Do androids dream of electric sheeple?

In an initiative Philip K. D!ck could have penned describing some near future technocratic dystopia… U.S. Information Czar Cass Sunstein seems to have gotten his wish in having paid U.S. agents fight dissent on forums, blogs, and social networking sites.

Shills have existed alongside street vendors and carnival barkers for as long as wares have been hocked in open air markets… in other words…as long as society has been around. Shills are the confidence men on the streets… pretending to be satisfied patrons in order to attract new customers. In reality… they are business associates with the purveyors they feign for.

We’re all familiar with star endorsements. We accept it… and rarely are persuaded by it because we know they are being compensated for their praise. There is nothing really troubling or new about that. If the paid endorsement isn’t acknowledged by the parties… then that should cast doubt on the claims being made.

With this in mind… Why would the U.S. government feel the need to employ government shills… or “sockpuppets”… to garner public opinion? Why does the federal government feel it necessary to have covert agents pretending to be Joe Public arguing with critics of policy or official accountings?

Going beyond the call of duty… the U.S. Air Force has issued a solicitation…[Solicitation Number: RTB220610 FedBizOpps.gov]… to develop software that gives users access to at least ten unique online personae with individual IP addresses and background information… even including mock emails… that would support any backstory the user wishes to establish and that would appear genuine and geographically consistent in regards to the participant forum.

Do you think this technology will only be employed abroad? How do you feel about clandestine intelligence agents shilling for Uncle Sam? Is it ethical? Is it a necessary evil in times of informational warfare?

“No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come” - Victor Hugo

My opion…this ploy will ultimately backfire.