LATEST PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Berlin/Vienna, November 07, 2000, 3 am CET
Vote-auction announces END-RESULTS
Below is the latest press release by [V]ote-auction: http://62.116.31.68 http://www.voteauction.at http://www.voteauction.de [formerly Vote-auction.com and Voteauction.com]. You can also find this press release at http://62.116.31.68/pr.htm For any further information feel free to contact pr@[62.116.31.68] or in urgent cases call our ubermorgen.com hotlines berlin +49-175-2066954 vienna +43 676 9300061
[V] Intro
[V]ote-auction, the election industry leader, is proud to annnounce the end-results of the grand - or, perhaps more accurately, notorious - [V]ote-auction GAME. Many participants acted as if they had actually considered it a real business; in fact, it was indeed a real-life game for voters who finally had found a way to think about what their vote is worth on the free market; and to themselves. For us, the operators, it turned out to be less of a action- service and more of a legal rollercoaster.
[V] Game? Street Theatre? Comic? Business?
Lots has been said about how to distinguish between a real business and a cartoon in a sunday newspaper: http://www.cnn.com/video/burden/2000/10/24/show.rm80.ram Most of these nice sayings are true for the offline world - but on the net, things are different. Whether or not one likes it, the net is NOT a commercial playground a priori. It is an open space for ANY communication needs between any people. If you think it is hard to know for sure if our site was a game or a business, well, then that's a good lesson you have learned. Try any web-site and try to check out if they are for "real", here a small test-environment: http://yesrudy.com http://gatt.org http://rtmark.com/gwbush/ http://www.fpo.at http://www.microsoft.com There is no last page with cartoons on the net. That is why it is called an interlinked system and not a book. You'd better learn the differenciate now! If not, you might fall for a real prank one day!
[V] Who is suing whom?
Legal platform coming soon: http://www.ipnic.org < the nic is the content is the user is the net > Here an excerpt of the current situation: . Massachussetts is suing vote-auction and our providers reason: "selling votes" status: injunction order . Missouri is suing vote-auction and our providers reason: "false promises to consumers" status: injunction order . Chicago Board of Elections is suing vote-auction and our providers reason: "selling and buying of votes" status: injunction order . Various "investigations" by Attorney Generals reason: diverse status: unknown . [V]ote-auction is suing CORE in switzerland reason: breach of contract, damages, denial of service status: preparation It seems that we are witnessing the birth of a new sub-genre of action-art: DIGITAL LEGAL ART. Appearantly it is even not so much the end-user in front of the terminal to whom we appeal most, but the people in U.S. legal offices... very sexy! Nevertheless, we are sure that the cases will be dropped, as it will be obvious, even to the legal folk, that there are people out there buying and selling votes - but that it is not us. We just gave you the showcase. The real dealers do their businesses quite openly in Washington. Vive la difference!
[V] Campaigning for our rights
We would like to thank our partners for giving us the support we need and enjoy. To those who despise us: Thank you also! We regard negative and positive feedback alike as active support and intelligent modes of communication. To those who think that we have now given up: Come on! We have all had our fun. Now, let's face reality. The net is, at the time, NOT a free place. It is directly and indirectly controlled by U.S. courts of all names. The root zone is basically owned by the U.S. Ministry of Commerce [well, then maybe the Chicago Board of Elections should have sued the Ministry of Commerce]. If they decide to halt the internet tomorrow, then it is Nike time - they just do it! Cynical? No. Realistic. Or should ICANN bring Capitalism and DemoCRAZY closer together? Or maybe even CORE? So... if you dont get help from us, please get help somewhere!
[V] What is new on the Site
We have opened our site and data to the public, so everyone can see for him or herself what is happening. Feel free to access the user database - and do not be surprised to find no personal data. Asking for data at the frontdesk does not necessarily imply storing it in the backoffice... What you can find is the socio-demographics of everybody who dared to play [V]ote-auction. If you ask yourself if the numbers are real - that is an intelligent question - but has never been answered on the net. Neither can we answer it. You will have to be quick to access the site - we will put it into real legal context by November 8th. When the game is over, the players have to go home!
[V] Statistics [Nov. 7th 2000, 3am CET]
[] polls International poll: 63.3% gore 14.3% bush 22.4% nader National poll: 45.0% gore 44.1% bush 10.9% nader Vote-auction legal or illegal: 75.3% legal 09.4% illegal 15.3% dont know Would you rather go voting if you got paied for it: 70.0% yes 30.0% no [] Global media quick-stats Topic: numbers % Mailingslists/newsgroups: 13,765 articles 75% Online-magazines: 898 articles 19% Print-magazines: 258 articles 03% Print-newspapers: 812 articles 24% TV-segments: 147 reports 03% Radio-segments: 231 reports 05% Press-archive under: http://62.116.31.68/news.htm [] Supporter quick-stats Emails received in the last 9 days 2451 Support sites 213 Attorneys offering their services 11 [] Legal quick-stats Civil-lawsuits filed against [V]ote-auction and related individuals and companies 18 General Attorney investigations running 15 Lawsuits by vote-auction against corenic.org 01 Legal documents received by postal services or via Fax [approx. 250 pounds] 112 kg
[V] Credits
James Baumgartner ubermorgen.com RTMark.com SILVER SERVER / sil.at enemy.org joker.com hell.com thinkfactory.de pixelmassaker.com cnn.com etoyACTION.com ACLU.org For a list of support web-sites http://62.116.31.68/news.htm#support
[V] Final note
We wish all 3 candidates the best of luck for Election Day, and may the guy with the best looks - oops, sorry, the best ideas and intentions - win. Goodbye to you, you have been a great audience!
For the Vote-auction team: lizvlx hans the-woman-behind the guy who gets sued [V]ote-auction
PLEASE NOTE: If you want to access Vote-auction via web or mail, please be sure to use the correct domain: pr@[62.116.31.68] http://62.116.31.68 http://www.voteauction.at / .de We will not be able to receive messages sent to any of the old addresses. Thank you.
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