Ha ha! The leak that blows the sockpuppets/trolls wide open! We knew this day would arrive, and it finally did.
But the bigger question: why didn't dailykos.com link to the Aaron Barr email in question? I ask for two reasons. First, it seems kind of Mainstream Media of them to not link to it. Trying to keep us on your site, Kos, or is this one of those "sensitive" things that must be kept out of the common man's hands, a gatekeeper function that newspapers used to exercize? Second, I want to find out more about the Persona Management Software. It seems like an opportunity for an open source project.
Elaborate on this? Certainly. Visit a website that allows comments, and posts articles on controlversial topics. Say, techdirt.com or groklaw.net. Read all the comments for 10 articles. You'll quickly come to the realization that a number of the differently-named identities repeat a large number of the same ideas, concepts and talking points.
But all these differently-named identities have different habits of usage. Maybe one of them can't be bothered to use the shift-key, like e e cummings. One of them is named "Darryl" and posts rather rambling comments. A few of them are anonymous cowards. But over the course of a few weeks diligent followers of the comments in a blog see that all the trolls start using the same talking points at the same time. Maybe a phrase like "rich user experience" shows up in all troll comments one day. A few weeks later, any number of people chime in with "I love linux as much as the next guy, but Microsoft has a great product this time."
What I mean by "blows the sockpuppets/trolls wide open" is that this revelation finally explains how a site like Groklaw.net or techdirt.com can attract such a large number of persistent detractors. Sockpuppet/Persona Management explains how a single person can create a large number of different trolls with different writing characteristics, different vocabularies, but all with the same point of view.
This is just an alternative explanation for an observed phenomenon. Actual human beings are entirely capable of reduction to repeatable talking points and strangely fanatical persistence given the right framing and environment.
But the bigger question: why didn't dailykos.com link to the Aaron Barr email in question? I ask for two reasons. First, it seems kind of Mainstream Media of them to not link to it. Trying to keep us on your site, Kos, or is this one of those "sensitive" things that must be kept out of the common man's hands, a gatekeeper function that newspapers used to exercize? Second, I want to find out more about the Persona Management Software. It seems like an opportunity for an open source project.