The US Conference of Mayors held a meeting this weekend during which Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy had some things to say about violent video games. Actually, he had quite a few things to say on the topic, but one quote in particular stuck with me:

“the day that Newtown happened, there were games available that actually allowed people to go into a school in the game and shoot ‘em up.”

Malloy is almost certainly referring to Kindergarten Killers, a flash game the NRA cited as evidence that the video game industry was having a negative impact on our society. The NRA failed to mention that Kindergarten Killers is a ten year old flash game created by one person, and it was never picked up by a publisher. Unfortunately, when reporting on Governor Malloy’s quotes, most outlets also failed to mention that fact.

Over the past couple of days I’ve seen a lot of outlets (both gaming outlets and non-gaming outlets) covering this story, but only a handful have provided any context for that quote.

Try to put yourself in the shoes of an uninformed parent reading that quote. This hypothetical reader might begin to form a negative opinion on video games – after all, this is a state governor making these statements, and that position carries a certain level of credibility in the eyes of most Americans.

By neglecting to provide any contextual information about a video game that “allowed people to go into a school in the game and shoot ‘em up.” the press has helped to shape the public’s opinion of video games through omission.

By choosing not to delve into the back story behind that quote, any outlet reporting on it is leaving the reader to formulate an opinion without the whole story. Someone not in touch with the gaming industry would likely assume that the game Governor Malloy is referring to could be sitting on store shelves next to the latest Call of Duty.

Kindergarten Killers is a vile example of what video games can be. It has no artistic merit, and the subject matter is straight up obscene. However, since it’s a ten year old flash game made by one person, citing  it as evidence that the video game industry is having negative effects on society is akin to citing a home movie found on Youtube as evidence that the film industry is having a negative impact on society.

This game should hold no bearing on the current discussion on violence in video games, but by allowing the misguided impression that the game is part of the video game industry to persist, the press is helping to shape a negative opinion on gaming held by a lot of people.

I’m not writing any of this to call out any specific members of the press. There are many reasons why a writer might not include information about Kindergarten Killers in a story about Malloy’s quotes. First and foremost, it is (strictly speaking) conjecture to assume that he was referring to Kindergarten Killers. I’m hard pressed to come up with another game he could have been referring to, but the fact remains that I can’t say FOR SURE that he was referring to Kindergarten Killers, and as such, mentioning it might be against editorial policy at some outlets.

On top of that, many writers covering video games write to their audience – that is to say, they write assuming the reader already has a certain level of knowledge on the gaming industry, which might keep them from delving too deep into info about Kindergarten Killers that they’re assuming the reader already knows.

Whatever the reason for various outlets neglecting to contextualize Governor Malloy’s quotes, their work is still helping to shape public opinion on this topic. Video games are going to be scrutinized in the coming months and years, and that makes it especially important to present the public with ALL of the information they need to make an informed decision on the topic.

So I’m putting out a call to all members of the press (both gaming press and non-gaming press) to report on this topic responsibly. If editorial policy at your outlet prevents you from getting sidetracked in an article about Governor Malloy’s quotes, at least link out to another article that explains Kindergarten Killers.

I’d also like to see the press handle this issue and issues like it better in general. If you’re reporting on something said or done by a small organization opposed to violent video games, make mention of the organization’s size. Your readers trust you, and if you’re reporting on it, they’ll assume it’s large enough to merit attention. Don’t betray that trust by omitting details that provide needed context for the situation.

If you’re reporting on something said by a government official, take the time to do some research on them and their core values. Do they take campaign contributions from the NRA? If so, that’s something the reader needs to know. That information provides the reader with valuable information on the process that government official is using to make their decisions and formulate their opinions.

If you can’t work any of that into the article you’re writing take the time to sit down and write a second article that contextualizes the first. If your editor won’t approve it, put that second article on your personal blog. Your readers trust you; don’t betray that trust.

PC gamers will completely lose access to Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2, Might and Magic: Heroes 6, and The Settlers 7. Mac gamers will completely lose access to Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell Conviction, and The Settlers. When I say “completely lose access” I mean the games won’t even work in single player mode. That’s right, if you bought any of these games on the PC you won’t be able to use them until Ubisoft is done working on their servers, and they haven’t announced exactly how long that will be. All of these games include Ubisoft’s always-on DRM and once the servers go down, that DRM won’t be able to check in to verify your game, and if it can’t verify your game the DRM will lock you out of it.

