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October 31, 2011
A Note About Identity Spoofing
Posted by Derek
Over the weekend, it became clear to me that there had been a case of identity spoofing in the comments to this post. A person had left comments while claiming to be a Merck HR employee, but this same Merck employee contacted me, in understandable confusion, when colleagues asked him about this. That's because he'd never posted anything here at all.
I'd wondered at the time about what was going on - neither of the comments were posted from a Merck IP address, but that wasn't necessarily surprising either way. But hearing from the person himself, most definitely from Merck this time, made up my mind very quickly.
There have been occasional games played around here in the comments section, and most of it's harmless. I'll let jokes through that claim to be from various Nobel Prize candidates - that's just the Internet doing one of the things it's good at. But deliberate assumption of identity like this is another thing altogether. The original comments have been deleted, and the responses to them are now "inoperative", as they used to say in Nixon's day.
Comments (37)
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1. Barack Obama on October 31, 2011 10:36 AM writes...
I simply cannot condone this kind of offensive, malicious identity theft. How about you, Prof Nicolau?
Permalink to Comment2. Derek Lowe on October 31, 2011 10:50 AM writes...
I sort of expected that! But Barack's job is not on the line because of "his" comments on my blog. Or at least I assume so. Over to R. B. Woodward and Emil Fischer for their take.
Permalink to Comment3. coprolite on October 31, 2011 10:51 AM writes...
I really am a piece of crap.
Permalink to Comment4. KC Nicolau on October 31, 2011 10:59 AM writes...
I'm still bitter you won a Nobel Prize before me...
Permalink to Comment5. jimwatson on October 31, 2011 11:02 AM writes...
I'll bet he was fat too.
Permalink to Comment6. God on October 31, 2011 11:06 AM writes...
That's nothing, people have been pretending that I've told them to do things for hundreds of years now.
Permalink to Comment7. Abraham Lincoln on October 31, 2011 11:38 AM writes...
I've said it before, I'll say it again: you can't believe everything you see on the internet.
Permalink to Comment8. Al Gore on October 31, 2011 12:06 PM writes...
When I invented the internet I knew this was going to happen.
Permalink to Comment9. Al Gore on October 31, 2011 12:08 PM writes...
When I invented the internet I knew this was going to happen.
Permalink to Comment10. Vader on October 31, 2011 12:29 PM writes...
You think you're being treated ... unfairly?
Permalink to Comment11. bad wolf on October 31, 2011 12:43 PM writes...
Look, i'm just a Dr. Who fan. Is that so wrong?
Permalink to Comment12. John McCain on October 31, 2011 1:04 PM writes...
This discussion is good news for me.
Permalink to Comment13. Lucifer on October 31, 2011 1:08 PM writes...
@ #6, God: 6. "That's nothing, people have been pretending that I've told them to do things for hundreds of years now."
Watch where you pint that finger, Mister Scape-goater. Just because you have a better press secretary...
Permalink to Comment14. Dr Demento on October 31, 2011 1:24 PM writes...
I was thinking about making some Pfish Head Soup and offering to our Pharma leaders
Permalink to Comment15. A cordova on October 31, 2011 2:16 PM writes...
I like to push the boundaries as far as possible, and then cross them.
Permalink to Comment16. Mr. Rourke on October 31, 2011 2:34 PM writes...
Welcome to Fantasy Island!
Permalink to Comment17. Derek Lowe on October 31, 2011 2:39 PM writes...
I'm moving to Cleveland.
Permalink to Comment18. The real Derek Lowe on October 31, 2011 2:58 PM writes...
I'm Derek Lowe and so's my wife!
Permalink to Comment19. Inigo Montoya on October 31, 2011 6:38 PM writes...
You keep using that word....
Permalink to Comment20. nine on October 31, 2011 7:02 PM writes...
So how many of the above comments are the same person? I'm guessing "all of them".
Permalink to Comment21. George Merck on October 31, 2011 9:04 PM writes...
