Notable examples involving public figures in recent years include:
- John Lott, author of More Guns, Less Crime, who, between 2000 and 2003, posted under the "sock puppet" name of "Mary Rosh",[3] praising Lott's teaching, and arguing with Lott's critics on Usenet. The name was also used to post outstanding reviews of his books, and panning books of rivals on online book sites. Lott admitted he had frequently used the name "Mary Rosh" to defend himself, but claimed the book reviews by "Mary Rosh" were written by his son and wife.
- Lee Siegel, writer for The New Republic magazine, was suspended for defending his articles and blog comments using the user name "Sprezzatura". One such comment, defending Siegel's bad reviews of Jon Stewart: “Siegel is brave, brilliant and wittier than Stewart will ever be.”[4] [5]
- In 2006 a top staffer for then-Congressman Charlie Bass (R-NH) was caught posing as a "concerned" supporter of Bass's opponent Democrat Paul Hodes on several liberal NH blogs, using the pseudonyms "IndieNH" or "IndyNH". "IndyNH" was "concerned" that Democrats might just be wasting their time or money on Hodes, because Bass was unbeatable. [6]
- In 2007, The CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, was discovered to have posted on the Yahoo Finance Message Board, extolling his own company and predicting a dire future for their rival Wild Oats Markets while concealing his own relationship to both companies under the screen name "Rahodeb".[7]
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