Before I go any further into this story, let me stop for a second and say that I understand why publishers and developers feel the need to add DRM into a game. A lot, and I mean A LOT of time, money, and effort go into producing a video game, and from the perspective of the publisher and developers the concept of losing sales to piracy is frightening. There’s no way to stop piracy completely, but if DRM helps to curb it, then there’s an incentive for the devs and publishers to include it.

While I understand Ubisoft’s point of view here, they’re going about it the wrong way. DRM hasn’t stopped people from pirating their games, but it has made things difficult for their paying customers.

I bought a copy of Might and Magic: Heroes 6 a couple of months back, and I’ve had frequent problems with it. Sometimes I fire it up, and everything goes just fine, other times I fire it up and the Conflux servers are down so I can’t get into the game I had been playing the last time I logged on. Sure, there’s an “offline mode” but a lot of the game’s best features are stripped out, along with my game saves. Had I chosen to pirate the game (I wouldn’t do that, but let’s pretend) I wouldn’t be faced with these problems – I’d be able to launch the game, and play without worrying about Conflux issues, or server maintenance.

By using extremely restrictive DRM Ubisoft has made buying their games less attractive than pirating them. The game actually functions worse when bought than when pirated, and as a result, the pirated version of the game becomes the more appealing version.

Publishers and developers need to explore different avenues for protecting their games. By adding hurdles for the paying customer they’re just encouraging piracy instead of hampering it. They need to make the legitimate version of the game more attractive than the illicit version.

I’d love to see games that reward the paying customer for their loyalty and support. Ubisoft has already proven that server checks can be built into the core of a game, so why not use those checks to reward the player instead of punishing them? Instead of using that tech to lock down the game, developers could easily use it to deliver something extra to paying customers – perhaps some sort of online stat tracking functionality similar to that found in Battlefield 3′s Battlelog, or maybe a steady stream of small pieces of free DLC.

The proper reward for the paying customer is going to vary from game to game, but no matter what the method, developers and publishers need to reevaluate their DRM strategies. Going too far down the “punish the paying customer” path could ultimately wind up bolstering piracy, and that’s bad for everyone.  These companies need to see a return on their investment in order to justify producing the next game they have planned, and discouraging piracy will help to draw in that money, but they have to do so in a customer friendly way. Continuing down the path of restrictive DRM just makes piracy more appealing.

Well, the year’s almost over. Tomorrow night, I’ll be ringing in the new year at a fundraiser event for KAM, but today, I’m thinking back on 2011 and kicking off the first (and possibly last) annual What the Geek Game of the Year Awards. 

To be completely clear, there’s no real scientific method behind my choices here. These picks come from the heart, not from the head. These are the games that brought me joy, engaged me, or touched me in some other way this year.

So without further ado, let the awards begin!

Biggest Disappointment 

This award goes out to the game that managed to create a certain set of expectations during the months leading up to its release and then failed to meet those expectations.

And the winner is…

Dead Island

Do you remember that trailer? I sure as hell do. I had heard a few things about Dead Island over the years leading up to its release, but all of the plot details I had heard were sketchy at best. This trailer left me with the impression that Dead Island would offer a serious and somber story about a zombie infection on an island resort. As it turns out, there’s very little that’s serious or somber about Dead Island. That’s not to say that it’s a bad game, just that it didn’t meet the expectation Deep Silver and Techland created with that trailer.

Biggest Surprise

This award goes to the game that managed to exceed the expectations I had for it.

And the winner is…

Dead Island

It can win Biggest Disappointment and Biggest Surprise – who said it couldn’t? No one, that’s who. These are my awards and I’ll hand them out as I see fit. If you don’t like it, start your own GotY awards.

Dead Island was developed by Techland, the folks who brought you the Call of Juarez franchise. That franchise, and Techland as a whole don’t have a reputation for excellence, but despite a few bugs, Dead Island managed to keep my attention for a good long time. In fact, I plan to spend even more time with it in the new year.. Even when the game does glitch, it never does so in a game-breaking way. More often than not, the glitches are entertaining rather than frustrating, and the total package (bugs and all) is extremely enjoyable.

How can a bug be enjoyable? Let me give you an example. At one point while walking down the beach, I kicked a beach ball, and died immediately. There were no zombies nearby, so I can only assume the beach ball killed me somehow. Dead Island doesn’t penalize you terribly hard for dying, so instead of being an irritant, this glitch put me on a quest to kick every beach ball I came across to see if I could recreate the murderous beach ball glitch. I never did recreate it, but I’ll never ever forget it.

