Yes Men: Exxon "Hacks" The Yes Men Vivoleum Site

[Hissyspit]

Via E-mail:

June 28, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EXXON HACKS THE YES MEN
Yes Men badly need sysadmin, server co-location

Contact: mailto:[email protected]

One day after the Yes Men made a joke announcement that ExxonMobil
plans to turn billions of climate-change victims into a brand-new
fuel called Vivoleum, the Yes Men's upstream internet service
provider shut down Vivoleum.com, the Yes Men's spoof website, and cut
off the Yes Men's email service, in reaction to a complaint whose
source they will not identify. The provider, Broadview Networks, also
made the Yes Men remove all mention of Exxon from TheYesMen.org
before they'd restore the Yes Men's email service.

The Yes Men assume the complainant was Exxon. "Since parody is
protected under US law, Exxon must think that people seeing the site
will think Vivoleum's a real Exxon product, not just a parody," said
Yes Man Mike Bonanno. "Exxon's policies do already contribute to
150,000 climate-change related deaths each year," added Yes Man Andy
Bichlbaum. "So maybe it really is credible. What a resource!"

After receiving the complaint June 15, Broadview added a "filter"
that disabled the Vivoleum.com IP address (64.115.210.59), and
furthermore prevented email from being sent from the Yes Men's
primary IP address (64.115.210.58). Even after all Exxon logos were
removed from both sites and a disclaimer was placed on Vivoleum.com
on Tuesday, Broadview would still not remove the filter. (The
disclaimer read: "Although Vivoleum is not a real ExxonMobil program,
it might as well be.")

Broadview did restore both IPs on Wednesday, after the Vivoleum.com
website was completely disabled and all mention of Exxon was removed
from TheYesMen.org.

While this problem is temporarily resolved, the story is far from
over. Meanwhile, though, two bigger problems loom, for which we're
asking your help:

1. THE YES MEN'S SERVER NEEDS A NEW HOME.

Broadview Networks provides internet connectivity to New York's
Thing.net and the websites and servers it hosts, including the Yes
Men's server. Thing.net has been a host for many years to numerous
activist and artist websites and servers.

At the end of July, Thing.net will terminate its contract with
Broadview and move its operations to Germany, where internet
expression currently benefits from a friendlier legal climate than in
the US, and where baseless threats by large corporations presumably
have less weight with providers. At that time, the Yes Men and two
other organizations with servers "co-located" at Thing.net will need
a new home for those servers. Please write to us if you can offer
such help or know of someone who can.

2. THE YES MEN NEED A SYSADMIN.

The Yes Men are desperately in need of a sysadmin. The position is
unpaid at the moment, but it shouldn't take much time for someone who
knows Debian Linux very well. It involves monitoring the server,
keeping it up-to-date, making sure email is working correctly, etc.
The person could also maintain the Yes Men's website (which will be
updated next week), if she or he wants.

Thing.net also needs a sysadmin: someone living in New York who knows
Linux well. The Thing.net position involves some money and the
rewards of working for an organization that has consistently and at
great personal risk supported groups like the Yes Men over the years.

THE YES MEN AND THING.NET THANK YOU!

[Book Lover]

1. K&R

Any angels out there? The Yes Men do holy work...

[twenty4blackbirds]

2. k&r n/t

[emlev]

3. k&R

[Richard Steele]

4. Can we call it fascism YET, dammit? K&R

[northofdenali]

5. Hey, Exxon? Remember you still owe Alaska about 7 billion??

Just a portion of your 1st quarter profits for this year, but yeah, the really broke folks that you fucked up with your little Valdez caper (remember that idiot that drove a 125,000 deadweight ton tanker into a reef? because he was drunk? remember?) -

FUCK YOU EXXON. AND THE FUCKING HORSE YA'LL RODE IN ON. And anyone who works for you, develops ads for you, runs any kind of marketing for you -

You'll get yours.

[tbyg52]

6. According to Palast, that's not exactly the way it happened

although it was still certainly Exxon's fault.

http://www.gregpalast.com/dont-buy-exxons-fable-of-the-drunken-captain/

On Wednesday, March 24, the Tenth Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez disaster was commemorated with the re-telling of lies. The official story is, “Drunken Skipper Hits Reef.” Don’t believe it.

This story remains untold: the true cause of the Exxon Valdez catastrophe was the oil giants’ breaking their promises to the Natives and Congress, cynically and disastrously, in the fifteen years leading up to the spill. As to Captain Joe Hazelwood, he was below decks, sleeping off his bender. At the helm, the third mate would never have collided with Bligh Reef had he looked at his Raycas radar. But the radar was not turned on. In fact, the tanker’s radar was left broken
and disasbled for more than a year before the disaster, and Exxon management knew it. It was just too expensive to fix and operate.

[formercia]

7. Standard Oil is their original name

the name may have changed, but the methods remain the same.