Hillsboro lawmaker’s Web site invaded by virtual strippers
Rep. Chuck Riley says he doesn’t know why a site affiliated with him points to a defunct online ‘strip club’
It seemed like a classic political gotcha moment: navigate to a Web site affiliated with a politician and, lo and behold, there’s a site promoting a strip club in the online alternate reality realm known as Second Life.
Except the politician, Hillsboro Democrat Chuck Riley, 70, has no idea what Second Life is. And the Web site, graffic.com, doesn’t belong to him, but instead his son, Brad Riley.
Graffic.com is used by Brad Riley for e-mail addresses. When users navigate to the site, it's supposed to be identical to the younger Riley’s Internet firm, Graphic Traffic (graphictraffic.net).
Riley says his son thinks someone hacked into Graffic.com and uploaded the Web site contents of The Gallery Isle, a virtual strip club in the online world of Second Life.
Riley is running in the Democratic primary for state Senate District 15 against Travis Comfort in a bid to unseat Republican incumbent Bruce Starr.
Asked if politics could be the reason for the hacking, Riley said he didn’t know.
“I could not guess why anyone would choose Graffic.com and link to some virtual web site,” Riley said. “But I do know that people pirate these things all the time.”
It started on YouTube
The spoofed Web site came to light this weekend when a YouTube user named Hillsboro Politics posted a video walking through the process of tracing Graffic.com back to Riley.
The user, who called himself John Smith in an e-mail message to the Forest Grove News-Times, started by using an Internet function called “whois” to look up the domain registration information for Chuckriley.org, the candidate’s old Web site (maintained by Brad Riley’s Internet business Graphic Traffic).
In the registry information Riley’s e-mail is listed as chuckriley@graffic.com. Smith then navigated to Graffic.com, and found the Web site of The Gallery Isle, complete with scantily clad derrieres.
Riley said when he showed the site to his son, both were shocked. “He said, ‘Oh, this is crazy, somebody has pirated in to our Web address and put that on.’ ”
According to a Google cache of Graffic.com, the site has hosted Gallery Isle content since at least Feb. 25.
The Gallery Isle also has a website of its own, at Thegalleryisle.com. While the front page is the same as one shown at Graffic.com, most of the links don’t work on Thegalleryisle.com, and its not clear if the website is still being updated.
The Google calendar hosted on Graffic.com for The Gallery Isle shows no activity after 2008. An e-mail to Gracie Hyland, listed as the general manager of The Gallery Isle bounced back as undeliverable. An e-mail to Lillie Ellison, listed as the estate owner, went unreturned.
By Monday afternoon, Riley's son was able to take down the copy of The Gallery Isle website from Graffic.com, but the hacked site can still be seen in the Google cache.
John Smith didn’t return an e-mail inquiry from the newspaper. The account for HillsboroPolitics on YouTube is relatively new, with only one video: the one linking Riley to the Gallery Isle. Smith also added a “favorite” video put together by Oregon Politico a political Web site funded by the Cascade Policy Institute, a free-market think tank that leans to right, politically.
Second Life?
Second Life is an online alternate reality world where users create 3D avatars that they control, talking with other avatars and engaging in commerce, leisure and occasionally, sex.
The Gallery Isle appears to be a defunct Strip Mall and Strip Club in Second Life.
For his part, Riley said he didn’t know what Second Life was.
“I don’t even know what it is,” Riley said. “I’ve never heard of it before.”
Click here to see the YouTube video that started it all.