Glitches aside, Dead Island provides a robust and enjoyable gameplay experience that surpassed all my expectations (aside from those expectations that dealt directly with the story). That excellent gameplay earns Dead Island the Biggest Surprise award.

Best Presentation

This award goes to the game that provides the best total audio and video experience. That doesn’t mean the game with the most realistic graphics, or the game that melted the most video cards (though those games were included in my deliberation on this one) it means the game that used both sound design and visual presentation to create an attractive and engaging experience.

And the winner is…

Uncharted 3

Naughty Dog paid a tremendous amount of attention to how everything looks and sounds in Uncharted 3, and all of that effort really paid off. Nolan North delivers a great performance as Nathan Drake (both in terms of voice and motion capture) but that’s not where the presentation begins and ends. The detail put into the environments as well as the great sound effects, and effective use of surround sound all add up to an amazing video game.

 Best Download-Only Game

As the name implies, this award goes out to the best game that doesn’t come in a box. This may have been the toughest decision of all of these awards – there were A LOT of great downloadable games this year. Indie developers have been releasing some really excellent games on Steam, and all the major publishers have been launching smaller, more experimental games on XBLA and PSN. But there can only be one winner.

And the winner is…

Iron Brigade

You may remember this game by its original name Trenched, but thanks to some legal shenanigans, Double Fine had to change the name to Iron Brigade. Even under a different name this game still offers up some great gameplay. Iron Brigade does a great job of combining tower defense and third person action to create a unique and enjoyable game. Play it alone, play it with friends…. just play it.

 The Top 5

A lot of folks do top ten lists, and that’s fine, but I had some trouble with that. I just couldn’t settle on which game deserved which slot for numbers six through ten, so I just cut that part of the list all together.

As with the other awards, these are all picked based solely on their impact on me.

5. L.A. Noire

I’ve always been a big fan of just about everything Rockstar puts out, but Team Bondi really managed to impress me with L.A. Noire. This game combines the great gun play and action of a GTA game with the thoughtful nature of a point and click adventure game to form something truly unique. Team Bondi may have fallen apart after L.A Noire shipped, but I really hope this franchise isn’t dead – I want more games like this!

4. Uncharted 3

You already know how I feel about the presentation in Uncharted 3, but there’s a lot more to it than just good looks and great sound. In both the single player campaign, and the multiplayer Uncharted 3 offers exceptional gameplay. My girlfriend has a fear of heights, and she can’t watch me play this game (let alone play it herself) because it stirs up that fear each time Drake finds himself dangling from a high ledge. Any game that can evoke that kind of emotion in a spectator deserves high praise.

3. Batman: Arkham City

Back in 2009 Batman Arkham Asylum surprised the hell out of me by being a great game. This year, Arkham City surprised me by being even better. With an open environment, more super villains, and more Bat-gadgets, Arkham City did an amazing job of putting the player int he shoes of The Dark Knight.

2. Battlefield 3

I’m a sucker for a shooter with a good multiplayer component, and Battlefield 3 really delivers on that front. When you throw helicopters, tanks, jets, destructible environments, and 64 players into a large map, the end result is chaos of the best kind. Each match feels epic in its own special way, and I’ll never get tired of watching jets fall from the sky in a fiery blaze of glory.

1. Skyrim

I’ve spent 90 hours playing Skyrim so far, and I see no reason to stop there. This game is huge, and full of interesting things to do. You can become a powerful wizard, a wanted thief, a murdered, or you can even play as a pacifist. This game puts very few limitations on what you can do, and it offers up a lot of great quests, and plenty of areas to explore. It’s big, it’s fun, and it will keep you coming back for more… and more… and more and then maybe even a little more after that.

Honorable Mention

Two games deserve honorable mention despite not making the list.

Saint’s Row The Third

I have a feeling that, had I spent more time with it this year, Saint’s Row The Third might have made my top five. This game offers some of the craziest, most over-the-top gameplay ever found in a video game. Ever. If you ever played a GTA game and had a good time with it, go get this game right now.

Trackmania 2: Canyon

I’m not entirely sure I’d call Trackmania 2 a GOOD game, but it’s definitely a game I spent a lot of time with this year. Sure, there’s a single player mode, but the wealth of user created tracks makes this game worth coming back to again and again. Each time I fire it up and hop on a new server, I see a track I never saw before. Sometimes those tracks are a lot of fun, and sometimes they’re just terribly bad, but the experience is always unique when compared to all other racing games.

