Carol Boigon: URL thief strikes Denver mayoral hopeful's campaign

Denver mayoral candidate Carol Boigon sent out a press release yesterday afternoon that included an announcement that her campaign had launched a new website at www.boigonmeansbusiness.com. But when folks plugged the address into their internet browser, they were instead redirected to the official website of rival candidate Chris Romer...

By Jared Jacang Maher

March 4, 2011

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Denver mayoral candidate Carol Boigon sent out a press release yesterday afternoon that included an announcement that her campaign had launched a new website at www.boigonmeansbusiness.com.

But when folks plugged the address into their internet browser, they were instead redirected to the official website of rival candidate Chris Romer.

It turned out that Boigon's campaign hadn't gotten around to registering the URL before sending out the press release around 4 p.m. That allowed some sneaky soul to snatch it up on GoDaddy and send the link Romer's way.

The Romer campaign told the Denver Post's Jeremy Meyer that they had nothing to do with it:

"It wasn't us," said Romer's deputy campaign manager Zach Knaus. "It definitely was not us. I wish we were that smart."

URL squatting is not some new thing in campaign politics. But the Romer camp would have to be pretty darn brazen to nab the address and then direct it back to their own web page. More likely, speculates the peanut gallery, it was the act of a quick-clicking prankster looking for an easy way to inject some drama into what has thus far been a fairly boring mayoral race.

On the other hand, former State Senator Romer has never been the type to dwell on potential political consequences when he spots an opportunity for easy publicity. More odd is the fact that the www.boigonmeansbusiness.com link has since been re-redirected to a Google search page of "Denver Mayors Race." If it were indeed a random prankster in the driver's seat, why would they suddenly decide to point the page to something so generic and non-controversial just as the stunt was starting to get attention?

Regardless of the identity of the culprit, the kerfuffle has served as an embarrassing lesson for Boigon campaign staffers: Always register the URL before you blast the address out to the Internets.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.