Universal Music Group (UMG) has denied any involvement in a poll that became the target of an online prank. A website that asked people where the Canadian singer Justin Bieber should tour next finally received 650,000 votes to send him to North Korea. A spokesperson for UMG told BBC News that it was a "hoax" but declined to give any further comment. The poll was promoted by members of the imageboard website 4chan, urging their users to vote for North Korea.
The joke eventually turned viral, spreading onto Facebook and Twitter, with tens of thousands of people casting their vote on the site. 4chan has a long history of pulling off internet pranks and stunts. In early July, Justin Bieber videos on YouTube were the target for internet hackers, redirecting users to adult websites or triggering pop-up messages saying that the Canadian singer had died in a car crash. Google temporarily suspended commenting on videos and issued a statement saying: "We took swift action to fix a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability."
The vulnerability hole was patched a few hours later. Justin Bieber was signed to Island Records, part of the Universal Music Group, after his performances were posted on You Tube.
The joke eventually turned viral, spreading onto Facebook and Twitter, with tens of thousands of people casting their vote on the site. 4chan has a long history of pulling off internet pranks and stunts. In early July, Justin Bieber videos on YouTube were the target for internet hackers, redirecting users to adult websites or triggering pop-up messages saying that the Canadian singer had died in a car crash. Google temporarily suspended commenting on videos and issued a statement saying: "We took swift action to fix a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability."
The vulnerability hole was patched a few hours later. Justin Bieber was signed to Island Records, part of the Universal Music Group, after his performances were posted on You Tube.
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I'm not really into the JB haters but I have really no idea why they hate him. Sometimes my friends tease people who love JB, and call them idiots and freaks.
That's why whenever my friends ask me to play a song I always pick the other ones because I'm afraid that they might tease and trash me. And yes, I never let them peek my music playlists because most of my song are sang by bieber. It really is affecting me because I love JB so mucch >< He's a great singer but sometimes because of the popular-you-know-bad-things, I can't seem to really say that I'm a fan.
So just my opinion, kay?
I'm not really into the JB haters but I have really no idea why they hate him. Sometimes my friends tease people who love JB, and call them idiots and freaks.
That's why whenever my friends ask me to play a song I always pick the other ones because I'm afraid that they might tease and trash me. And yes, I never let them peek my music playlists because most of my song are sang by bieber. It really is affecting me because I love JB so mucch >< He's a great singer but sometimes because of the popular-you-know-bad-things, I can't seem to really say that I'm a fan.
So just my opinion, kay?
The 16-year-old's single 'Baby', featuring Ludacris, has clocked up more than 250 million hits, usurping Gaga into second place with 247.6 million views.
The singer thanked his fans on Twitter before praising his rival, adding: "I just need to say that @ladygaga is an incredible artist who have great respect for. And her vid is incredible.
"Thank you all for caring. Just want you to know I care too and I'm just a normal kid. Thanks."
Bieber recently witnessed the downside of his online popularity, when a vote on his site was hijacked suggesting the singer should tour North Korea, though he has since said he will not honour the online poll.
