<nettime> WTO: creating confusion (2x)

["nettime's_WTO_reporter" <nettime-l@bbs.thing.net>]

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Paper gets wrapped up in WTO protest

by Charles E. Brown
Seattle Times staff reporter

The World Trade Organization protest has found its way not just into the
news, but into the news boxes.

At some news boxes in the Seattle area this morning, copies of today's
Seattle Post-Intelligencer were found wrapped with a counterfeit four-page
section. The front page displayed a top story with the headline: "Boeing to
move overseas."

While it was unknown how widespread the tampering was, the bogus wraps were
found in at least three locations, and a reader reported finding another at
a news box at the Vashon Island ferry terminal.

The knockoff identified itself as "Seattle Post Intelligence" - with the "r"
left off.

Other stories on the fake front page carried such headlines as "Clinton
pledges help for poorest nations," "Monsanto patents food chain,"
"Economists fear global epidemic of underpollution," and "WTO Director power
grab."

Atop the front page were teasers - "Congress Scraps One F22," "Mumia Freed,"
and "Jordon(sic) gives Nike the boot" - with references to inside pages. A
listing of upcoming WTO protest events dominates the back page.

"We have yet to find a Seattle Times with the fake wrap. But it doesn't mean
they're not out there," said Mike Sheehan, home-delivery manager for The
Times. Sheehan said it appeared the P-I's flag had been scanned in, omitting
the final "r."

"It looks like the P.I.," he said. "It's very well done."

Adding the wraps to the regular paper would not be a daunting task, he said.
"Once you open the (news) box, you could just get all of the papers out and
redo them. So it would cost you 50 cents a box."

Sheehan said the company's drivers placing copies of The Times in news boxes
today would be on the lookout for phony pages. "We've alerted our drivers,
and called some of our dealers," he said.

Charles E. Brown's phone: 206-464-2206. E-mail: cbrown@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 1999 The Seattle Times Company



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[from lbo-talk]

Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 21:48:35 -0500
From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood@panix.com>
Subject: WTO web stuff

The WTO summit site official site is at <http://heva.wto-ministerial.org/>.
On that site, WTO boss Mike Moore complains about the impostors that are
"undermining WTO transparency." These include: <http://www.gatt.org/>
(a product of <http://rtmark.com/>) and <http://www.seattlewto.org/>.
Says Moore  <http://heva.wto-ministerial.org/english/press_e/press151.htm>:

>PRESS RELEASE
>Press/151
>
>WTO DG Moore deplores fake WTO websites: They "undermine WTO transparency"
>23 November 1999
>
>
>WTO Director-General Mike Moore has severely criticized
>recently-created websites which mimic the WTO's websites and create
>confusion among the public. He says the WTO welcomes criticism and
>change, but is concerned that the confusion created by the fake
>sites with their misleading Internet links is a disservice to the
>public. This could disrupt a much-needed debate by making WTO
>information more difficult to obtain.
>
>This is the text of his statement:
>
>"I am deeply concerned about the recent appearance of anonymous
>websites which copy important design features of the WTO's official
>websites. This causes confusion among visitors looking for genuine
>information from the WTO, disrupting a much-needed democratic
>dialogue. It's illegal and it's unfair to those who have a genuine
>case in criticizing the WTO, an organization that only functions
>with the authority of sovereign governments.
>
>"By creating confusion, the fake websites are interfering with the
>public's ability to obtain information from the WTO. They have
>copied the WTO website's design, and they use domain names such as
>'www.gatt.org' and page titles such as 'World Trade Organization /
>GATT Home Page' which make it difficult for visitors to realize that
>these are fake pages. Whereas the WTO uses the image of the official
>logo of the WTO Ministerial Conference as a hyperlink to the
>official conference website, these fake sites use it to link to
>anti-WTO material - further misleading web users.
>
>"The WTO and its members uphold the rights of others to criticize
>and comment on WTO affairs, including the right to protest publicly.
>The WTO is, after all, a forum for governments to debate and
>negotiate trade issues, reflecting the various concerns and
>interests of their citizens.
>
>"Confusing the public is another matter. Contrary to critics'
>allegations, the WTO is highly transparent. The WTO website already
>contains over 60,000 official documents in the three official
>languages (English, French and Spanish), including minutes of
>meetings, and some 200,000 visitors per month download the
>equivalent of millions of pages of documents in addition to browsing
>regular web pages. The vast majority of these documents are released
>to the public immediately and the rest are derestricted within about
>six months. The WTO Secretariat receives and replies to thousands of
>enquiries each week by telephone and email, a large number coming
>through the WTO website, either directly by email or via the contact
>telephone numbers on the website.
>
>"Those who wish to see the WTO become more transparent should join
>me in deploring any action which makes it more difficult for the
>public to gain access to WTO information. It's ironic that while the
>WTO is accused of lacking transparency, some critics who put out
>misleading or false information are camouflaging their identities.

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