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ETOY vs. ETOYS case makes headlines around the
world
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In a stunning event, 'net artist collective ETOY
shut down it's
primary website etoy.com, the result of a hostile
legal battle
initiated by online toy seller etoys, and a
successful preliminary
injunction claiming among other things, trademark
devaluation,
infringement, unfair competition and illegal stock
operation. All
of this despite the fact that etoy existed online
a full 2 (two)
years prior to etoys.com and has no similarity to
the toy site.
This is a case of a corporate bullying and
agressive tactics in
what could become an important legal case on
"reverse domain
name hijacking". If the preliminary injunction
holds and etoys wins,
it would mean any corporate power or someone with
a lot of money
could essentially force other domain's out of
business, even if
those domain's existed prior to theirs. It's
obvious that this would
be understandable for cybersquatters, or those who
secure domain
names such as microsoftwin.com in the hopes that
they can be paid
huge sums for the site from Microsoft or in cases
where there is
understandably some confusion between two parties,
such as
estamps.com and estamp.com which both compete for
the same
area in commerce.
BUT etoy.com is never and has never been
interested in toys, there
are no references to etoys.com nor is there any
interest or attempts
to confuse the public in any way, shape or form.
This action by
the greedy (and understandably nervous amidst
their competition and
weaker-than-expected sales and overvalued stock: 6
billion market cap!)
e-tailer should not be tolerated. There is already
a huge number of
articles and the etoys stock is (really!) going
down at the moment,
ever since this story broke in the Village Voice a
week ago. Now today
there's an article in the New York Times, tomorrow
is the Washington
Post and National Public Radio, not to mention
European press.
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO SELL ALL etoys (symbol NASDAQ:
etys) STOCK
in protest of this outrageous act of hostility.
BOYCOTT ETOYS BY
PLACING A BANNER ON YOUR SITE FROM THE LINK BELOW.
ENCOURAGE
ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO DO THE SAME. THE
FUTURE OF
INTERNET FREEDOM IS AT STAKE. DO YOU WANT THE NET
TO LOOK LIKE
TV? ETOY NEEDS YOUR HELP AND LUCKILY THERE ARE A
LOT OF WAYS
YOU CAN DO THAT. VISIT http://www.eviltoy.com just
one of MANY
protest sites for the cause of ETOY.
RTMark.com has just announced today a new fund for
those who wish
to help the cause of etoy. Visit their website to
see how you might
be able to contribute, even in a small way, it
will help. The etoy artists
have already had to incur almost 20,000$US in
court costs and the
next hearing will be on 27 DEC. They need all the
help they can get,
and not just financial, there are MANY ways you
can help fight this
visit http://www.rtmark.com for more details.
For those of you who don't know, etoy.com is the
work of a European
collective of artists who's conceptual work
centers around the idea
of a "net-based" art corporation. They function
under the umbrella
of etoy and etoy.com has been their sole platform
since 1995, a full
two-years before etoys.com even existed. The
etoy.AGENTS play around with
people's preconceived conceptions about corporate
agendas, the
nature of the internet and fame. Etoy survives via
it's sponsors,
which are more often art grants and other (real)
corporations who
enjoy their work and humour. After several
individuals, museums and
corporations asked if there was anything they
could "buy" from etoy
and hang on their wall, the group decided that
since etoy does'nt "sell
products, etoy IS the product", they would
initiate the idea of selling
"shares"
which is a play on the idea of investing in art,
furthering their agenda
and a humourous attempt to comment on the 'net
stock hype. Etoy
"shareholders" include many famous and important
figures in both the tech/art
world and government (the Chancellor of Austria is
an etoy.SHAREHOLDER).
And furthermore, the museums and collectors
receive an original "share
certificate" which is a slick 3-color laser print
mounted to aluminum and
signed in an official "public action" which also
is a media/press event.
Etoy won the prestigious Golden Nica award at Ars
Electronica in '96, the most
prestigious tech/arts prize.
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