Fake Steve Jobs lashes out against 'invasions of privacy'
The writer of The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs appeared to break character Wednesday in decrying "invasions of privacy" that have the anonymous author rattled.
Fake Steve Jobs, as he or she has come to be known, posted a two-paragraph rant saying he has been consulting with lawyers and computer security experts after discovering activity "that may or may not have crossed over the line of legality but definitely fall outside the boundaries of what most decent civilized human beings consider to be appropriate behavior."
Valleywag, the self-described "tech gossip rag" of Silicon Valley, was implicated in the headline of FSJ's post--but not directly in the copy--as the instigator behind FSJ's angst. Valleywag's Nick Denton and Owen Thomas have led the charge to unmask the author behind the FSJ blog, at times naming Leander Kahney of Wired, Eric Savitz of Barron's, John Paczkowski of All Things Digital and Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Sun-Times as the real Fake Steve Jobs.
Only Ihnatko has been coy; the rest have denied any involvement.
Today's missive appears to be an actual serious post from Fake Steve Jobs, perhaps the most widely read satirist in the technology media world at present. There's the distinct possibility that he or she is taking all us "frigtards" for a ride with this diatribe, but read it for yourself: Fake Steve seems a little shaken up.
"To whatever bit of pond scum is doing this stuff, let me say this: This was fun, up to a point. You've gone past that point. Stop," FSJ wrote.
I e-mailed both Owen Thomas and FSJ for further details but didn't hear back immediately from either.
UPDATED 2:45 p.m.: Owen Thomas, who apparently likes to be called "Mr. Bigglesworth," responded that he has not been contacted by either FSJ or representatives acting on his or her behalf.
He was far cagier, however, when asked if Valleywag was the force behind The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. Thomas has previously denied that he is the author of the blog--and reiterated that Wednesday--but he didn't respond to whether Valleywag cooked up FSJ to drive traffic to and from the respective sites.
Nick Denton, publisher of Valleywag parent Gawker Media and former lead writer on Valleywag, has aroused suspicion in the past that he's FSJ. After all, what better way to drive traffic to a blog--and to throw pursuers off his trail--than by launching a breathtaking, over-the-top search for FSJ's true identity?
Denton did not immediately respond to an e-mail asking him to go on record about his role in the FSJ mania. And still nothing from FSJ, who apparently isn't so troubled by the alleged breach of privacy that he or she is unable to blog in character today.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
If you kept your identity hidden YOU won't be famous at all!
- Fake Privacy
- by Xenu7-214951314497503184010868 July 19, 2007 9:29 PM PDT
- When he's real, the privacy will be real.
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