FBI To Use Ad Banners to Find Criminals 244
PhuptDuck writes "Federal authorities are pursuing fugitive crime boss James 'Whitey' Bulger in cyber space under a first-of-its kind agreement announced Wednesday between the FBI and Web portal Terra-Lycos. With a presence in 42 countries and in 19 languages, Terra Lycos is known for the worldwide scope of its Web presence."
Does anyone actually look at them? (Score:5, Interesting)
What's next, the government spamming us with wanted posters and ASCII pictures? Why don't they invest money in a medium which people actually pay attention to? See: Television Advertisements.
Great Idea (Score:2, Interesting)
People all over the world use Lycos. No matter where someone is, there will probably be someone near by who uses the internet. By making it as easy to report to the FBI as clicking a button, they should get results. Since it's over the internet, the reporter may feel more anonymous sending in a report.
The downside would be false reports. There will probably be more false FBI criminal sitings then elvis sitings...
Re:Does anyone actually look at them? (Score:5, Interesting)
Not just advertisements... actual SHOWS. "America's Most Wanted" already does this. They put criminals faces on TV and the general public can watch the show and be constantly on the lookout for the criminals. From time-to-time (from what I understand... I don't actually watch the show) they put the FBI most wanted list on the screen too. I believe they also have the top 10 most wanted on their website as well.
Television is a great medium to get this information out to the public! So is the internet. BUT, the good thing about TV is that if you don't want to watch it, you can turn it OFF. If they continue this activity with making deals with internet companies and put pop-ups/banners on everyone's screens, it just going to end up making a lot of people upset.
If you want to get the info out, just put up a website. Internet ads are not necessary.
Bulgar takes the fifth (Score:4, Interesting)
The guy they're seeking, #10 on the most wanted list, and suspected of 21 murders, is the brother of the president of the University of Massachusetts, who just plead the 5th to keep his dear brother safe.
Bulgar takes the fifth [milforddailynews.com]
Great to see the head of an institute of learning take such a principled stand. Not.
White noise, anyone? (Score:4, Interesting)
Given that Bulger looks like most other balding white men in their 50s, the FBI may get thousands of false leads now. I also feel sorry for American expatriates living in Latin America, who will be faced with having to "prove" they aren't a fugitive.
Bulger, if he's smart (which is probably is), would have radically altered his appearance so that he no longer resembles the wanted poster.
All a criminal investigator really can do is sit back, be patient, and wait for the criminal to make a mistake. If Bulger ever calls his brother or an old friend or girlfriend on Christmas, for example, he's busted.
This wanted poster thing smacks of desperation on the FBI's part, which I'm sorry to see.
FBI already has a website (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The FBI doesn't want to find Bulger (Score:2, Interesting)
probably still in southie (Score:1, Interesting)