April 19, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ON-THE-BRINK BANK STILL NOT YOURS (YET)
Dow Jones posts fake release for two hours; bank gets fake website
blacklisted, briefly
Contact: [email protected]
Bank of America executives, investors, and opponents alike reacted
with surprise to yesterday's news—posted for two hours on Dow Jones
Newswire and elsewhere—that the mammoth financial institution,
realizing it was heading for a taxpayer bailout, was asking Americans
to start thinking about what they'll do with the bank once they own
it, and to start advertising that vision too.
The news, of course, was a hoax.
The fake YourBofA.com website was quickly, but temporarily,
blacklisted by Google as a potential "phishing scam," despite the site
containing no forms, spyware, or other characteristics of a site
engaging in phishing. Firefox and Google Chrome users who tried to
load YourBofA.com were warned that the site may be "dangerous," while
some individuals with Gmail accounts reported that emails containing
the URL were bounced back or not delivered. An investigation by Raw
Story concluded that "It's likely that Bank of America reported the
site to Google as a phishing scam." Shortly after the article's
publication—and with the help of thousands of volunteers complaining
to Google—the website was taken off the blacklist.
Today's reports of slumping profits make the fake site all the more
timely. "This site is a forum for people to imagine what they could do
with this bank," said Jane O'Heely of the Yes Lab, one of the site's
creators. "The ideas we've gotten already show we all know as much as
bankers about how a bank ought to be run—and actually, a good deal
more."
"A bank doesn't have to be something that charges you fees, invests
your money in things you abhor, destroys poor communities with
predatory lending, and then threatens to take down the global economy
if you don't agree to bail it out," said Logan Price, who helped
create BreakUpBofA.com. "Thinking of alternatives to this nightmare is
not rocket science."
The hoax was perpetrated by means of a fake press release; it was
followed two hours later with a fake angry retort, so that no
journalist would be fooled for very long. "We wanted to get people
thinking about how they'd run banking differently, not to really fool
anyone," noted O'Heely. "The whole fake release thing was just a way
to publicize it and get people posting ideas and ads."
"Any response by Bank of America would just help spread the word, and
they seem to know that," added O'Heely. When Bank of America got
Google to blacklist the website as "phishing" (which it was not), the
Yes Lab mobilized 4000 volunteers to complain, which quickly worked to
de-list the site and give this press release a small extra hook.
The website's centerpiece is an open call to American taxpayers to
begin considering what they will do after a bailout, when they'll have
a chance to become the company’s majority owners. The "bank" also asks
the public to advertise their visions with a tool for generating web
banners—images that could give Bank of America a very real "google
problem" not unlike Chevron's. The site also includes a letter from
CEO Brian Moynihan that admits to the bank's many failings—short-
sighted investment decisions and the massive accumulation of le gal
liabilities, causing plummeting share prices and inexorably pushing
the company towards a public bailout.
The YourBofA.com website was a collaboration between the Yes Lab,
Rainforest Action Network, and New Bottom Line. A number of folks
within Occupy Wall Street's Alternative Banking working group also
helped with the site. Like other Yes Lab websites, this one is hosted
by May First / People Link.
The website comes at a time of rampant distrust of big banks. Even top
Federal Government regulators have recently called for the end of "too
big to fail." As Harvey Rosenblum, the head of the Dallas Fed’s
research department, recently wrote: "Many of the biggest banks have
sputtered, their balance sheets still clogged with toxic assets
accumulated in the boom years... creating a residue of distrust for
the government, the banking system, the Fed and capitalism itself."
"Most Americans, and even some regulators, see what's wrong with the
state of our banking system," said Price. "We have a real opportunity
to safely and proactively push this company towards managed bankruptcy
and create smaller, more responsive financial institutions that help
American communities rather than harm them."
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