You Can Run But You Can't Hide
(From AOL-Time Warner)
Written by: Alex Sandell
"AOL Time Warner is committed to serving the public interest by using
our
unique talents and resources to enrich people's lives and strengthen
communities
around the world. That goal is at the heart of everything we do as a
company—
and it is the fundamental guiding principle of the AOL Time Warner Foundation.
In this way, we hope to set a new
standard of corporate citizenship—and to use the
power of communications, media and information technology to educate, inform
and
inspire people around the world."
-AOL Time Warner Website
AOL Time Warner threatens yet another Harry
Potter fan:
"In the Internet Century, education and literacy matter more than ever
before" reads AOL Time Warner's website. Obviously, the company could
care less about education and literacy when it comes to an avid Harry Potter
reader creating his or her own website, voluntarily engaging in self-education
and literacy projects. Warner Brothers is, once again, threatening legal
action against a Harry Potter fan for having the nerve to create a Harry Potter
fan site. This time they're going after 15-year-old Christie Chan, a
Singaporean "webmistress" who registered the domain name www.harrypotternetwork.net.
They told Chan that use of the Potter domain name was likely to "cause
consumer confusion or dilution of intellectual property
rights." Warner Brothers isn't upset that Chan, or any other
Potter fan/webmaster they've strong-armed into surrendering their domain name,
are making money off of their sites, or selling illegal Potter merchandise (none
of them are), they're worried that, if Warner Brothers, and their official
licensees, aren't the only ones with Potter sites on the web, they (Warner
Brothers) may suffer a small loss. The legal letters the WB are sending
out are written on behalf of Warner Brothers and Potter author (and queen of
ripping off various material from a ton of other books and calling it her own)
J.K. Rowling. Certain sites such as www.potterwar.org.uk
are asking Potter fans to write to Rowling's agent, and make them aware of all
that's going on. I sensed that the webmaster behind the page, Alastair
Alexander, who emailed me personally, asking me to put up a link to his page,
believed this was all the WB's fault, and poor J.K. Rowling's name was merely
being tossed around by lawyers to intimidate the fans as much as they possibly
could. According to Alexander, Rowling has not made a statement
regarding Warner Brothers threatening her most dedicated fans, and therefore, if
we send enough mail to her agent, she may come around. In my opinion, I
think Rowling is being a coward, and letting Warner Brothers do the dirty work
for her, in hopes that her most diehard fans won't refuse to open their wallets
when "Harry Potter and his Corporate Minions" is released in
2002. Rowling could very easily stop this all with 13 words: "I won't
write another 'Harry Potter' book unless you stop harassing my fans."
Why hasn't Rowling done this? Because, like George "Star Wars"
Lucas before her, the only fantasy she really cares about anymore is the one she
keeps having over how many more millions she can make. 20th
Century Fox has pulled these exact same stunts with a large chunk of
fan-based Star Wars sites. Has George Lucas done anything to help
his fans? Not unless you count Jar Jar Binks' winning sense of humor, and
the 300th video re-release of the original trilogy (DVD coming by 2077!).
Regardless, it all boils down to money. J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers
are both convinced that they might lose some if those pesky fans keep building
Harry Potter websites. I wonder if either of them have ever taken the time
to figure out that it is those same "pesky" fans that made them the
millions/billions that they have made off of the Potter industry, in the first
place? If this individual and the corporation she works for were scraping
along to get by, I might be able to understand their actions, but last I heard
Rowling brought home 15 million dollars for her Potter book(s) and Warner
Brothers merged with AOL, for combined assets worth approximately 40 billion
dollars. This corporate monster stomping out fan websites, which
inspire thousands of people to read, and even create websites of their own,
reminds me a lot of the book burning the Nazis engaged in half a century
ago. These corporations have no shame.
-Alex Sandell
You can run, but you can't hide (From AOL Time
Warner):
When AOL and Time Warner merged,
a corporate entity reared a head so ugly it made former corporate king of
sleaze, Microsoft, almost look like a good guy. The entire event caused me
to want to escape into a good movie, or book, or magazine, or website.
