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Subject: IP-FLASH Site-stealing program answers WTO crackdown


>Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 11:01:59 -0500
>To: farber@cis.upenn.edu
>From: Esther Dyson <edyson@edventure.com>
>
>>Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 12:24:18 GMT
>>To: "EDYSON.edventure.com" <edyson@edventure.com>
>>From: RTMark Bulletin <ann0080@rtmark.com>
>>Subject: Site-stealing program answers WTO crackdown on edyson@edventure.com
>>Sender: ann0080-proxy@rtmark.com
>>X-OriginalArrivalTime: 15 Nov 2001 12:24:21.0174 (UTC) 
>>FILETIME=[741C9560:01C16DD0]
>>
>>    This message is not commercial. Get off our list by writing
>>    mailto:remove@rtmark.com?subject=edyson@edventure.com.
>>
>>November 15, 2001
>>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>
>>WTO ATTACKS WEBSITE, REAPS HUNDREDS OF OTHERS
>>As it meets in Qatar, WTO attempts to shut down critical website;
>>group counters with site-stealing software
>>
>>Contacts:  Jonathan Prince (mailto:jonathan@killyourtv.com)
>>            Jean-Guy Carrier (mailto:jean-guy.carrier@wto.org)
>>            Verio (mailto:copyright@verio.net)
>>            The Yes Men (mailto:info@theyesmen.org)
>>Software:  http://www.theyesmen.org/yesiwill/
>>            http://yesiwill.plagiarist.org/
>>            http://detritus.net/projects/yesiwill/
>>
>>Last Friday, Jonathan Prince, who owns the Gatt.org domain, received a
>>call from Verio, Gatt.org's upstream provider. The World Trade
>>Organization had just asked Verio to shut down the domain for
>>copyright violations, and Verio told Prince that it would do just that
>>if nothing was changed by November 13--the last day of the Doha
>>Ministerial, as it would happen. An official email followed
>>(http://rtmark.com/verio.html).
>>
>>(Last-minute update: Verio's shutdown is currently expected sometime
>>after noon EST today--watch software sites above for updates.)
>>
>>"It's the war," says Prince. "Bush has popularized zero-tolerance, and
>>it's open season on dissent of any kind. So just when they're meeting
>>in Doha, the WTO has decided to divert attention from its problems by
>>attacking a website."
>>
>>"Or maybe they really do want to make it so that protest has as little
>>place on the web as it does in Qatar," adds Prince.
>>
>>Oddly enough, the WTO has been aware of the parody website since
>>before the 1999 Ministerial in Seattle, when it issued a public
>>statement claiming the site misled visitors
>>(http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres99_e/pr151_e.htm).
>>
>>Two weeks ago, the WTO issued another release
>>(http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news01_e/gattdotorg_e.htm), this
>>one claiming that Gatt.org was harvesting e-mails, an allegation
>>reprinted as fact in some newspaper articles
>>(http://rtmark.com/pressgat.html).
>>
>>While it may be puzzling why the WTO chose to issue a second press
>>release about Gatt.org two years later, it is even more surprising
>>that they are now taking concrete steps to stop the critical site.
>>In statements made just last week to the French daily newspaper
>>Liberation and to others, WTO spokesperson Jean-Guy Carrier stated
>>that "It's not our job to use legal means against people. We
>>appreciate dissidence and honest criticism."
>>
>>Why the sudden change of attitude?
>>
>>"They got nervous, it's only human," said Elaine Peabody, a
>>spokesperson for The Yes Men (http://www.theyesmen.org/), the group
>>that maintains the Gatt.org website.  "The WTO remembers what happened
>>the last time they had one of these meetings [in Seattle].  They felt
>>like tackling something they knew they could handle--and a satirical
>>website fit the bill."
>>
>>BATTLE HEATS UP
>>
>>But the WTO could well have stepped on a hornets' nest.  To counter
>>the attack, the Yes Men have are releasing today a piece of
>>open-source "parodyware" (http://theyesmen.org/yesiwill/) that will
>>"forever make this kind of censorship obsolete," according to Peabody.
>>
>>"Using this software, it takes five minutes to set up a convincing,
>>personalized, evolving parody of the WTO.org website, or any other
>>website of your choice," said Peabody, who helped to develop the
>>program. "All you need is a place to put it--say, WTOO.org,
>>WorldTradeOrg.com, whatever."
>>
>>The software, called "Yes I Will!", automatically duplicates websites
>>as needed, changing words and images as the user desires--with results
>>that can be very telling. The WTO site can be made to speak of
>>"consumers" and "companies" rather than "citizens" and "countries."
>>Unleashed on the CNN.com website, the software can simplify the
>>reporting even further by referring to Bush as "Leader," and the war
>>in Afghanistan as one between "Good" and "Evil"; a Time.com article
>>linked from the site then discusses "The Poor Way of War". The parody
>>site updates itself automatically as the target website changes.
>>
>>"The idea is to insure that even if they shut down our website,
>>hundreds of others will continue our work of translation," said
>>Peabody. "The more they try to fight it, the funnier they're going to
>>look."
>>
>>"Such heavy-handed tactics work as poorly in cyberspace as they do on
>>the geopolitical stage," said Cooper Kharms, another Yes Man. "At
>>least Gatt.org was transparent: you could tell what it was by reading
>>a line or two. These other sites may not be so obvious."
>>
>>Prince thinks the software, while interesting, is not a solution.
>>"With their attack on Gatt.org, an unelected, unaccountable
>>organization is running roughshod over the USA Bill of Rights," said
>>Prince. "But every day they violate people's rights in the Third
>>World, or enable corporations to do so. This time it's just closer to
>>home."
>>
>>For more on the legal basis of the WTO's attack, see also
>>http://dc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=15296&group=webcast
>>
>>
>>RTMark's primary goal is to publicize corporate subversion of the
>>democratic process. To this end it acts as a clearinghouse for
>>anti-corporate projects.
>>
>>                              # 30 #
>>
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>
>
>
>Esther Dyson                    Always make new mistakes!
>chairman, EDventure Holdings
>writer, Release 3.0 (on Website below)
>edyson@edventure.com
>1 (212) 924-8800    --   fax  1 (212) 924-0240
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