I'm too busy spinning in my grave to leave a comment...
Permalink to Comment22. Jeffrey Kindler on October 31, 2011 10:46 PM writes...
Good health is vital to all of us, and finding sustainable solutions to the most pressing health care challenges of our world cannot wait. That's why we at Pfizer are committed to applying science and our global resources to improve health and well-being at every stage of life. We strive to provide access to safe, effective and affordable medicines and related health care services to the people who need them.
We have a leading portfolio of products and medicines that support wellness and prevention, as well as treatment and cures for diseases across a broad range of therapeutic areas; and we have an industry-leading pipeline of promising new products that have the potential to challenge some of the most feared diseases of our time, like Alzheimer's disease and cancer.
To ensure we can continue to deliver on our commitments to the patients, customers and shareholders who rely on us, we are focused on improving the way we do business; on operating with transparency in everything we do; and on listening to the views of all of the people involved in health care decisions. Through working in partnership with everyone from patients to health care providers and managed care organizations to world governments and non-governmental organizations, our goal is to ensure that people everywhere have access to innovative treatments and quality health care.
Permalink to Comment23. Spartacus on November 1, 2011 3:07 AM writes...
I'm Spartacus!
Permalink to Comment24. THE Derek Lowe on November 1, 2011 7:45 AM writes...
No, I'm not moving to Cleveland. I'll retire from MLB. And better yet, I will enroll myself in a chemistry Ph.D program to realize my lifelong dream of becoming a mad (med?) chemist. The pay is good, right? No more worries about being traded. Those DHs in AL are nasty.
Permalink to Comment25. Cadbury Moose on November 1, 2011 8:16 AM writes...
I'm just a chocolate moose.
3:O)>
(Hands box of cocoa-dusted truffles around.)
Permalink to Comment26. Cadbury Moose on November 1, 2011 8:18 AM writes...
I'm just a chocolate moose.
3:O)>
(Hands box of cocoa-dusted truffles around.)
Permalink to Comment27. Tony Montana on November 1, 2011 9:41 AM writes...
Big Pharma should say hello to my Little Friend.
Permalink to Comment28. MedChem on November 1, 2011 10:03 AM writes...
Some of you guys are hilarious! I can defintely see some make a living as sit com writers.
Permalink to Comment29. Anakin Skywalker on November 1, 2011 10:11 AM writes...
Hey Vader, I want to be you when I grow up.
Permalink to Comment30. The Absolutely Really Honest-to-Goodness Actual Derek Lowe on November 1, 2011 10:38 AM writes...
I'm really Mary Poppins. And I am moving to Cleveland.
Permalink to Comment31. Alan Partridge on November 1, 2011 1:17 PM writes...
I'm Alan Partridge. AHAAAAA!!
Permalink to Comment32. Robert Bunsen on November 1, 2011 2:27 PM writes...
This post burns me up.
Permalink to Comment33. Hap on November 1, 2011 3:59 PM writes...
17, 24, 31: I'm so sorry. I don't think 1995 is coming around again. Cleveland has some talent but is never going to pay to keep it (or will pay the wrong talent, unfortunately - Hafner, for example). At least real estate should be cheap.
I guess you should be glad you weren't traded to Pittsburgh (oops, well maybe not lately) or Kansas City (better barbeque, but there's not enough beer to drown the feelings of futility).
Permalink to Comment34. Fezzik on November 1, 2011 5:52 PM writes...
Anybody want a peanut?
Permalink to Comment35. The Dread Pirate Roberts on November 2, 2011 7:39 AM writes...
It's the name that counts.
Permalink to CommentAnyone for some Iocaine powder?
36. Ron Burgundy on November 2, 2011 2:11 PM writes...
Stay classy, San Diego!
Permalink to Comment37. O.K. This Time I Really Am Derek Lowe on November 2, 2011 3:40 PM writes...
Yeah, Cleveland.
Permalink to Comment