Obama Campaign Unlawfully Misuses Proprietary Firearms Industry Media List
Presser from the National Shooting Sports Foundation:
The Obama campaign in Indiana, on September 27, unlawfully obtained and made unauthorized use of a proprietary media list belonging to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) – the trade association for the firearms industry. Sen. Obama used this list to e-mail a press release concerning National Hunting and Fishing Day.
Earlier today, NSSF sent a “cease and desist” letter to the Obama campaign demanding that they immediately stop any further unauthorized misuse of its proprietary media list.
The list contains the names and addresses of members of the media that attended the NSSF Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) – the world’s largest firearms trade show and the 23rd largest trade show of any kind in North America.
The list can only be obtained from NSSF and its use is tightly controlled by NSSF. Neither the Obama campaign, nor its operations in Indiana, obtained any rights from NSSF to use the list.
Looks like there are moles on our side too.
October 8th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Isn’t that -at least- an invasion of privacy, if not a disqualifier for running for president?
October 8th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I don’t think it’s a mole at NSSF. They use PRNewswire to distribute their press releases. I looked into them a few years ago before we decided to go with ReadMedia instead. When you open an account with them, you can create a specialized list of contacts you want your releases sent to in addition to whatever other geographical, media or interest areas you want to target. I would assume NSSF’s Shot Show list is stored in their account profile. I would look to see if someone was able to access their account at PRNewswire.