Who bought websites implying US senators 'for sale'

canada goose store FILE In this Jan. Capitol Building as night falls in Washington. senators were "for sale" have been quietly and mysteriously purchased online, amid heightened concerns on Capitol Hill that foreign agents _ especially Russians buy canada goose jacket _ might be trying to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections. The Associated Press has determined that Democrats were responsible. The cybersecurity director for the sergeant at arms in the Senate has begun to look into the matter. (AP Photo/J. senators were "for sale" have been quietly and mysteriously purchased online, amid heightened concerns on Capitol Hill that foreign agents especially Russians might be trying to meddle in upcoming midterm elections. canada goose store

canada goose clearance The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee acknowledged to the AP that it had quietly purchased the addresses, which use a new internet suffix "forsale," in March for at least 27 incumbent senators facing re election this fall and in 2020, without telling the senators. law enforcement officer in the Senate, has been looking into the matter. canada goose clearance

buy canada goose jacket cheap The addresses now controlled by the Democratic political group include the names of mostly Democrats but some prominent Republicans, too. The canada goose clearance group masked its role in the purchase to ensure its identity as the buyer remained anonymous. The current price for such addresses, with a privacy guard, is roughly $18 each. buy canada goose jacket cheap

Canada Goose Online "It's a routine campaign practice to purchase URLs to stop bad actors from getting them, and if we eventually decided to develop a URL into a website then there would be a clear disclosure of who was operating it," said Lauren Passalacqua, communications director at the DSCC. Canada Goose Online

Canada Goose Outlet Buying politically related web addresses to use them later online or prevent rival campaigns from using them has been a routine practice for decades. politicians. intelligence chief Dan Coats canada goose deals has cautioned that the "warning lights are blinking red" and that "the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack." Canada Goose Outlet

Canada Goose Parka The mysterious "forsale" purchases set off alarms. AP's review found roughly 280 political web addresses registered under the "forsale" domain, targeting President Donald Trump, the GOP, Supreme Court and National Rifle Association, as well as individual Democrats and Republicans. senators and didn't provide further details. Canada Goose Parka

canada goose factory sale "In this particular atmosphere, anything along these Canada Goose Outlet lines is concerning, because there's so much opportunity for malicious use of the internet, particularly in campaigns," said Sen. Angus King, I Maine, before AP solved the mystery. King declined to comment after learning from AP that Democrats were responsible. dirty tricksters, pranksters or speculators hoping eventually to sell the web addresses to campaigns or their rivals. None of the addresses for the senators appears to be associated with an operational website, obscuring motives for future uses. Unlike in cases where so called squatters register web addresses they hope to sell for profit, there were no indications the addresses were being made available for resale or populated with ads to make money. canada goose factory sale

canada goose uk shop Tim Groeling, an expert on political communication and new media at the University of California, canada goose clearance sale Los Angeles, said the anonymity sought by the Democratic group was what troubled Canada Goose online him. The identities of whoever registered the websites were purposefully masked. He said it's common for campaigns to purchase permutations of candidate names defensively and to use offensively against political opponents. canada canada goose outlet goose uk shop

canada goose black friday sale "The lack of transparency is both concerning from a standpoint of the cheap Canada Goose potential for other canada goose coats on sale governments to do this type of thing and not be revealed, and our domestic politics," Groeling said. "I'm a big fan of transparency. I think a lot canada goose black friday sale of things can be fixed with sunlight." canada goose black friday sale

uk canada goose outlet The addresses use the new internet suffix "forsale" first made available in 2015 and intended to help consumers sell unwanted items without paying auction sites. The addresses the Democrats registered included the names of Sens. and Dean Heller, R Nev. Senate and its offices around the country are the responsibility of the sergeant at arms. Terry Gainer, who previously served as sergeant at arms until 2014, said that if he buy canada goose jacket cheap had learned of the canada goose mysterious addresses in the current political environment, he would Canada Goose Jackets have his cybersecurity officer as well as the Capitol Police made aware. He said he would also ask the Secret Service and FBI to investigate. uk canada goose outlet

buy canada goose jacket "I don't believe in coincidences, and again, what's been going on since the whole Russian intrusions, there'd be much more sensitivity about taking a look at this," Gainer said. buy canada goose jacket

canada goose coats It was unclear who purchased the addresses targeting the NRA, GOP and others. Internet records showed they were purchased anonymously hours before the Democrats bought the canada goose coats ones with the senators' names, and within seconds of each other. The canadian goose jacket address implying Canada Goose sale the Supreme Court was for sale was purchased last month. canada goose coats

Canada Goose sale "It's no different from dot sucks," said Paul Canada Goose Parka Vixie, a highly regarded computer scientist who helped design the system of internet addresses currently in use. "Social commentary has always thrived on the internet, due to reach and cost issues. These politicians are right to reserve those names, but wrong if they think other domains only slightly less clean won't appear." Canada Goose sale

canada goose clearance sale Warren's staff declined to comment, as did McCaskill's and Cruz's. Heller, Casey, Heitkamp, Sanders and Wicker did not respond to questions. The GOP, DNC and NRA also did not respond to questions from the AP. Senate Sergeant at Arms Office declined to comment on the "active defense" of its system. canada goose clearance https://www.canadagoose-jackets-online.com sale

cheap Canada Goose Politicians canada goose store and celebrities, especially, have trademark rights to their own names, and can file a complaint and request arbitration through the World Intellectual Property Organization or the National Arbitration Forum with whoever registered the website, according to Alexander Urbelis, a partner at the New York based Blackstone Law Group who detected the new registrations. cheap Canada Goose

Canada Goose Coats On Sale "It's a really nutty thing to do unilaterally because it's going to set off alarm bells," Urbelis said. Canada Goose Coats On Sale

canada goose uk black friday Rick Tyler, a longtime Republican political consultant, said such website purchases are typical campaign tactics. He said third parties, like super PACs, are often used so the campaigns themselves appear virtuous. canada goose uk black friday

canada goose uk outlet "Ultimately in all of this, with the Russian meddling and the fake news it gets very confusing," Tyler said. "I think the information consumer has to just beware, they have to learn to discern what is true, and what is not." canada goose uk outlet.