Apparently not all wars are fought cold -- and some much, much hotter than necessary.
For who knows how long, tourists and Miamians looking for insider info at the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau's website have entered the online forums only to find nothing but staggering amounts of Russian porn spam.
And boy, was it dirty.
According to MiamiBeach411.com's site administrator, Gus Moore, who stumbled upon the problem, "hundreds" of images one can safely categorize as Not Safe For Work were splattered all over the GMCVB's forums for at least two weeks -- part of what the New Times called an "eye-popping infestation of porn."
Spam, unfortunately, will happen, like Paris Hilton bots -- but what's alarming is that it went unchecked for so long at a website whose sole purpose is to present the most glowing and friendly picture of Miami possible (some might say they succeeded).
But who knows how long it was there before Moore found it? Or how many unsuspecting visitors saw? And here's the real kicker: taxpayers have been paying for the porn-fest.
Moore questioned why, with a budget of $23 million, a staff of 70, and a chunk of funds from the City of Miami Beach, not a single employee was moderating the visitor forums.
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"Seventy full-time employees and you can't control this garbage?" he wrote. "The City of Miami Beach gives you $5 million a year to promote our city, and this is how you do it?"
Whoops! It's just as well, we suppose, if no one was even checking to see if potential visitors were posting questions to the forum. But for those inclined there's no reason to run over and investigate: a day after Moore posted about the issue, the entire forum was removed.
May we suggest a new slogan? "Greater Miami: not safe for work, but do come play."
