RackNine Inc working proactively with Elections Canada and Law Enforcement Agencies

February 24, 2012

In response to media requests, RackNine Inc. would like to provide the following statement from Mr. Matt Meier, CEO of RackNine Inc:

“As CEO of Racknine, I was shocked and distressed to learn that some party had used our services to try and disrupt voting during the 2011 federal election. We take these allegations very seriously. Our dialling services have been used successfully by hundreds of campaigns to inform voters of where and when to vote in many elections. We believe that our technology has helped engage more voters in the electoral process.

We are committed to ensuring that those who misused our services will face the full penalty of law, and will continue to work proactively with Elections Canada and all law enforcement agencies to help identify the culprits.”

It is important to note, as has been reported in various media outlets including The Ottawa Citizen who first broke the news, that the individuals who abused RackNine’s services attempted to hide their identity from RackNine itself.

“The customer tried to make themselves difficult to trace,” said a source familiar with the investigation. “They went to an effort to misdirect and to conceal their identity from Racknine. “They weren’t particularly smart about it,” said the source. “They made the recordings from a cellphone that they bought in cash. This is a common approach by criminals — you pay cash for a prepaid cellphone. So they did this, and that gave them the illusion of security. (The Ottawa Citizen, February 23, 2012)”

RackNine is a non-partisan firm, free from any party affiliation, bias, or designation. We couldn’t possibly have known that the fake calls were made using our services. We estimate that over 10 million phone calls went out during the 2011 campaign. RackNine does not monitor outgoing calls made by customers through the automated service, we just provide the software and hardware platforms.

Blaming RackNine for any wrongdoings using those services is akin to blaming Apple for any criminal activity in which the use of iPhones are involved. Or accusing the phone company for any death threats uttered through their phone lines. Or making a car rental company accountable because the driver run over someone with the car he rented.

RackNine is trying to help Elections Canada in every way possible, and we are committed to ensuring that those who attempted to disrupt the voting process will be identified and reported to the appropriate authorities.

We look forward to continue to offer a first-rate voter contact product to campaigns across the country.

 

Update (February 27, 2012):

The Edmonton Journal has published an article titled “RackNine not under probe in robocalls affair” that will hopefully help clarify the whole issue and answer many of the questions we keep receiving these days. You can read it at the following link:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Simons+RackNine+under+probe+robocalls+affair/6218645/story.html