Global Voices Advocacy » Poland http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org Defending Free Speech Online Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:58:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Polish computer programmer arrested for Google Bombing http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/09/27/polish-computer-programmer-arrested-for-google-bombing/ http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/09/27/polish-computer-programmer-arrested-for-google-bombing/#comments Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:55:15 +0000 Sami Ben Gharbia http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/09/27/polish-computer-programmer-arrested-for-google-bombing/ The 23-years old Polish computer programmer Marek W. might face up to three years in prison for having created a Googlebombing software linking Polish President Lech Kaczynski’s website to the word “kutas” meaning penis in Polish. Marek who succeeded to manipulate Google search engine rankings so that Polish internet users searching “kutas” on Google Polska ended up on www.prezydent.pl, is being accused of insulting president Lech Kaczynski. The Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza has reported that Marek was testing his search engine optimization software:

The man used the official website of Polish president Lech Kaczyński for testing the software. When internet users typed “kutas” ["penis"] they got the official president’s site. Furthermore – it was the first result. They played with this for couple of months – right up to March this year. That’s when the 23 years old was traced by investigator from the Katowice police office.

Finding him wasn’t difficult – the man used his home computer, which police easily traced by its IP address. The computer amateur confirmed that he wrote the program. “I just wanted to verify my skills and check if the software works” was his explanation during the hearings.

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