Over the past several months Xbox Live accounts (including mine) have been getting hacked en masse. Once the hacker has taken control of the victim’s account, they’re buying up as many Microsoft Points as they can, and spending them all on in game currency for FIFA 11 or FIFA 12. Then, from within their FIFA game of choice, the hacker buys up items for FIFA Ultimate Team, and presumably sends those items off to their personal XBL account. 

After contacting Microsoft about the issue, victims are forced to wait a whopping 25 business days to hear back about the security breach, during which time their account is locked down.

As anyone who has ever worked in the IT department can tell you, there’s no way to anticipate every potential security hole, but you should always try anyway. Microsoft could stand to go back to basics when it comes to Xbox Live security. By using two simple tricks other companies have been implementing for a while now, they could significantly reduce the number of hacked XBL accounts.

For years now hackers have been gaining access to Xbox Live accounts by using a little bit of social engineering on Xbox Live customer service reps. There’s absolutely no way to put a complete stop to this – as long as humans are involved in the customer service process, human error will also be involved. Microsoft could, however, take steps to be sure that they’re dealing with the right person.

I’m not talking about asking security questions, or having a customer verify their address – the customer service reps already do those things, but sometimes that’s not enough. By taking just one extra step, Microsoft could weed out a significant number of fraudulent phone calls – email the owner of the account about the phone call.

If a customer calls in to change their account password or any other piece of sensitive information, sending an email to the account holder with a link to verify the change would almost certainly decrease the number of hijacked accounts.

Before a hacker can do any damage to an Xbox Live account, they first have to log into it either from their computer, or their Xbox 360. If only someone could come up with a validation system for each device you access an account from… oh wait…

Steam totally does that already! I’m not a programmer, nor do I know enough about programming and Xbox Live infrastructure to speak in an educated manner on this topic, but it seems to me that it would at least be possible to implement something similar on Xbox Live. By putting up a road block the first time you access your Windows Live account from a new computer or a new Xbox 360, Microsoft would be able to thwart plenty of hackers before they ever get the chance to do any harm.

Neither of these measures are perfect; in fact, both could be nullified by hacking an Xbox Live user’s primary email address. Still, implementing additional security measures can’t make matters any worse than they already are, and standing still when it comes to security won’t solve anything. If Microsoft wants to earn their customers’ trust, it’s time for them to step up their security game.

Swag Bucks is known for offering great sweepstakes, and all sorts of freebies and goodies, but they’re more than that. They have strong feelings on the tough issues facing the world today as evidenced by this “cancer sucks” captcha. I’m looking forward to seeing more of these on their site – maybe “the recession blows” or “screw poverty”.

On September 6th, just after 9 AM, I received an email informing me that my purchase of 1600 Microsoft points had been unsuccessful. This was something of a surprise, as I had not attempted to buy any Microsoft points that day, so I logged into my Xbox Live account to find out what was going on.

Sure enough, all of the Microsoft points that were stored in my XBL account had been spent on in game items for FIFA 11 (I don’t own that game… hell, I don’t even like soccer video games) and whoever spent my MS points had then tried to purchase more. Presumably, when that purchase failed, they abandoned my account and went on to steal from some other unsuspecting gamer.

Upon making this discovery, I promptly called Xbox customer support. An apathetic young man who’s name escapes me at the moment answered, and after asking me a long series of questions designed to verify my identity, he told me that my account would be locked for “up to 25 days” while the issue was investigated.  He ended the call by reminding me to check out Xbox.com for more information on all the cool services I wouldn’t be using for the next month, adding insult to injury.

After about two weeks had passed, I decided to call in just to see if there was any news on the investigation. After navigating through the series of prompts 1-800-4-MY-XBOX had to offer, a woman with a thick Indian accent informed me that it would actually take 21 business days, not 25 calendar days, and she said I’d probably hear back sometime in October.

Finally on Monday October 3rd my Xbox Live account was reinstated, and Microsoft provided a code for a free month of XBL without my having to ask for it. Unfortunately, after following the instructions provided by Microsoft’s customer service department via email, I was unable to redeem that code. It turns out that by recovering my gamertag to my console I actually flagged the account to be locked again. Fortunately, this issue was corrected by a five minute phone call to customer service.

Once my account was back in order, I replied to the email I received with several questions I wanted answered. Below is an excerpt from that email.

First, how was my account breached? I don’t do anything with my windows live ID other than visit Xbox.com, and log into my Xbox 360, and I don’t give out passwords. For my protection, I’d like to know how the breach happened so I can take any necessary actions to prevent it in the future.

