________________________________________________________________________________ This is a press release, not a commercial solicitation. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 20, 1999 GEORGE W. BUSH JR. LASHES OUT AT PARODY WEBSITE Bush learns about internet a moment too late Contact: Ray Thomas (mailto:bushinfo@rtmark.com) Zack Exley (mailto:zackexley@yahoo.com) Bush attorney Benjamin Ginsberg (202-457-6405, fax 202-457-6315) URLs: http://www.gwbush.com/, http://rtmark.com/gwbush.com, http://www.georgewbush.com Bush letter to F.E.C., etc.: http://rtmark.com/bush.html Each week, thousands of people seeking information on probable Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, Jr. type "gwbush" into their web browsers and end up at http://www.gwbush.com/. Bush has tried hard for weeks to shut down the rogue site, which parodies Bush's official http://www.georgewbush.com/ and discusses his past cocaine use, as well as parodying U.S. politics in general. Bush's legal efforts began April 14 with a cease-and-desist letter claiming that gwbush.com violated copyright laws. Shortly thereafter, on May 10, Time Magazine reported that the Bush campaign had just purchased sixty additional domain names, including bushbites.com and bushsux.org, in an apparent attempt at damage control. Bush's most recent effort is a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission that may have widespread implications for free speech on the internet. gwbush.com is owned by Zack Exley, a Boston computer consultant. Most of the content on the website was provided by RTMARK, a group that specializes in calling attention to corporate subversion of the U.S. political and electoral process. gwbush.com is listed as an unofficial Bush campaign site in Yahoo! and elsewhere. Bush's latest legal effort against gwbush.com, a complaint filed May 3 with the Federal Elections Commission, asserts that Exley has violated election laws by not registering as a political committee, and urges that the site's "fair market value" puts the endeavor well over the $1000 threshold that defines a political committee under election law. (At one point, Bush's counsel had asked Exley at what price he would sell his domains, which also include gwbush.org and gbush.org; Exley quoted $350,000.) The F.E.C. case may set a legal precedent in the area of internet speech in electoral campaigns. One F.E.C. employee, who preferred not to be identified, said the commission has recently established a "special inquiry committee" to discuss possible regulation of sites such as gwbush.com. "George W. Bush Jr. apparently thinks small-time folk should have to register with the government before exercising free speech on the internet," said Rita Mae Rakoczi, a lawyer and RTMARK representative. "The implications of such a precedent could be quite serious." RTMARK and Mr. Exley represent the unlikely kind of collaboration the internet makes possible. Mr. Exley is a computer consultant to the Boston financial sector, and describes himself as "a Christian who loathes hypocrisy." RTMARK is primarily devoted to anti-corporate activism, and counts the very companies that Mr. Exley works for as some of its targets. By reserving the domain names, Exley initially hoped to sell them back to the Bush camp for a small profit. That changed, however, when he read news articles that discussed Bush's refusal to deny past cocaine use. His interest in the matter has since escalated into something of a crusade. "Bush won't deny he used cocaine, yet hundreds of thousands of people are serving very long sentences for equivalent or lesser crimes, including many in Texas [where Bush is governor]. Clinton just got away with perjury while a hundred people are in jail for that crime. Do we want our children to learn that a crime is only a crime if you don't have power?" Exley first invited RTMARK to provide content for gwbush.com after hearing about their "franchise" program, in which the group provides a tailor-made thematic website to anyone with an appropriate domain. According to RTMARK spokesperson Ray Thomas, "Bush himself was originally a secondary issue for us. We just wanted to use gwbush.com as a platform to make various points about how corporations have subverted and sabotaged the political and electoral process, and hoped it could illustrate the low level to which campaigning has sunk. The more Bush has tried to get in our way, however, the more we've chosen to make the site a direct attack on his 'stealth' presidential campaign, and the worse that makes it for Bush." (RTMARK's first version of gwbush.com is now archived at http://rtmark.com/gwbush.com/.) While the controversy surrounding http://www.gwbush.com/ represents the first time RTMARK has been drawn into political conflict, clumsy legal actions are nothing new to RTMARK. In April of last year, for example, Geffen and BMG Music wrote RTMARK and Illegal Art letters demanding they cease distribution of Deconstructing Beck, a CD of music made entirely from samples of Beck recordings. Those letters (posted at http://rtmark.com/lawletters.html) helped RTMARK draw widespread attention to issues of fair use and copyright law with what had begun as an obscure release with a very limited audience. The full text of the Bush lawyer's letter to the F.E.C., his cease-and-desist letter, and other materials can be found at http://rtmark.com/bush.html. The pages of http://www.gwbush.com/ that deal specifically with Bush's cocaine use can be found at http://www.gwbush.com/bushpramnesty.html and http://www.gwbush.com/bushq3.html. For more on Bush's domain-name buying frenzy, see http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990513/bn8.html. RTMARK (http://rtmark.com/) uses its limited liability as a corporation to sponsor the sabotage of mass-produced products. One of RTMARK's ultimate aims is to eliminate the principle of limited liability. Occasionally, as with http://www.gwbush.com/, RTMARK participates in advocacy directly related to issues of corporate abuses of the political process. