For any and all who need a smile today...

[WilliamPitt]

Pranksters Make Short Work of GOP’s URL Shortener for Conservatives
By Eliot Van Buskirk
Wired

December 15, 2009

The Republican party took down its innovative link-shortening tool Tuesday for several hours after pranksters had a field day using the tool to associate the GOP with bondage sites. As part of its new media strategy, the Republican party launched a new site called GOP.am on Monday. It’s a URL shortener designed to make it easy for conservative web surfers to exchange links to web pages.

Pranksters almost immediately began using the service to link to controversial or ironically intended websites, such as the official site of the American Communist Party, a bondage website and a webpage advertising a sex toy in the likeness of Barack Obama. GOP.am apparently started blocking such links at some point Tuesday morning, and the GOP.am homepage was taken offline.

The website is back online late Tuesday morning PST, and the company that designed the site in collaboration with the Republican National Committee plans to add an automatic filtering system to help with the high volume of what its president calls “pornographic, lewd” or “hateful” URLs being added to its service.

Possibly the first branded URL shortener, GOP.am was designed by the RNC’s new media consultants, Political Media, to work somewhat like bit.ly, in that it shortens URLs so that they can be more easily exchanged through short messaging services like Twitter. Google launched its own URL shortener Monday afternoon, and Facebook now has one, too.

But unlike bit.ly, GOP.am includes a toolbar at the top of the screen that follows users as they click through to see whatever pages the links go to. It also sports an animation of RNC chairman Michael Steele walking around on the lower right as if he’s showing off the website — particularly awkward when that website is the alt.com bondage site. Users of the Balloon-Juice website entertained each other last night by exchanging scores of such links, which have since been blocked.

The rest: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/12/gop-removes-conservative-url-shortener-following-pranks/comment-page-1/

:rofl:

[AspenRose]

1. A sex toy in the likeness of Barack Obama.

Wow. :rofl:

[placton]

2. You know, I bet we could sell

lotsa butt plugs in the image of George Bush, Joe Lieberman and others?

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. OMG that's hilarious

:rofl:

[berni_mccoy]

4. This is the second time they've let something like this happen with their website. LOL!

[progressoid]

5. Jebus, will they never learn?

[Dr.Phool]

6. Brownie has a new job!

Somebody hose down Vitter!

comments:
Doesn't seem to be working right now. Edit: It's back up running now, with tragic results.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[pattmarty]

7. If only they had put up big breasted white women and a couple........................

.........pictures of "negro" lynchings they would have had a real "winner" for their base of teabaggers, racists, perverts, oh and that favorite holiday Republican, LOBBYISTS.


Happy Holidays, you greedy, perverted, lying motherfuckers!!!!!!

[Mopar151]

8. A note of support for GOP.am

"They said you wuz a clever muthafucka - but I stood up for ya- I told 'em you war'nt clever at all!" A thought from"Bondo Donny", ace bodyman and Real Vermonter.

[Historic NY]

9. They are just so media savvy...

:spray:

Whats next?

[DMNinFL]

10. Here ya go.............

It comes right here to DU

http://gop.am/LDqz

[OneGrassRoot]

13. Ha! :) n/t

[fl_dem]

14. thats great....

:fistbump:

[grantcart]

15. lol but I don't see any Steele animation

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

16. Here's a video of Steele (balloon juice saved it)

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm184/pixelpencil/?action=view¤t=GOP-ammovie.flv

[Ohio Metal]

18. Still Works On Some Porno Sites

http://gop.am/IbO9

Very funny stuff.

[eppur_se_muova]

11. Um, they're trying to filter out "hateful" sites? Can't you just smell the irony?

Too meta; implosion imminent.

[WilliamPitt]

12. .

[Oilwellian]

17. Rachel covered this on her show tonight

She even showed us some samples. Hysterically funny. :D :hi:

[jobycom]

19. It will be hard to design a blocker when their leaders are named Dick and Bush. nt