Hacker Cops to Amazon Gay Flap

Skeptics still unsure whether he did it
By Ambreen Ali,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 13, 2009 2:50 PM CDT
Hacker Cops to Amazon Gay Flap
The controversy exploded on Twitter, where users have been expressing outrage at the software company.   (Twitter)

A notorious hacker has taken credit for the snafu that bumped gay titles from Amazon’s bestseller lists and rankings, Gawker reports. “Weev” claims he tricked users into flagging the content as inappropriate without their knowledge. “I guess my game is up,” he confessed in a how-to on his blog. His motive: “I really hate reputation systems based on user input.”

“This started a while back on Craigslist, when I was trying to score chicks to do heroin with,” he continues, resenting what he perceived to be a bias against heterosexuals in how ads were flagged. “The audacity of the San Francisco gay community disgusted me.” Weev offered no proof that he was the culprit, and one skeptic says Weev’s hack doesn’t really work. (More Amazon stories.)

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