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Chamber Unleashes Lawyers on Yes Men
After the Yes Men pulled their now-famous prank
earlier this week on the US Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber issued a
vague threat of "law-enforcement action." The group doesn't appear to
have called the cops on the Yes Men just yet, but on Wednesday it
issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act take-down demand notice for the https://www.c
Oct 23, 2009
After the Yes Men pulled their now-famous prank
earlier this week on the US Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber issued a
vague threat of "law-enforcement action." The group doesn't appear to
have called the cops on the Yes Men just yet, but on Wednesday it
issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act take-down demand notice for the parody site
that the Yes Men set up to publicize their fake event, in which the
"Chamber" announced that it would support a sane global warming policy
after all.
The Chamber's attorney at the intellectual property law firm Kenyon
& Kenyon issued a notice to the Yes Men's internet service
provider, Hurricane Electric, asking them to take down the site. "The
website infringes the Chamber of Commerce's copyrights by directly
copying the images, logos, design, and layout of the Chamber of
Commerce's copyright-protected official website, located at
www.uschamber.com,"; they wrote.
They ask Hurricane to "take down all such infringing material"
and/or end their business relationship with the Yes Men. "Continuing to
be the ISP for this material could subject Hurricane Electric to legal
liability," the letter states.
"We are certain you can understand our client's concerns, and its need to protect its intellectual property," it continues.
And now the Electronic Frontiers Foundation is jumping in, telling the Chamber to take a chill pill. The site, they say, fits within the accepted fair use and parody rights.
"We are very disappointed the Chamber of Commerce decided to respond
to political criticism with legal threats," said EFF staff attorney
Corynne McSherry in a statement. "The site is obviously intended to
highlight and parody the Chamber's controversial views, which have
sparked political debate and led high-profile members to withdraw their
support from the Chamber."
Ars Technica has more.
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Kate Sheppard
Kate Sheppard is a staff reporter for Mother Jones, focusing on energy and environmental politics from Washington, D.C. She was previously the political reporter for Grist and a writing fellow at The American Prospect. Her work has also been featured in the Washington Post, The Guardian, The Center for Public Integrity, In These Times, and Bitch.
After the Yes Men pulled their now-famous prank
earlier this week on the US Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber issued a
vague threat of "law-enforcement action." The group doesn't appear to
have called the cops on the Yes Men just yet, but on Wednesday it
issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act take-down demand notice for the parody site
that the Yes Men set up to publicize their fake event, in which the
"Chamber" announced that it would support a sane global warming policy
after all.
The Chamber's attorney at the intellectual property law firm Kenyon
& Kenyon issued a notice to the Yes Men's internet service
provider, Hurricane Electric, asking them to take down the site. "The
website infringes the Chamber of Commerce's copyrights by directly
copying the images, logos, design, and layout of the Chamber of
Commerce's copyright-protected official website, located at
www.uschamber.com,"; they wrote.
They ask Hurricane to "take down all such infringing material"
and/or end their business relationship with the Yes Men. "Continuing to
be the ISP for this material could subject Hurricane Electric to legal
liability," the letter states.
"We are certain you can understand our client's concerns, and its need to protect its intellectual property," it continues.
And now the Electronic Frontiers Foundation is jumping in, telling the Chamber to take a chill pill. The site, they say, fits within the accepted fair use and parody rights.
"We are very disappointed the Chamber of Commerce decided to respond
to political criticism with legal threats," said EFF staff attorney
Corynne McSherry in a statement. "The site is obviously intended to
highlight and parody the Chamber's controversial views, which have
sparked political debate and led high-profile members to withdraw their
support from the Chamber."
Ars Technica has more.
Kate Sheppard
Kate Sheppard is a staff reporter for Mother Jones, focusing on energy and environmental politics from Washington, D.C. She was previously the political reporter for Grist and a writing fellow at The American Prospect. Her work has also been featured in the Washington Post, The Guardian, The Center for Public Integrity, In These Times, and Bitch.
After the Yes Men pulled their now-famous prank
earlier this week on the US Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber issued a
vague threat of "law-enforcement action." The group doesn't appear to
have called the cops on the Yes Men just yet, but on Wednesday it
issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act take-down demand notice for the parody site
that the Yes Men set up to publicize their fake event, in which the
"Chamber" announced that it would support a sane global warming policy
after all.
The Chamber's attorney at the intellectual property law firm Kenyon
& Kenyon issued a notice to the Yes Men's internet service
provider, Hurricane Electric, asking them to take down the site. "The
website infringes the Chamber of Commerce's copyrights by directly
copying the images, logos, design, and layout of the Chamber of
Commerce's copyright-protected official website, located at
www.uschamber.com,"; they wrote.
They ask Hurricane to "take down all such infringing material"
and/or end their business relationship with the Yes Men. "Continuing to
be the ISP for this material could subject Hurricane Electric to legal
liability," the letter states.
"We are certain you can understand our client's concerns, and its need to protect its intellectual property," it continues.
And now the Electronic Frontiers Foundation is jumping in, telling the Chamber to take a chill pill. The site, they say, fits within the accepted fair use and parody rights.
"We are very disappointed the Chamber of Commerce decided to respond
to political criticism with legal threats," said EFF staff attorney
Corynne McSherry in a statement. "The site is obviously intended to
highlight and parody the Chamber's controversial views, which have
sparked political debate and led high-profile members to withdraw their
support from the Chamber."
Ars Technica has more.
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