FC: VMyths enters realms of legend -- a farewell

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

[Government funding of the press? Hmm. That always leads to fair, 
objective, entirely neutral reporting that is properly skeptical of 
government efforts in the security realm! I'm sure that Congress would 
never, ever threaten to yank the funding of a site that is critical of 
government security efforts! :) --Declan]

---

From: "Nathan Cochrane" <ncochrane@theage.fairfax.com.au>
To: "Declan McCullagh \(E-mail\)" <declan@well.com>
Subject: VMyths enters realms of legend
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 12:55:33 +1000

Hi Declan

The virus hoax busting site, VMyths, is to close.

VMyths was the single source of independent information about virus hoaxes,
and a reporter's best friend when it came to evaluating "falling sky" claims
from antivirus vendors. Paradoxically, it is this ethical streak that
ultimately killed VMyths, founder Rob Rosenberger unwilling to accept
financial support from vendors.

In today's announcement to registered readers of the site, VMyths editor
George Smith writes that Rosenberger is due for an extended deployment in
the Persian Gulf with the US Air Force, which will take much of his time.
But it was a fall in advertising revenue that delivered the killer blow,
making VMyths' continued publication impossible:

"VMYTHS has proven as valuable to scholars and policy-makers as it has to
the put-upon corporate worker looking for a way to convince his peers to
stop mass-mailings of the JDBGMGR.EXE and 'It takes gut to say Jesus' virus
hoaxes," Smith says.

"Whether cited by a RAND Organization research fellow or Consumer Reports
magazine, VMYTHS' reputation as the primary source for virus hoax
information was well deserved. Indeed, a Google research returns an
astounding 10,200 hits, an ocean of reference spread over everything from
small mailing lists to general interest magazines sold in supermarkets to
the nation's major daily newspapers.It is always sad to see these resources
disappear. But the nature of the Web is such that if information is needed,
it will be filled."

What I find remarkable is with the billions of dollars the US and other
Western governments are pumping into mostly pointless projects that will do
little to defend the cyber infrastructure, they couldn't find a few thousand
dollars to keep this service going. Rosenberger is a US military employee
who, Smith says, will instead write classified histories of units of
interest for the USAF. But couldn't he be better employed keeping this
project running?

MORE:
http://bilskirnir.blogspot.com/2003_07_01_bilskirnir_archive.html#105763237260460054

-
Nathan Cochrane
Deputy IT Editor
:Next:
The Age and Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.next.theage.com.au




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