Civic News

Look who’s cybersquatting on City Council

A local PAC says it's for a good cause.

The 5th Square political action committee, is using cybersquatting as a political tactic. (Screenshot)

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell never scooped up JannieBlackwell.com and now it’s too late.
The 5th Square, a PAC that aims to represent “New Philadelphia,” is cybersquatting on that domain and nine others that refer to City Councilmembers and mayoral candidates, Philly Mag’s Citified reported. Unlike your average cybersquatter, the group isn’t doing it to raise money. Instead, they’re considering redirecting the sites to “report cards” they create for each candidate running in the May 19 primary.
As Citified wrote:

“Cybersquatting,” as it is known, already appears to be a common theme of the upcoming election. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Monday that KenyattaJohnson.com, as well as KenyattaJohnson.net and KenyattaJohnson.org, redirect users to the campaign website of Ori Feibush, a developer who is running against incumbent Councilman Kenyatta Johnson this spring.

A cabal of urbanist thinkers is behind 5th Square, including This Old City founder Geoff Kees Thompson, Fels Institute of Government grad student David Curtis and PlanPhilly engagement editor Jon Geeting.
Yesterday, Thompson explained himself in a 5th Square blog post:

Our intent is not to smear candidates or waste these spaces on political attack ads. We believe several of the candidates will come out looking very favorably from an urbanist perspective. We will be highlighting candidate records on urbanist achievements like the land bank, safe streets, assessment reform, and zoning remapping. We will also be highlighting candidate positions we oppose – blocking and slow-walking safer street plans, downzoning growing neighborhoods, and hoarding city-owned land.

Companies: Philadelphia City Council

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Election results: Live updates on presidential, Senate, House and PA races

Technical issues at the polls hit Pennsylvania, county extends voting hours

14 tech community events to be thankful for in November

Philly's indie turnout tracker crashes on what could be a record-breaking Election Day

Technically Media