Second, which parts of my account were accessed by the hacker? If they accessed my credit card information in any way, I need to know about it so that I can contact any of the cards that may have been affected in order to prevent fraudulent charges.

Third, how do I go about removing all of my credit cards from my account? I will use cards purchased from stores to up my XBL subscription, and to purchase MS points – I no longer need, nor want any credit cards associated with this account, as it has proven to be insecure. email.

All of those points seemed like reasonable requests to me. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal would most likely agree with me, given that he had some choice words for Sony earlier this year when the Playstation Network was hacked, and millions of customers had their personal information stolen. In a letter to Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCEA, Senator Blumenthal said the following:

When a data breach occurs, it is essential that customers be immediately notified about whether and to what extent their personal and financial information has been compromised. Additionally, PlayStation Network users should be provided with financial data security services, including free access to credit reporting services, for two years, the costs of which should be borne by Sony. Affected individuals should also be provided with sufficient insurance to protect them from the possible financial consequences of identity theft.

Microsoft doesn’t quite see eye to eye with me, or Senator Blumenthal, as evidenced by their response to my request.

Dear Xbox LIVE Customer:

We apologize, but we are not at liberty to explain our investigation process. However $ 16.03 has been refunded to your account. Refunds could take up to 5-10 business days prior to displaying in your billing activity. It may take 30 days or longer to appear on your statement, depending on your financial institution’s policies.

If you have any concerns regarding this notice, you may either reply to this message or contact Xbox Customer Support directly using the information available at http://www.xbox.com/support/contact and reference the Service Request number above.

Sincerely,

The Xbox LIVE Escalations Team

I emailed them back to let them know that I did appreciate the refund, but that I’d still need to know how my personal information was accessed in order to take any necessary precautions, and as of this writing, I haven’t received a response (though I’ll update this post if I do).

It’s also worth noting that they completely dodged the bit about removing credit cards from my XBL account. That’s because you have to have at least one payment method associated with your Xbox Live account. If you want to remove the credit card associated with Xbox Live autobilling, you’ll first have to associate a different card, or your Paypal account with XBL.

So, after a month long investigation, Microsoft will only acknowledge what I knew on September 6th – that someone other than myself accessed my Xbox Live account. They are either unable, or unwilling to give me any information about how my account was accessed, or about which (if any) pieces of my personal information were taken by the hacker. In other words, someone gained access to my account, may or may not have accessed my personal information, and spent my Microsoft points, and Microsoft does not intend to help to protect me from any of the potential hazards associated with having my personal information accessed.

At least when Sony gave out my personal information they offered identity theft protection to make up for it.

I reached out to Xbox Live’s Director of Policy and Enforcement Stephen Toulouse prior to writing this article for information on Microsoft’s end of the investigation process, but unfortunately, he did not return my email.

With no word from Microsoft on what information the hacker may have accessed, and no concrete information from Toulouse on Microsoft’s hacked account investigation process, I’m left feeling like my Xbox Live account may wind up being a security liability.

UPDATE: Both Ars Technica and Gizmodo have received the following response from Microsoft after inquiring about the recent rash of XBL hacking:

We do not have any evidence the Xbox LIVE service has been compromised. We take the security of our service seriously and work on an ongoing basis to improve it against evolving threats. However, a limited number of members have contacted us regarding unauthorized access to their accounts by outside individuals. We are working with our impacted members directly to resolve any unauthorized changes to their accounts. As always, we highly recommend our members follow the Xbox LIVE Account Security guidance provided at www.xbox.com/security to protect your account

Well, at least the entirety of Xbox Live wasn’t hacked – that’s good news, right? This is still a fairly widespread issue if the comments and forums across the internet are any indication, and Microsoft would do well to consider additional security measures to prevent future hacking attempts from being successful.

In these uncertain economic times no one can claim full job security, much less predict where they’ll be working in 16 years. No one except for Kevin Mitnick that is.

Thanks to Eidos Montreal, developers of Deus Ex: Human Revolution Mitnick now knows where he’ll be in 16 years – working for a fictional company that produces human augmentations. Not to shabby for a guy who did time for hacking!

The system will work much the same way Ebay does – the seller will pay a fee to list the auction, and another fee when the auction ends. The buyer will pay the seller for the item, and the seller will keep all the remaining money once Blizzard’s fees have been covered. Once the auction is over, and you’ve collected your money you can choose to keep it in your account and use it toward purchases of other Blizzard products, or you can cash out. Cashing out will, of course, result in another fee.

