NEW PROJECTS COMBAT CRIMINALIZATION OF DISSENT

In response to The World Economic Forum Meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City (January 30 to February 3), RTMark investors have sponsored several new projects to fight the corporate takeover of public space and expression:

* The "reaming" of the WEF's website with automatic parody software
* "Ready-to-revolt" smart clothing
* Tear-gas tennis
* A virtual sit-in of the WEF's website
* Avoidance/destruction of surveillance cameras
* Street-writing bicycles

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The World Economic Forum Gets Reamed

The Yes Men have released version 2.0 of Reamweaver, their automatic website-parody software, and have set it loose on the World Economic Forum website. "We think world-economic-forum.com is more forthright about the WEF's goals than their real site is," said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men.

The Reamweaver software (reamweaver.com) allows users to instantly "funhouse-mirror" anyone's website in real time, while changing any words that they choose. For example, the first line on the official WEF website, "Reducing Poverty and Improving Equity," is turned into "Reducing Uselessness and Improving Profit-Sharing."

Reamweaver was first released when the World Trade Organization tried to shut down Gatt.org in October. "The WTO tried to capitalize on the post-9/11 climate by attacking any kind of dissent," said Cue P. Doll, one of the Reamweaver coders. "By automating the parody process, this software scales web dissent from a small group to a global network, ensuring the WTO's kind of tactics will never work."

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The World Economic Forum Gets Sat Upon

The Electronic Disturbance Theater is releasing a virtual sit-in (denial-of-service) tool specially tailored for the World Economic Forum website. Users are invited to join the cyber-protest at www.thing.net/~rdom/ecd/fools.html.

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New Ways to Avoid or Destroy Video Surveillance

Two new projects help citizens regain some of their privacy by helping them to avoid surveillance or destroy it. The Institute for Applied Autonomy's iSee (www.appliedautonomy.com/isee) is an interactive map that shows walkers the path of least surveillance between any two points in Manhattan. And for those who want to take the direct route, an anonymous group explains how to disable inappropriate cameras (rtmark.com/cctv).

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Bikes Paint Messages As You Ride (Project BIKE)

An anonymous investment of $500 has allowed the distribution of a tool that turns any bicycle into a street-writing device. Bradley Pitts (bmpitts9@hotmail.com), a spokesperson for the group that created the tool, calls it "an efficient way to get a message out on the street... over and over and over again." (architecture.mit.edu/~atmarcus)

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Prêt-à-Revolter Design Civil Disobedience Equipment (Project PRET)

Concerned by the new police and government tendency to treat any social movement as criminal, an investor has paid $1700 to help develop and deploy functional fashions for protest. The colorful costumes are fitted with padding at shoulder and rib regions to ward off baton blows, and miniature video cameras and transmitters to broadcast police brutality live to remote recorders. (www.sindominio.net/fiambrera/web-agencias/pretaverde.html)

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Athletes recruited for "Tear-Gas Tennis" (Project LACR)

An investor is offering $200 to the first lacrosse, tennis, or jai-alai team that methodically catches and returns tear gas canisters before they land among protesters. "Protests often turn violent because of police actions, like shooting people with tear gas canisters," said RTMark spokesperson Frank Guerrero. "Project LACR opposes the violence with a bit of sporting fun, and it could help keep a protester or two from getting seriously injured."

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LOOKING BACK: 2001 ANNUAL REPORT

RTMark posted reasonable cultural dividends for its investors in 2001, but the gains were bittersweet as civil liberties went up in smoke and authoritarian regimes founded repressive policies on the ruins of the World Trade Center.

The main dividends of 2001:

Impostors passed as the World Trade Organization at a "Textiles of the Future" conference (theyesmen.org/finland.html) and on European Marketwrap, a prime-time program on CNBC (theyesmen.org/tv.html). An anonymous investment covered some travel expenses.

A conference session on techniques to counter anti-corporate activism, normally available for $225 to corporate clients, was made available to activists for free at rtmark.com/prsa, thanks to an anonymous donor.

At the G8 protests in Genoa, RTMark sponsored the distribution of one thousand vanity mirrors, which were used to reflect the sun into the eyes of attacking policemen (rtmark.com/archimedes.html).

A software development kit and book from hactivist.com, entitled "Child as Audience", teaches anyone to reverse-engineer the Nintendo Gameboy; it was co-sponsored by RTMark.

The same label that enraged Geffen Records with "Deconstructing Beck" issued its fourth RTMark-sponsored release, "A Mutated Christmas" (detritus.net/illegalart/xmas).

A catapult used to hurl stuffed animals over the fortress walls at the Quebec FTAA meeting fulfilled RTMark project MDVL and garnered a cash reward for the creators.

Thousands of brochures advertising "Deportation Class" seating were secretly placed in airplane seat pockets to illustrate how commercial airlines traffic in unwilling human cargo (rtmark.com/luft).

The :CueCat, a freely available barcode scanner meant to help advertise to people in their homes, was hacked into a tool for learning about corporate misdeeds (rtmark.com/cuejack).

The "Heads and Tails Video Reclamation Program" which encourages videotape renters to record public service messages over previews, has resulted in hundreds of altered tapes across the US and Canada (project DUBM and project FLMC).