-Caveat Lector- [This isn't the first time rec.humor.funny has run afoul of the censorhappy and humor-impaired. See my note at the end. Partial (long) list of Mastercard trademarks: http://www.mastercard.com/legal.html --Declan] ********* Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 08:22:19 -0600 (MDT) From: David Butterfield <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Mastercard vs. RHF To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Brad Templeton) Newsgroups: rec.humor.funny Subject: Mastercard threatens rec.humor.funny over satire Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 19:30:00 PDT Two years ago, rec.humor.funny published a sick satire of the Mastercard "Priceless" ads (There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there's Mastercard) based around the Columbine tragedy. I won't repeat it here, since it was pretty sick and offensive, though you can find it on the web site at: http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/99/Apr/columbine.html Today we received a "cease and desist" letter from Mastercard's lawyers demanding that the parody be removed from our web site, falsely claiming it violates their trademarks and copyrights, in spite of the well established rules protecting satire and parody from such attacks. The letter can be found at http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/price.html Here, however, is my response... -------------------------------------------- Web site hosting for anybody: $10/month and up Threatening letters to people who satirize you, hoping they won't know the law: $500 Reputation as giant corporation required to intimidate small publishers: $billions Supreme court decisions protecting parody and satire from accusations of copyright and trademark infringement... Priceless There are some rights money can't buy. For everything else, there's Mastercard's lawyers. -- Selected by Jim Griffith. MAIL your joke to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Join and contribute to the Electronic Frontier Foundation today. This joke's link: http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/01/Apr/mcrhf.html ********** Excerpt from: http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/eff/pub/Censorship/Academic_edu/CAF/batch/apr_18_1993.txt For example, in 1988 this joke was published: A Jew and a Scotsman have dinner. At the end of the dinner the Scotsman is heard to say, 'I'll pay.' The newspaper headline next morning says, 'Jewish ventriloquist found dead in alley.' In response to this joke, MIT student Jonathan Richmond challenged rec.humor.funny. His challenge led to newspaper articles in Waterloo, Ontario and a ban of rec.humor.funny at the University of Waterloo. News of the incident reached Stanford University and, about two months later, Vice-President for Information Resources Robert Street banned the newsgroup (with approval of President Donald Kennedy.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