Unfortunately, AOL Time Warner now owned most of them. If I tried to chat
with a far away friend on ICQ, I was using an AOL Time Warner chat
program. If I received an email from a pal on Compuserve, that email came
to me via AOL Time Warner. If I decided I just wanted to leave the fucking
house and get out for a while, I'd most likely glance at Mapquest to get some
good directions. Too bad Mapquest is now owned by AOL Time Warner.
At least I could feel a little less guilty by glancing at it through a Netscape
browser, rather than that Microsoft thing. Oh, wait, I guess not, Netscape
is now owned by AOL Time Warner. Maybe I'll start up Winamp, crank out some
tunes, and clear my head. Winamp's now the property of AOL Time
Warner? Suddenly the music doesn't sound quite as good. I guess if I
just put a CD in my player, and leave the computer behind, I could jam to some
groovy music . . . as long as it's not on Atlantic Records, Elektra Records,
London-Sire Records, Rhino Records, WB Records, Revolution Records, Giant
Records, Maverick Records, Strictly Rhythm Records, or Sub Pop Records (the
crowning kings of "independence," right?) and wasn't sent to me by
Columbia House. I suppose I could hop in the recliner and watch some
TV. Bugs Bunny's wacky antics could get my mind off all this, or maybe
those meddling kids on Scooby-Doo could do the job. Too bad both Looney
Tunes and Hanna-Barbera are now owned by AOL Time Warner, and the aforementioned
cartoons will only be found on their networks. Not that AOL Time Warner
doesn't have enough networks to go around, what with WB Television, New Line
Television, TBS Superstation, Turner Network Television (TNT), Cartoon Network,
Turner Classic Movies, CNN, Headline News, CNN International, CNNfn, CNN/Sports
Illustrated, HBO and Cinemax. Well, at least there's always Comedy Central
there for you when you need a good laugh. Uh, I take that back, they're a
"joint venture" with the AOL Time Warner gang. Damn. Okay,
fine, I'll go see a movie. I mean, it can't be a Warner Bros. movie, or
one from New Line Cinema, or even Castle Rock Entertainment, but I'm sure
there's SOMETHING out there I can see without selling out my ethics for the
price of a ticket. Hmm...all seven films playing in my town are either
owned by AOL Time Warner or Walt Disney. So much for that. Now I
really have nothing else to do other than sit down and read a good
magazine. Maybe a little news will help make sense of this all.
Let's see, is Time a safe read? No. Sports Illustrated? No.
People? No. Entertainment Weekly? No. Fortune (not that
I'd read that piece of shit anyway)? No. Money (see my comment on
Fortune)? No. In Style? No. Real Simple? No.
Time for Kids? No. Sports Illustrated for Kids? No.
Sports Illustrated for women (what the fuck is that?)? No. Teen
People? No. Southern Living (uh, you've got to be kidding)?
No. Progressive Farmer (really, you're kidding me, right?)?
No. Southern Accents (I've heard plenty of 'em)? No.
Parenting? No. Family Life? No. Baby Talk?
No. Healthy Pregnancy (wow, there's a big market out there for new
parents)? No. Popular Science? No. Outdoor Life?
No. Field & Stream? No. Outdoor Explorer? No.
Golf Magazine (BORING)? No. Senior Golfer (EVEN MORE BORING)?
No. Any of the many numerous "extreme sports" magazines?
No. Well, poop. I guess I'll have to go for the laughs, and pick up
an issue of MAD. What me corporate? Alfred E. Neuman is now owned by
AOL Time Warner?!? I'm still in the mood for a comic type thingie, so I
guess I'll grab the newest issue of Hellblazer. WHAT? Vertigo and DC
comics are owned by AOL Time Warner, too? Hell, I guess I'll just go for a
walk, before the bastards buy the street, the air, the trees and the world
itself.
-Alex Sandell
"For the higher he climbs, the more
alluring his old goal that was once promised him rises
from the veil of the past, and with feverish avidity his keenest minds see the
dream of
world domination tangibly approaching"
-Adolf Hitler
Articles and graphic copyright 2001 Alex Sandell [All Rights Reserved]. If you copy this, without my permission, I'll "merge" my fist with your rectum and pull your head back out of your ass.