And they will be quick to point out that the mayor has merely taken his cue from America's leading criminal-satire case, celebrated almost in the manner of a witch-hunt in New York and on "bible" blogs around the country. See the documentation at: http://raphaelgolbtrial.wordpr... Despite being widely reported on in the press, the case — including the dissenting opinion (on free speech grounds, figure that) of the chief judge of the New York's highest court — has been largely ignored by legal commentators, so it's not surprising that thugs with badges now feel free to go after the creators of Twitter accounts embarrassing to wealthy and powerful members of the community, whether they be politicians, university presidents, or anyone else ordinary people might choose to mimic and mock on the Internet.

Let's not forget that, in New York, this kind of pseudonymous online conduct is considered a "crime of deceit and provocation" that the Internet authorities can prosecute to the full extent of the law. See the documentation of one current case involving sock puppets and criminally deadpan "satire" at: http://raphaelgolbtrial.wordpress.com/ and see how the NY Attorney General opened a fake yogurt shop in Brooklyn to get some of those scoundrels posting fake comments on Yelp: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24218139 (Let's hope they go after every single fake "best chiropractor" and "best probiotic" on Amazon too. This is a potential source of billions of dollars in fines.) It would not, of course, be surprising to see rampant criminal deceit and provocation even at the highest level of government, but we should at least be clear that if you use "sock puppets" or engage in "astroturfing" or send out deadpan "confessions" in someone else's name, at least in New York (a model in this respect for the entire country and especially for Washington), you are presumed to be a criminal. This latest incident should be thoroughly investigated at once by the appropriate Internet law enforcement authorities and the perpetrator, assuming he "crossed the line," should be brought to justice.

Onward with the criminalization of American society! First the Attorney General went after "astroturfing": http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2013/09/new_york_attorn_2.php (does he realize that the vast majority of product reviews on Amazon are fake?); and now he's cracking down on the "sharing" economy to reestablish social and economic order. He should join forces with the Manhattan district attorney, who has been inventing new and interesting ways of criminalizing satire under New York's "fraud" statutes (forgery, identity theft, etc.). See the documentation of two exemplary cases at: http://raphaelgolbtrial.wordpress.com/ and http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/2/3718094/street-artist-nypd-drone-posters-arrested-surveillance