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a press release, not a commercial solicitation. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 26, 1999 BUSH REQUESTS "LIMITS TO FREEDOM" Internet bites Bush: Not news. Bush bites Internet: News! Contact: Ray Thomas (mailto:bushinfo@rtmark.com) Zack Exley (mailto:zackexley@yahoo.com) The satirical website GWBush.com has received several million hits since a press conference Friday at which Texas governor and probable presidential candidate George W. Bush called its owner "a garbage man" and said "There ought to be limits to freedom." The outburst followed two separate attempts by Bush campaign attorneys to shut down the site. (For coverage of the comments, please visit the press archive at http://gwbush.com/.) Those behind GWBush.com--a Boston computer consultant named Zack Exley, and RTMARK--ascribe their site's newfound notoriety to the interesting nature of Bush's words themselves, and also to the ease and speed with which ordinary people can make their voices heard on the Internet. The statement, besides being broadcast on television and reprinted in hundreds of newspapers in the U.S. and abroad, immediately became a hot topic of discussion on the Internet. According to RTMARK spokesperson Ray Thomas, "Anyone at all can now compete for attention with huge, wealthy corporations--or with well-funded candidates. Bush's 'limits to freedom' quote is interesting because it reflects the (usually unspoken) desire of certain market segments to suppress this potential of the Internet." "The Internet has amplified the voice of the ordinary citizen," said Exley. "This web site is only two months old and cost only $210, yet we already have more readers than many major political magazines. Americans are excited about this new power and freedom, and they will distrust a candidate who says he wants to limit that freedom." Bush's statement was the latest in a series of widely-reported gaffes related to GWBush.com. Here follows a blow-by-blow account of the action: 1. The Bush campaign fails to reserve permutations of Bush's name, and in December of 1998 Zack Exley purchases GWBush.com, GWBush.org and GBush.org. 2. Upon noticing GWBush.com, with content by RTMARK and Exley, Bush campaign advisor Karl Rove belatedly scrambles to reserve up to 260 'bush'-related domain names (Bush campaign accounts of the actual number vary). When this frenzy becomes a running joke on the internet, Bush spokespeople claim the names were reserved in the summer of 1998. (Internic records available to the public reveal that the domains names were in fact reserved two months after Exley reserved his.) 3. Bush attorney Benjamin Ginsberg sends Exley a cease-and-desist letter, and shortly afterward registers a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission. 4. The Bush campaign tells press interested in the above situation that GWBush.com contains click-throughs to pornography sites. RTMARK and Exley are inundated with emails from frustrated visitors seeking pictures of nude women. (Note: GWBush.com has never contained nor linked to pornographic images of any kind.) 5. The Bush campaign tells press that GWBush.com is deceptive. (Meanwhile, the Bush campaign uses the negative domain names it has bought--bushblows.com, bushsux.org, etc.--to point unsuspecting Internet users to the official campaign website.) 6. Governor Bush himself lashes out at GWBush.com at a televised press conference, calling the site's owner "a garbage man" and saying "There ought to be limits to freedom." The quote is widely reported and becomes a hot topic of discussion on the Internet. 7. Domain name speculators begin snapping up other names related to the Bush campaign, like gwcocainejr.com, bush-lite.com, and cokeisbush.com. GWBush.com itself has so far reserved justsayyestobush.com, fantasticbush.com, bushisnicelydressed.org, and about a dozen others. For more about GWBush.com, including a partial press archive and letters from visitors, please visit the site itself. RTMARK (http://rtmark.com/) uses its limited liability as a corporation to sponsor the sabotage of mass-produced products. One of RTMARK's ultimate aims is to eliminate the principle of limited liability. Occasionally, as with http://www.gwbush.com/, RTMARK participates in advocacy directly related to issues of corporate abuses of the political process. ________________________________________________________________________________ no copyright 1999 rolux.org - no commercial use without permission. is a moderated mailing list for the advancement of minor criticism. more information: mail to: majordomo@rolux.org, subject line: , message body: info. further questions: mail to: rolux-owner@rolux.org. archive: http://www.rolux.org