RUMOUR mongers beware: software robots are patrolling the Internet with the
sole purpose of tracing idle or malicious gossip to its source.
The potential for a program like this is enormous, says Stephane Perino,
founder of Agence Virtuelle in Geneva, Switzerland, which launched its RumorBot
software last week at the Bot 2001 conference in San Francisco. Companies could
use it to track down a speculator who starts a rumour that affects its share
prices. Or detectives could trace the source of paedophile photographs traded on
the Net.
“The idea is to track and analyse, in real time, online newsgroups, chatrooms…