Alright, before you light that torch and start swinging that pitchfork around, Blizzard actually had a good reason for making this decision. Diablo 2 items still sell well on Ebay, meaning that people will buy and sell in-game items with real money whether or not Blizzard facilitates the transaction. By implementing an in-game auction house that uses real money, Blizzard is simply providing players with an easy and secure way to do what they’re already doing.

Diablo 3 will feature some extremely robust PvP gameplay, and that makes the in-game auction house hard to swallow. There’s no question that a player with great loot will have an advantage over their opponents, and as such, it’s hard not to see the real-money auction house as a way for players with some extra cash in their pocket to pay for victory.

So, what do you think? Is Blizzard just offering their customers a feature they want, or are they selling an unfair advantage to players willing to fork over their hard-earned money?

Each month, Pandora offers its listeners 40 hours of of music, complete with commercial interruptions. Once your time’s up, you have two choices; spend $0.99 to keep listening to Pandora with commercials, or pay $36 to subscribe to Pandora One for a year of commercial free music. That’s it, there are no other options. Either way, I have to stop what I’m doing when my time is up, and evaluate whether I want to spend a dollar to keep the commercials music flowing, or whether I want to spend $36 for a year’s worth of service. The first time Pandora presented me with this choice, I chose the super secret third option – I stopped listening to Pandora and switched to a service that wouldn’t force a financial decision on me in the middle of my work day.

I didn’t stop listening because Pandora wanted my money – they provide a service, and they do a damned fine job of it, and as such, I’m happy to pay up. What put me off was the hassle of stopping what I was doing, entering my credit card information, and processing the transaction. It was much easier to pop open Slacker and move on with my day.

There’s no excuse for interrupting my day with a request for money. Pandora could adopt any number of customer friendly billing options that would allow their customers to keep listening without interruption. They could offer a $12 per year plan that gives their customers unlimited access music (with commercial interruptions of course), or they could give users the option of automatically accepting the $0.99 fee when their free time expires. Or, hey, why not offer a $5 per month version of their Pandora One service that gets billed automatically? Any of these options would be preferable to forcing the customer into a financial decision on the spot, and any of those options would have kept me listening for the last year and a half.

Nobody wants to be put on the spot, but that’s exactly what Pandora’s marketing team does each time one of their customer’s 40 hours is up. I’m sure I’m not the only Pandora customer who feels put off by this marketing tactic, and I’m also sure I’m not the only one who switched services rather than going through the hassle of paying them on the spot. But hey, I’m just one person – what do you think about Pandora’s billing practices?

After this happened a few times, I decided to check out the policies governing flagging on Craigslist. From the Craigslist page that explains flagging:

Free classified ads receiving a sufficient number of qualified negative flags are subject to automated removal.

Based on that description my assumption was that multiple users had to flag a listing down in order to get it removed from the site. After Googling around for a bit, I discovered that several autoflagging programs are available for purchase, and they make it really easy for one person to get a posting removed from Craigslist. Autoflagging software connects to a proxy server, flags the posting in question, switches proxies, flags the listing again, and repeats that process until the listing goes down.

With this new-found knowledge I was certain I had cracked the case. Obviously, another repairman was using an autoflagger to remove my listings. After contacting a few other local repairmen in an effort to find the culprit, I found that I wasn’t the only one having this problem. At least two other repairmen were going through the exact same thing, so we all contacted Craigslist about the issue. Craigslist never responded to me (or the other repairmen), so I decided to dig a little deeper.

I started adding tracking code from Stat Counter to each of my posts in an effort to track down the flagger. There are a couple of ways to determine which users are the ones doing the flagging. The last person to visit a listing before it goes down flagged it down, and there’s a good chance that anyone visiting a listing multiple times in less than a minute flagged it down.

I was completely surprised at the results I got from Stat Counter. It turns out that one single person making no effort to disguise their IP address, or location was responsible for almost every flag. In fact, it appears that all they have to do to get a listing removed is flag it over and over again.

Just to be clear, that flagger wasn’t solely responsible for every listing that got flagged down, but almost every listing they attacked did get flagged down. One listing actually got removed after one single flag from this user.

I contacted Craigslist with this new found information, but I never received a response. No system is perfect, but it seems that it should take more than one flagger to get a listing removed from Craigslist. The current flagging system leaves the door open for a great deal of abuse. Anyone looking to bump competitors off of Craigslist can do so with minimal effort.

So, what’s the solution? Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer to that question. Every time a listing goes down in this manner, I contact both Craigslist, and the flagger’s ISP with all of the relevant information, but it seems like neither is willing or able to do anything about it.