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It is commonly believed that the internet is a wild west of free expression; that low barriers to entry provide all comers with an equal opportunity to be heard by anyone that can be convinced to listen.
Sadly, this idea is pure romance. Here's proof:
The Yes Men created a parody site, Vivoleum.com, to satirize the global warming and unfettered free market rhetoric espoused by big oil.
Specifically, the site announced the launch of a new product, Vivoleum, made by ExxonMobil. The site sat quietly until June 15th - the day after the Yes Men gave a parody speech at an oil conference in Canada.
The speech was billed as ExxonMobil's response to the anticipated catastrophic death totals that are believed to be one of the consequences of global warming. Part of the presentation involved passing out candles made from "Vivoleum" - ExxonMobil's newly announced fuel invention. As participants lit the candles, the smell of burning human hair began to fill the room. Simultaneously, attendees watched a film in which "Reggie," an ExxonMobil janitor with a terminal illness, was introduced. As Reggie announced his satisfaction at being rendered into candles, the audience and hosts recognized the hoax. The Yes Men were escorted from the building.
It is important to note that the satire was clear; trademark law protects parody. In other words, if reasonable people recognize satire in the use of the trademark, use of the trademark is not infringing.
That matters little, however, when a mega-corporation with a mega-legal team leans on your website's host.
On June 15th, the plug was pulled on the Yes Men's website. They were not told who their accusers were - only that they were required to remove all references to ExxonMobil from their website before service would be restored. The sanctions the Yes Men's provider imposed did not stop at the Vivoleum site. The Yes Men's entire site - including their email service - was disabled.
The Yes Men's website and email service was not restored until all mentions of Exxon were scrubbed from the site. To this day, the Yes Men's host refuses to serve Vivoleum.com.
Imagine if this was George Bush - or Hillary Clinton - that forced the shutdown of a critical website. The truth we all recognize - and appreciate - is that Americans would not tolerate such abuse of power.
How telling then that a corporation can get away with this and nary a word is spoken. The logical conclusion is that corporate America has become more powerful and less accountable than those elected to lead.
The Yes Men know Exxon has abused the system to exert their will, but they are powerless in the face of a mighty corporate legal machine. Litigation would be expensive, and by the time it finished, the result would almost certainly be irrelevant.
In the end, the score is Corporations 1, Little Guys 0. Maybe someday we can change that.
Mike Stark is an internet activist and a netroots promoter for the Yes Men
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