LAP-BAND (R) News: LA Times Hacking Alleged On Heels Of News Corp. Scandal

Robert Silverman, Attorney for Weight Loss & LAP-BAND® Marketing Company 1-800-GET-THIN Alleges Hacking & Deletion of Reader's Comments, Sharing of Ad Revenue with Editorial Content. End Quote

Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (1888PressRelease) July 25, 2011 - The "news media" hacking incidents unearthed in the UK are not isolated according to a lawsuit filed by 1 800 GET THIN in LA Federal Court. The suit alleges a potential "class wide" problem exists not just through the U.K. and News Corp., but also in the US, at Tribune Corp, and its core subsidiary The LA Times. The federal racketeering and antitrust complaint alleges the LA Times was caught hacking into its own blogs and sanitizing anything that would put their foes in a favorable light or their profitable friends in a bad light. 1800 GET THIN v. Michael Hiltzik, Stuart Pfiefer, and LA Times, USDC CDC 11-0505.

1 800 GET THIN's Attorney Robert Silverman said the Complaint alleges the LA TIMES formed a cabal of advertisers to charge higher "costs per click" (CPC) fees for sanitizing its blogs, purportedly authored by the readers. 1 800 GET THIN, a major marketing company for medical weight loss control, accused the LA Times of breaking into website blogs that were supposed to be an uncensored free speech forum. It is alleged that The Times used its employees to allegedly delete comments favorable to 1 800 GET THIN. Silverman said, "We caught the LA Times red handed. They hacked their own blogs, erased reader comments, and used a secret 'hacking' process to erase what they didn't like."

The lawsuit alleges the defendant was caught hacking into company computers when he was stationed in the Times' Moscow Bureau. The Times suspended him when senior managers found out. ( http://independentsources.com/2006/04/20/michael-hiltziks-other-user-ids/ ) But despite the "hacking, the Times reinstated him, and he did it again. This time he was suspended for hacking into its website and making "fake" blog comments under false names and "shill aliases" to make it look like people agreed with his columns. Silverman said, "Hacking at the LA TIMES - its standard operating procedure." Silverman complains that even after the Times suspended the employee a second time for hacking, he did it again, and they still let him come back. ( Los Angeles Times Yanks Columnist's Blog - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/20/AR2006042002375.html )

"Hacking At The LA Times - we allege it is standard operating procedure," says Silverman. "No wonder News Corp has so much trouble," Silverman says. "Hacking in the news business is rampant, and nobody cares. No one does anything about it."

1 800 GET THIN's lawsuit says that when the Times wrote an article about them on June 11, 2011, readers reacted by saying favorable things about the weight loss marketing company and how 1 800 GET THIN's surgical center clients had a better record than the most elite medical centers in America. The suit alleges the Times immediately deleted the comments. Silverman says "That's censorship by hacking." There was nothing improper about the comments, Silverman says. "It is yet another media 'hacking' scandal, only it skipped the 'Pond.' If the Times doesn't agree with a blogger, they hack them right out of the website. News Corp," he says, "is just the tip of the iceberg."

About 1-800- GET-THIN:
1 800 GET THIN has helped thousands of people start their weight-loss journey. The LAP-BAND®, manufactured by Allergan and FDA approved for individuals meeting certain criteria, has been proven to help reduce many health related issues linked to morbid obesity. 1 800 GET THIN refers individuals to fully accredited medical facilities across Southern California .

For more information Call 1-800 GET THIN or visit the web site http://www.1800getthin.com

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