09.14.12
US hate speech book promotional details
How Fatima Started Islam, the anti-Islam hate speech book covered yesterday, ads for which were spammed into e-mail a few weeks ago, relied on anonymity and the global web. Unsuccessfully.
The spam campaign’s aim was probably publicity and sales through Amazon.
The spoofed mail to DD blog, henrylswartz@yahoo.com, was identified by The Honeypot Project here. It came August 26.
It was sent through a mail server in China, perhaps one operating off the cn.com domain, to about 1000 recipients, using a variety of spoofed originating addresses.
Six of the book’s seven “5-star” reviews were placed before, during and just after the spam campaign.
This could indicate stimulus from the spam, or perhaps more likely, astro-turfed reviews placed to take take advantage of curious clicks by those who received the spam.
Fatima received a total of 122 reviews on Amazon. 111 were “1-stars,” the others all “5-star.” It is a distribution with no middle.
All of the “1-star” reviews came in the time frame of the book’s spam,
reacting to it, some so noting with imprecations to cease and desist. They indicate the reviewers had no interest in buying it although they may have seen enough from Amazon’s “search inside … ” option to get the gist.
Indeed, I’d find it remarkable if the book sold any copies. But some rotten game was afoot.
The book was originally published in 2009 and ignored. So why the renewed push?
From news reports on “Innocence of Muslims:”
Early yesterday morning VICE was anonymously furnished with documents that link a California man named Robert Brownell (aka Robert Brown) to the pre-production of Innocence of Muslims, the F-grade anti-Islamic film that has resulted in violent protests at and around US embassies in Sanaa, Yemen; Cairo; Tripoli; and Doha, Qatar. He is a man who has, as of yet, not been named in association with the film.
The documents clearly state that in 2009 and 2011 Robert Brownell purchased pre-production services related to Desert Warrior, which has been widely reported as the working title of the film that the world now knows as Innocence of Muslims.
The YouTube “Sam Bacile” account uploaded two videos that ignited the “Innocence of Muslims” riots on July 1 and 2.
Coincidences? Maybe. Probably. Or not.