Chamber of Commerce Shuts Down Hundreds of Businesses, Orgs in Blow to Free Speech
UPDATE (5pm, Oct. 23): Chamber uses Yes Men hoax to raise money! Seriously. Not a joke (apparently).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 23, 2009 - 2pm
EFF release: www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/10/22
Wired article: wired.com
Contact: people@theyesmen.org, info@mayfirst.org, 347-675-0953 (Alfredo Lopez)
US Chamber Shuts off TheYesMen.org and Websites of Hundreds of Other Activist Groups
Free Speech, Free Commerce Threatened by "Free Trade" Champion
Hundreds of activist organizations had their internet service turned off last night after the US Chamber of Commerce strong-armed an upstream provider, Hurricane Electric, to pull the plug on The Yes Men and May First / People Link, a 400-member-strong organization with a strong commitment to protecting free speech.
"This is a blow against free speech, and it demostrates in gory detail the full hypocrisy of the Chamber," said Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men. "The only freedom they care about is the economic freedom of large corporations to operate free of the hassles of science, reality, and democracy."
After suffering embarrassment at the hands of the Yes Men on Monday, the Chamber immediately threatened legal action, then followed through Thursday by sending a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice to Hurricane Electric Internet Services. In the DMCA notice, the Chamber claimed that the parody Chamber website operated by The Yes Men constituted copyright infringement, and demanded that the site be shut down immediately and that the creator's service be canceled.
But the Yes Men are not served directly by Hurricane Electric, but by May First / People Link. And when Hurricane Electric shut down the fake Chamber of Commerce site (now relocated), they also took down the websites of 400 other organizations.
May First / People Link fought back. They immediately "mirrored" the site, and then quickly negotiated with Hurricane Electric to restore service to their other members.
"The DMCA attacks the critically important right we have to effectively comment and criticize institutions and companies," said May First/People Link Co-Director Alfredo Lopez. "It's an undemocratic, backwards law, a perfect example of how the government shouldn't intrude on our lives. But the Chamber was perfectly happy to use it to stomp on the Yes Men's rights to free spech, and the rights of hundreds of other organizations to operate on the web."
The 400 May First / People Link members weren't the only victims of the Chamber's action on Thursday. Today is the start of the national release of the Yes Men's new film, The Yes Men Fix the World. The film is being released in a number of independent theaters - who, not being part of a chain, are heavily dependent on the Yes Men website for selling tickets to the film. The Chamber's actions thus impinge on the ability of these small businesses to turn a profit.
"The Chamber claims to represent 3 million businesses of every size, yet their actions undermined a fair number of small businesses," said Mike Bonanno of the Yes Men. "The Chamber is clearly much less interested in actual freedom, economic or otherwise, than in the license of their largest members to operate free from the scientific consensus." (The Chamber has opposed or refused to endorse a climate bill, the absurdity of which the Yes Men's Monday action was designed to highlight.)
This isn't the first time a Yes Men site has found itself targeted by a DMCA complaint brought by a large corporation. The Yes Men have in the past received DMCA notices from Exxon, Dow Chemical, DeBeers, and the New York Times. In each case, the the Yes Men (represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation) refused to comply, and prevailed. Even the George W. Bush campaign sent a complaint to try to interrupt service to GWBush.com, in 2000, resulting in extensive ridicule that culminated in Bush's mind-boggling gaffe that "There ought to be limits to freedom."
The Yes Men Fix the World
Press inquiries: please contact our publicists. To book the film for your theater please contact Shadow. For all other needs please contact us directly.
Comments
The Yes Men are BRILLIANT!!! Their wit, preparation and utter fearlessness is inspirational. I think it reflects perfectly on what the Founding Fathers had in mind when framing the constitution. They are intellingent, thoughful and CORRECT!
This is beyond idiotic. "The Yes Men" are doing this to capture scenes for their up-coming for-profit movie. While you sit here and applaud them, they are using your stupidity to profit. Good job dips#*ts.
Having seen the video, I adore the logic that business cards = legitimacy. I especially like the way that he challenges you, but expects you to take his identity at face value. I hope you bring some 'appropriate' cards next time.
I know you can't plan for all eventualities, but it would have been nifty if you'd had a third guy in a suit barge in and insist that both you and the Chamber of Commerce guy were hoaxers.
Yeah, I'm sure they're rolling in big bags full of money with $ on them from all those independent movie profits. Independent movies ALWAYS make millions, if not tens of millions. You are one smart cookie.
