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Posting online comments under multiple aliases is apparently against the law, at least in the case of Raphael Haim Golb, 49, who is suspected of using 50 different e-mail addresses and monikers — some of the names belonging to academic rivals — to bolster his arguments about the origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls. To back up his belief that the relics were actually produced in Jerusalem libraries, Golb allegedly used multiple online "sock puppets," or fake identities, to make it seem like he had supporters.
Golb is also suspected of publishing a false confession to plagiarism under the name of Professor Lawrence Schiffman, the chairman of Judaic studies at New York University who had been critical of Golb's theories. Prosecutors claim that Golb's false identities allowed him to obtain a benefit, meaning they can charge him with criminal impersonation, identity theft and aggravated harassment. But Golb's lawyer, Ron Kuby, told the Times that "gaining an advantage in academic debate about the Dead Sea Scrolls is not the kind of benefit required by the law."
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This guys is a real jerk. Whether or not he'll be convicted, we'll have to wait and see. When you just don't have the evidence to support your argument, you have to accept it as reality. No point playing dirty. Talk about self-undermining, not to mention the effects it will have on his father's academic rep. I do think it would make a great indy movie though.
i have 50 email addresses also, with 50 different passwords. this deadsea scrolls case has been going on for years.
the impersonation and false confession might have pushed people over the edge, but i think the conspiracy issue raised years ago was a sweatheart deal from morgenthau to protect the established history of a certain protected group, hint hint.
Impersonating someone else who actually exists and is a participant in the issue/discussion going on it not "sock puppeting", it is fraud.
how much time did he spent on-line? who has that much time to argue on the internet? does he work? or go out?
Is he married?
The best thing about this story is the picture.
creating a fake gothamist account or impersonating a commenter is never going to get the attentions of the publicity hungry da.
so what you call fraud is really a case of someone well connected getting preferential treatment by someone who may be biased against dissenting opinions.
Haw-Haw
What a loser!
He has to invent people to agree with him!!!
Some of you might actually want to read the First Amendment motion in this case, which is available at the following link:
http://scrollmotions.wordpress.com
It's a public document. Enjoy.
Dead Sea Troll.
I agree!
I disagree!
Shut up!
OK, sorry.
How about debating in person? The Internet is not the be all, end all of communication.
i agree with potsmoker.
I'm actually FelixTheCat. There, I got it off my chest.
ugh, Wikipedia 'editors' probably ratted him out. they'll get ya.
we should not be quick to accuse 'dead sea troll' of being yet another sock puppet of raphael golb. for all that we know, this may be a tactic used by mr. golb's defense. the defense could, theoretically, get someone to create a new account, post ambiguous 'copycat' messages not unlike those of our old friend 'charles gadda,' and then wait for someone to accuse 'dead sea troll' of being raphael golb. then, in court, the defense could claim, 'see how easy it is to falsely accuse someone of being raphael golb?'
i'm willing to give this next round of new aliases like 'dead sea troll' the benefit of the doubt. it very well may be some new person with an interest in the criminal case against raphael golb. there is no reason to believe these new comments are the work of raphael golb. one should not rush to conclusions, but rather rely on verifiable evidence to demonstrate that 'charles gadda' is raphael golb. hard evidence can be found at: http://www.who-is-charles-gadda.com/. or, if you are not convinced, you can take raphael golb's father, dr. norman golb's word for it: http://www.bobcargill.com/who-is-charles-gadda.html#GolbAdmitsGaddaIsRaphael
the father admitted raphael golb is 'charles gadda.' thanx dad!!
I checked this story out on the Internet and found this page:
http://tzvee.blogspot.com/2009/11/is-raphael-golb-guilty.html
It's by a professor named Tzvee Zahavy, who has written several books with another prof named Jacob Neusner and who is also a rabbi.
Well, what do you know, Zahavy declares point blank that Raphael Golb is not guilty of any crime or tort.
That much was pretty clear already, but what's interesting is, Zahavy also explains that this "professor Schiffman" guy called him to try and convince him to change his mind.
Interesting lesson in "academic politics." I can just see these NYU profs having intimate little discussions over coffee about how they can get the "Dead Sea Scrolls guerrilla fighter" sentenced to jail.
This story actually has an additional layer of complexity, to wit:
70 orthodox rabbis have signed a statement reasserting the old Jewish law that a Jew cannot collaborate with non-Jewish authorities in prosecuting another Jew, unless the person poses a threat to public safety. He has to bring the matter to a Jewish court of law, otherwise he faces excommunication. See the statement at
http://www.mishpattsedek.com/KolKoreh-70Rabbis.htm
The reason this is significant, is that Schiffman, it would appear, is an orthodox Jew, and I've even heard it said that he is an ordained orthodox rabbi. Where does this leave him with respect to the law in question?