The Democratic member of Oregon's House of Representatives hatched the plot early in February 2010 with his spouse. Their goal: To Rickroll the entire Oregon State legislature, in collusion with their colleagues, all sixty, even divided between both parties.
Rickrolling began as an Internet meme involving getting someone to click on a link that they think is pertinent to the topic at hand, but in fact is a video of the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up." Like many such memes, Rickrolling was a product of 4Chan.
Smith coordinated with his colleagues on both side of the House by distributing lyric fragments from Asley's song. Their goal: insert their lyric fragment during a member's regular speeches on the floor of the House. They had to be subtle enough about it to escape the watchful eyes of observers— including the state of Oregon's House clerk. Since all speeches are recorded on video tape, the most laborious part of the scheme involved the public records permissions needed to get the video, and then the careful editing job to construct the video.
The video was finally released on April 1, 2011, and has quickly begun to climb as a popular destination for Rickrolling further innocent victims.