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2.7 KiB
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15 lines
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>astroturfing</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../A.html" title="A"/><link rel="previous" href="ASCIIbetical-order.html" title="ASCIIbetical order"/><link rel="next" href="atomic.html" title="atomic"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">astroturfing</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="ASCIIbetical-order.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><th width="60%" align="center">A</th><td width="20%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="atomic.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="astroturfing"/><dt xmlns="" id="astroturfing"><b>astroturfing</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> 1. The use of paid shills to create the impression of a popular
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movement, through means like letters to newspapers from soi-disant
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‘concerned citizens’, paid opinion pieces, and the formation of
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grass-roots lobbying groups that are actually funded by a PR group
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(AstroTurf is fake grass; hence the term). See also <a href="../S/sock-puppet.html"><i class="glossterm">sock
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puppet</i></a>, <a href="../T/tentacle.html"><i class="glossterm">tentacle</i></a>.</p></dd><dd><p> 2. What an individual posting to a public forum under an assumed
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name is said to be doing.</p></dd><dd><p>This term became common among hackers after it came to light in early
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1998 that Microsoft had attempted to use such tactics to forestall the
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U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust action against the company. The
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maneuver backfired horribly, angering a number of state attorneys-general
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enough to induce them to go public with plans to join the Federal suit. It
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also set anybody defending Microsoft on the net for the accusation
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“<span class="quote">You're just astroturfing!</span>”.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="ASCIIbetical-order.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../A.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="atomic.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">ASCIIbetical order<65></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"><EFBFBD>atomic</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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