Popular Irish Politics Discussion Board Offline- Hacking Suspected

national | sci-tech | news report Thursday March 06, 2008 16:16 by ANM

Politics.ie, the popular internet discussion chat board, has been taken offline in what is said to be a serious hacking incident. Users of the site complained that personal information and private messages had been hacked into earlier this week, and some also complained that their avatars (the colourful flag or party emblem they use to indentify each other) had been changed without their permission.

Yesterday at lunchtime the site stopped loading onto users' computers, with all requests timing out. People have speculated that productivity in certain government departments has since shot up.

It's even being claimed that partners of the predominantly male users of the site are receiving more attention than usual, although talk of a "politics.ie blackout baby boom" might somewhat premature.

The owner of the site, Mr. David Cochrane, runs it in a whimsical fashion, banning users and moderating according to his own views.

He is employed by the right-wing anti-Lisbon Treaty group Libertas, and has used the site as a platform to publicise anti-Treaty arguments. Cochrane was recently featured in an article in Phoenix Magazine.

The site is enormously popular, and has many devoted users. A recent real-world meet up in a bar in County Dublin attracted more than a hundred people. Some users, however, have been less than happy with the site, with many arguments raging about treatment of discussions on immigration issues, gay rights, the Mahon tribunal, etc. A longtime technical manager of politics.ie left recently, and there have been fierce rows about bullying and underhand tactics in moderation.

Many political parties (notably the Greens) use the site to leak information, and others use the anonymity of the bulletin board forum to plant rumours and smear opponents. A genuine hacking attempt may be a cause for concern among users who may not want their private details, such as personal email addresses etc, to be made public.

Other internet bulletin boards have seen "refugees" from Politics.ie joining and attempting to replicate the distinctive atmosphere of the board in new locations, with varying success.