Interestingly enough, when I searched “corporate censorship” the first result also involved Disney.
On the site, blogger and media critic “Spocko” took issue with on-air comments made by right-wing talk show hosts at Bay Area ABC affiliate radio station KSFO. He posted audio files of hosts’ comments on his Web site, and also began a letter-writing campaign that, he says, resulted in advertisers fleeing the station.
But Tuesday, Spocko’s Internet service provider, 1&1 Internet, pulled the plug on the blog–a move prompted by a Dec. 22 cease-and-desist letter from ABC Radio claiming that material on Spocko’s Brain violated Disney’s copyright.
It is already becoming difficult for a blog to link to and use information on other sites. We don’t need companies using the rules not to prevent IP theft, but to stifle criticism.
related link:
Disney-Sucks.com
This kind of thing needs to happen more.
I hope this results in similar efforts in every city and town polluted by the rantings of Limbaugh and Savage.
I understand Disney is also in the process of developing a MySpace knockoff, too. Regrettably, part of my family is consumed with mouse worship — a fact that has left me with more ethical qualms about Disney than Microsoft.
Somebody should send Spocko a copy of Harlan Ellison’s “Stalking the Nightmare”.
Nobody f***s with the mouse.
I still have nightmares of my Disney trip, super fat Americains eating smoked turkey legs on their tiny (by comparison) 3 wheeled electric carts.
I saw the worlds fattest kids there. Never went to Houston or Dallas, though.
Also the feeling of being ripped off seeing so many people with fast passes I know for a fact that they did not pick-up at the FP machines. They had them on the bus before entering the park.
The best was when it was raining, then it was easy to move around and not as hot (was there in early August).
One thing positive, the staff must be extremely well paid and well trained, to endure what I saw.
The funniest was Canada at Epcot, where you can buy maple sirup and 50x the price I pay locally. Both girls were from out west so never even been at a maple shack…
The haunted mansion and pirate cove was disappointing, you could see the decay in the models even though we were moving way too fast.
Oh, Disney Media services? Geez, have nothing positive to say.
#3 I saw the worlds fattest kids there. Never went to Houston or Dallas, though.
What is in Houston or Dallas?
One thing positive, the staff must be extremely well paid and well trained, to endure what I saw.
That’s a nice theory 🙂
I live within the broadcast area of KSFO. The station is truly vile and I’m amazed Spocko had a strong enough stomach to listen to it. The morning hosts find it amusing to laugh about torturing prisoners and killing people (not just “terrorists”, but also journalists disloyal to the Bush administration). May the advertisers continue to abandon that radio station.
Sometimes the bad publicity will generate change. The censoring is the worst form of bad news.
It cost McDonalds tens of millions of dollars to win a libel suit in England they have no chance on collecting. That is what can be counted. What couldn’t be counted is the lost sales. Today, McDonalds has gone to great lengths to clean up their image and practices. They may not be perfect yet, but they are a lot better.
#6
Except over the long haul, the food is still horribly unhealthy and slowly killing people who eat it.
#7, True. McDonald’s has stopped purchasing chicken from farmers that clip the beaks or over crowd their chickens. It costs more but but is better for the chickens. They also are careful about buying beef from feedlots that practice good waste management. They have reduced the use of Styrofoam immensely in favor of biodegradable paper. They have (supposedly) reduced the amount of salt they use.
Not perfect by a long shot, but a big improvement over 1990. I understand that Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC still practice the older lowest price purchasing model.
The food might still be bad for you, but it is bad in a more environmentally friendly manner.