If the only way to avoid being categorized as a "dips#*t" is to support the funding of profit-motivated parasites that use their profits to dupe the general public into irrational and counterproductive agendas; then I am proud to be a "dips#*t". Hopefully, I am a constituent in a growing community of "dips#*ts" that will spend their hard-earned money on going to see a film that sheds light in a world that bloated and totally indifferent corporations endeavor to shroud in the darkness of ignorance and disenfranchisement. "Dipsh#*ts" of the World; unite. Please
The negative nancy "Anonymous" is named Joe Belleausi.
Great prank Yes Men! And well within the legal bounds of free speech and satire of course.
Les W's idea is great: I'd love to see the look on the (purportedly) official Chamber guy if a third, yes-men-aligned fellow had stormed in after hun. Ideally, with two "bodyguards" and a gigantic gold-plated business card, ridiculing the official guy's business card as a clear fake.
I assume the C of C actually consulted their Attorney regarding shutting down your C of C hoax site. They were following the law and hopefully will pursue your lawbreaking hoaxing of a news conference to extract monetary damages from you lefty liars as well as your juvenile journalist abettors! Hope you have a few of those hated profits around or maybe you can go kiss a little Soro-aazz for some mullah!
You freakzoids should have faked some crappy business cards....before you got hammered!
.....the Chamber immediately threatened legal action, then followed through Thursday by sending a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice to Hurricane Electric Internet Services. In the DMCA notice, the Chamber claimed that the parody Chamber website operated by The Yes Men -- constituted copyright infringement, -- and demanded that the site be shut down immediately and that the creator's service be canceled.....
Correct me if I'm wrong but "copyright infringement" is not a right of free speech.
wrote an A******** earlier:
"This is beyond idiotic. "The Yes Men" are doing this to capture scenes for their up-coming for-profit movie. While you sit here and applaud them, they are using your stupidity to profit. Good job dips#*ts."
me:
The problem A. obviously has is that he or she is projecting his or her profit-thinking on to anyone else. That's what I would call the narrow-mindedness-trap. And his or her lack of education doesn't allow her or him to recognize if s/he is about to get real Yes-Men-based education. Anyway...any "profit" the YesMen get sounds like a good investment into the US education sector. But...you will perhaps always have people like A. to complain when getting education...because and as the Pythons already knew: "My Brain Hurts!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIlKiRPSNGA
However satire IS free speech, and the spoof website was, indeed, satire. This is not about "copyright infringement", because copyright was NOT infringed by the satire, which is expressly allowed under US Copyright law ... that was merely the false-on-its-face claim made by the CoC in its successful use of bully tactics.
Regarding the righties whining about those of us who give our hard-earned dollars to The Yes Men: at least we KNOW where our money is going, and at least it's something to believe in rather than some lame, faceless corporation or a church that secretly hates us (women of the world, I'm looking at you)! How'er those Chinese child labor Wal-Mart sneakers treatin' you rightie folks, anyway? Had to replace 'em yet?
Regarding the righties whining about those of us who give our hard-earned dollars to The Yes Men: at least we KNOW where our money is going, and at least it's something to believe in rather than some lame, faceless corporation or a church that secretly hates us (women of the world, I'm looking at you)! How'er those Chinese child labor Wal-Mart sneakers treatin' you rightie folks, anyway? Had to replace 'em yet?
Counter-sue the bastards for violating your constitutional rights.
Bankrupt their sorry asses!
Wee, well, well. What have we here? Satire at its finest?
What a refreshing burst of imagination.
Well thought out, rehearsed, planned and executed.
I have an idea for another satire from the yes men if they would care to lend an ear.
Refreshing.... Keep up the good work Yes Men.... maybe just maybe America will wake up....
Parker...you're some kind of republican...right...Please name 5 indie films(Michael Moore movie does not count) that have grossed millions & millions of dollars. Don't worry, you don't have to support any of those damn annoying little indie films. You just keep going to mainstream hollywood movies and pretend you're an informed person. Let me know how "Twilight" moves you! :)
Actually, filing false DMCA takedown claims carries legal repercussions, too. Since parody is a LEGALLY PROTECTED FAIR-USE RIGHT voiding copyright infringement, the CoC has no standing in this case, and their takedown notice was fraudulently filed. They are the ones who have violated federal law. I expect them to slink off and quietly withdraw this lawsuit once they've reaped the profits of playing victim.
And the Captcha is obviously not working to keep the capitalist excrement-heads from polluting your board like they do every other part of the world.
Please name 5 indie films(Michael Moore movie does not count) that have grossed millions & millions of dollars. Don't worry, you don't have to support any of those damn annoying little indie films.
Online cyber crime degree | Policing degree | private security degree
at least we KNOW where our money is going, and at least it's something to believe in rather than some lame, faceless corporation or a church that secretly hates us (women of the world, I'm looking at you)! How'er those Chinese child labor Wal-Mart sneakers treatin' you rightie folks.
Onlin education degree | Online adult education degree
Post new comment