[ISN] Rival behind Schwarzenegger Web flap

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http://news.com.com/Rival+behind+Schwarzenegger+Web+flap/2100-1029_3-6115082.html

By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 12, 2006

The Democratic rival to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger 
acknowledged Tuesday that his aides were responsible for obtaining a 
controversial audio file in a move that has led to allegations of Web 
site hacking.

But the campaign manager for Phil Angelides, the state treasurer who is 
running against Schwarzenegger in the November election, said no laws 
were broken.

"We believe that these audio files--accessed through a public Web site, 
requiring no password, and not marked confidential--are a matter of 
public record and should be made available to the media and the public," 
said Cathy Calfo, Angelides' campaign manager.

Schwarzenegger's comments recorded in an audio file caused a flap when 
they were revealed by a leak to the Los Angeles Times by Angelides' 
aides. In the March conversation between the governor and his chief of 
staff, Schwarzenegger said blacks and Latinos were "hot" blooded, 
meaning they were passionate.

"I mean, they (Cubans and Puerto Ricans) are all very hot...they have 
the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino 
blood in them and together that makes it," he said.

Schwarzenegger apologized for the remarks, and on Monday his 
legal-affairs secretary released a statement saying that two 
unauthorized people had downloaded audio files in August.

The controversy may center on the design of the Web server called 
speeches.gov.ca.gov. The California government used it to post MP3 files 
of Schwarzenegger's speeches in a directory structure that looked like 
"http://speeches.gov.ca.gov/dir/06-21.htm.htm";. (That Web page is now 
offline, but saved in Google's cache.)

A source close to Angelides told CNET News.com on Tuesday that it was 
possible to "chop" off the Web links and visit the higher-level 
"http://speeches.gov.ca.gov/dir/"; directory, which had the controversial 
audio recording publicly viewable. No password was needed, the source 
said.

Calfo, Angelides' campaign manager, has since characterized the leak to 
the Los Angeles Times as something done by two aides without her 
permission.

Katie Levinson, communications director of Californians for 
Schwarzenegger, denounced the acquisition of the audio file in a 
statement Tuesday.

"Sadly, the actions by the Angelides campaign come as no surprise and 
the treasurer should denounce the unethical actions taken on his 
behalf," Levinson said. "Phil Angelides has a long history of gutter 
politics, and it is clear this most recent example was a calculated 
effort to smear the governor's reputation."


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