tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19766924.post7715431180944633410..comments2008-11-13T21:02:14.098-05:00Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14485477702193993859noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19766924.post-7527453398393210472008-11-13T21:02:00.000-05:002008-11-13T21:02:00.000-05:00The Times printed a story on it, interestingly in the Arts section. My favorite line were the last two lines: "The statement said that 1.2 million copies were printed, more than the weekday circulation nationwide for real issues of The Times. That number is suspect, if only because of the printing that would be involved."Brettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17329034894134710165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19766924.post-29194209476081831992008-11-13T08:07:00.000-05:002008-11-13T08:07:00.000-05:00Thanks, Jose. There's an AP story today:<BR/><BR/>On behalf of a collective of liberal activists, 1,000 volunteers across the country handed out 1.2 million copies of a spoof of The New York Times, dated July 4, 2009.<BR/><BR/>At first glance, the parody, which used the Times' Gothic-style font on the nameplate, could easily be mistaken for the real thing.<BR/><BR/>The 14-page paper - which also announced the abolition of corporate lobbying, a maximum wage for CEOs and a recall for all gasoline-fueled cars - showed up in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.<BR/><BR/>The pranksters - who include a film promoter, a college teacher, journalists and others - said they wanted to encourage the administration of Democratic President-elect Barack Obama to keeps its promises.<BR/><BR/>The publication was funded by small, online contributions "to maintain the pressure on the people we've elected so they do what we've elected them to do," said a journalist who used the pseudonym Wilfred Sassoon to protect his real job at a newspaper in the New York area.<BR/><BR/>He said he helped create the paper with about 30 other people, many of whom work at New York daily newspapers.<BR/><BR/>Steven Lambert, an editor of the parody who teaches art at New York's Hunter College and Parsons The New School for Design - and gave his real name - said the project was a success.<BR/><BR/>"This really resonated with people on the street," Lambert said. "First, there was a moment of, 'How could this be true?' But then people enjoyed this feeling of, 'Ah, amazing things really could happen!' The paper provides this vision of what's possible if we all work together."<BR/><BR/>Lambert said the team included three New York Times staffers whose names will remain secret. He said the group looked into the legal issues raised by the use of The New York Times nameplate style and believes it is within the bounds of what's known as "fair use" under federal copyright law.<BR/>...<BR/>The group posted a small notice on Craigslist soliciting volunteer writers and others to help. The fake paper was printed at presses around the country and The Yes Men, a New York-based prankster group, provided software and Internet support.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14485477702193993859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19766924.post-72247565135916348252008-11-13T00:47:00.000-05:002008-11-13T00:47:00.000-05:00the yes men. big post on metafilter today with lots of links. they've done some in the past around the WTO and Dow Chemical.josenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19766924.post-17809895093517198772008-11-13T00:12:00.000-05:002008-11-13T00:12:00.000-05:00The domain is registered to a clearly fake name and company -- "Harold Schwepps" of "Ginsu and Treadmill Technologies", located in "Son of Triumph, Pennsylvania."<BR/><BR/>It's hard to imagine that a major nonprofit or advocacy group would be so unofficial as to register their domains with goofy names. Is this a small group of wealthy tricksters?Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14485477702193993859noreply@blogger.com