apple?

With Digg hiding the identities of the narrow minority of users who subvert the entire system to promote corporate interests, there’s no way to tell for sure.

While Digg occasionally takes action against fraudulent digging, it ignores fraud censorship completely, which is far easier to orchestrate.

With paid propaganda shills faux-blogging Digg’s system full of misinformation, and shamelessly advertising their services to anyone interested, it’s obvious that there’s a profit motive. Without any open accountability, one can only speculate on where the money actually comes from and where it goes.

The problem with the anonymous Internet is that services like Digg fail to exercise any of the accountability of traditional news sources, and are happy to be used to spread false information if it results in ad clicks. That’s something that Apple has the power to change, but who knows when? It has more profitable pursuits to follow.

What the pro-Zune cabal that runs Digg’s censorship committee doesn’t want you to know is that the Zune is in serious sales trouble. That’s a problem that no amount of fake and anonymous blogs can cover up, no matter how much disinformation they spew.

Next Article: Strike 3: Why Zune will Bomb this Winter

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Tech: Online Music & Media

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