Have you heard of the Streisand effect?
After Atomic magazine columnist, blogger, and all round good bloke, Dan Rutter blogged many times about bogus fuel additive maker Firepower in 2007 & 2008, he was sent a PDF of "summary of our results" by Stephen Moss, CEO of the above-mentioned bogus fuel additive maker, accompanied by this charming text:
Dear Dan,
You are an idiot.
I suggest before you make claims regarding a product, you complete all your research correctly. Maybe you should try a product before you talk about it.
I have attached a summary of our results.
You can remove your defamatory statements regarding our product within the next 48 hours and post an apology and reference our results or we will commence legal action immediately.
–Kind Regards,
Stephen Moss
Chief Executive Officer
Firepower International
On 12 Feb 2008, he kindly complied, but added his usual, thorough assessment of their claims, which wasn't at all flattering to poor old bogus fuel additive maker Firepower. It said things like "not backed up by science", and "not tested by reputable, contactable organisations", and "their claims don't even make sense".
Needless to say, the bogus fuel additive maker Firepower were unhappy with this, not least because it's all true - their product hasn't been tested in an actual lab, or by an actual scientist, or... um... at all (in an english speaking country) as far can be told.
So, they did what any self respecting bottom-feeder would do. On 19 Feb 2008 , they anonymously ordered Blogsome, who host Dan's blog, to force him to cease linking to this PDF file, FP_Pill_07.zip of their bogus "evidence".
As a direct result, and in keeping with the fine tradition of anti-censorship, bogus fuel additive maker Firepower's brochure can now be found all over the internets, including on this site - FP_Pill_07.zip.
Funny that.
The above text is based on this one from AdamHelp, thanks Adam!
From dansdata - mirrors so far:
This one at Tantryl Technology, this one at Purdue University, this one at David Lumley Design, this one at Manitu Group, this one at Tinfoil Music, this one at WinForums, this one at nepis.net, this one at egginton.net, this one at Practical Devices, this one at GamersNation, this one and this one where the PDF link currently constitutes pretty much the entire content of the site it's on not to mention this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one and this one on OptusNet accounts, this one and this one at TPG, this one at WestNet and this one on a Versatel account in Belgium. Also mirrored and blogged about on Colombo Critic, and bjoreman.com, and ILikeJam, and ipsidixit.net, and The Thrill House, and Wyse Guys, and ItGlo.ws, and TechDomain, and TechNFun, and AdamHelp, and The Dord of Darien.
And the torrent's been downloaded a few hundred times.
How's that censorship workin' out for you, anonymous Firepower guy?
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