Edmonton Journal protest coverage
pwe...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
Edmonton Journal, Sat. Nov. 16, 1996 Page C2
Millenium Under Siege, and Starting One
--Richard Helm
It's been quite a week for Millenium, Fox's dark new dramatic
series.
Not only does it have Canadian anti-violence advocates after its
hide, it's now in trouble in cyberspace.
First, a little persrective on the advertising boycott being
organized by the Coalition for Responsible Television against Millenium
and Poltergeist: The Legacy. As reported here earlier, the three Ontario
firms that allegedly pulled their commercials from the offending programs
had never actually purchased commercial time on either show.
The good people at Eaton's, Leon's Furnature, and the Ontario
Lottery Corp. just wanted it freely advertised that they'd never dream of
purchasing commercial space on those shows, if they are indeed as horrible
as the coalition says they are.
And going by the coalition, they're pretty horrible. Patricia
Herdman, the coalition's co-president, says Millenium is the worst
possible fare for children. Which of course it would be, if that were
it's intended audience (it is not.)
She also fears the show may become a how-to-guide for would-be
serial killers, mentioning in the same breath that Paul Bernardo's viewing
habits have never been fully disclosed.
The level of rhetoric here is pretty alarming, particularly when
you consider that Millenium is by most accounts - critics', viewers',
advertisers' - a pretty good show; and Poltergeist, an egregiously lame
one that will inevutably fall soon enough into the CTV dumpster.
Then again, this is the same coalition that two years ago
denounced Saturday TV wrestling as "child abuse."
Last night came proof that all those creative psychopaths behind
Millenium aren't completely lacking in the essential social graces. Out
of respect for Chicago's Joseph Cardinal Barnardin, senior U.S. prelate in
the Roman Catholic Church, who died Tuesday of cancer, Fow opted not to
show its scheduled episode. It was to have dealt with a serial killer who
ritually slays religious leaders.
Instead, Fox slotted in another episode about an ex-con who exacts
bloody revenge on officials in the justice system.
A subtle gesture, I realize, but still...
And now to cyberspace, where Millenium and its proprietary network
overlord is whipping up something of a freedom of speech firestorm.
Thanks to Edmonton web surfer Victor Chan, a member of the
Internet's vast X-Phile community, who tipped me to this dispute this
week.
Turns out Fox is beginning to send out intimidating e-mail to
online fans of Chris Carter's newest show, ordering them to shut down
their unofficial web sites. Fox legal advisors say what's at issue id the
use of pirated copyrighted information and images and the credibility of
the network's official Millenium site.
Chan, a 24-year-old civil engineering grad now editing webs for
the provincial government, has a vested interest in this emerging purge
because in his spare time he runs a couple of X-Files sites. At last
count there are more than 900 unofficial sites out there dedicated to The
X-Files, Carter's original show and still Fox's biggest hit series.
Chan fears the Millenium campaign is just the beginning.
"I think they're going to start to go after all their popular
properties, and X-Files would probably be the next," he said.
"It just sort of flies in the face of what the fans have done for
the show. In the beginning they turned a blind eye besically to the fact
that we were trying to promote it when the ratings weren't as good as they
are now."
"Now that it's popular and they don't seem to need that kind of
momentum any more it's like, 'Thank you, we'll be taking contral of our
property now.'"
Chan's sites, like dozens of others I've dropped into, are labors
of love by fans proclaiming their devotion to the show. They're not out
there for commercial gain; these people are not making money from the
copied words and images on their sites.
Apart from the sheer magnitude of the policing exercise, you have
to question whether all the aggressive legal tactics, and the insult they
represent to fans, might backfire.
Since Fox successfully tore down the first Millenium site,
constucted by a fan at the University of Texas at El Paso, an online
protest mounted from an electronic mailing list of X-Files fans has
bombarded the network with e-mail.
"They have their legal rights," Chan says, "but it's disappointing
to see a big company like that take on the public in this manner, with
such a heavy hand."
I would like to personally thank Victor Chan for bringing this to the
attention of the media.
--The Paulverizer
Clint Bradford
>>...Eaton's, Leon's Furnature, and the Ontario Lottery Corp. ...
Are close-minded, simplistic little companies - and sure FOX will not
suffer a cent's damage from not airing their commercials.
>>"I think they're going to start to go after all their popular
>>properties, and X-Files would probably be the next," he said.
And damned well they should crack down on the unauthorized reproduction
of their copyrighted/trademarked logos and themes.
FOX is -not- attempting to shut down discussion groups. They are merely
protecting their legal ownership of copyrighted/trademarked materials.
pwe...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
Clint Bradford (clint.b...@atdbbs.com) wrote:
: And damned well they should crack down on the unauthorized reproduction
: of their copyrighted/trademarked logos and themes.
: FOX is -not- attempting to shut down discussion groups. They are merely
: protecting their legal ownership of copyrighted/trademarked materials.
Then they should have done that right from the beginning instead of
letting the sites grow to promote the show and then shut them down when
they felt that they had outlived their use.
--The Paulverizer
munc...@netcom.com
In article <96111919...@atdbbs.com>,
Clint Bradford <clint.b...@atdbbs.com> wrote:
>And damned well they should crack down on the unauthorized reproduction
>of their copyrighted/trademarked logos and themes.
>
>FOX is -not- attempting to shut down discussion groups. They are merely
>protecting their legal ownership of copyrighted/trademarked materials.
Yeah, and there's such a thing as dying with your rights on. Do they
really think the "protection" of their copyrighted materials (which
protection they *cannot* lose, unlike a trademark) is worth all the
negative publicity this move is generating, both in media and in
cyberspace?
What kills me is that all of this noise and bad feeling could have been
avoided with a simple compromise: post a few GIFs and logos for folks to
download and use with proper attribution on their sites. It's not like
Fox would lose money on the deal: they hand out free media kits to print
journalists and BEG them to print those images, free for nuttin'. The
fact that a simple compromise like granting permission to use a few
specific images was not even considered tells me that this is not a
matter of protection, or even of money. It's a control thing.
****************************************************************
Sarah Stegall*http://www.munchkyn.com/*munc...@netcom.com
I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather,
not screaming in terror like his passengers...
****************************************************************
Starbuck
Gia Gittleson wrote:
>
> I can understand Fox's desire to protect its copyrighted material. Happily, your
> solution represents a win-win scenario: kosher GIFs and logos for fan web sites. It
> seems that (esp. in Gil's case) Fox has taken a stand of no-negociation. Bad marketing
> in my estimation.
>
> Pls note, though, that if X-Philes merely roll over and accept this form of corporate
> hubris, Fox and whatever wax-winged entity basically takes dump on its fans next, the
> big guys win will again. (And, perhaps, that's why they're the big guys and will
> continue to get bigger and bigger and bigger until they have us all zoning out by the
> glow of the TEEVEE in a seemingly-democratic/cashless society.)
>
> Now, oddly enough, the leitmotif of TXF has been Moose vs Goliath in which an erstwhile
> Moose does all he can so shed some high wattage on the big, bad guys' evil doings. Ah,
> this all goes back to my "CC--part of the problem or part of the solution?" post.
>
> best,
> Gia
I had found an address on another web site to send Fox comments (I don't
remember where), so I did. Here's the response I got this morning:
%Fox has no intention of shutting down all of the fan sites, just making
%sure that copyrights aren't violated. So what Fox is doing to remedy the
%situation is first issuing a press release that quells the false rumors
%that Fox is shutting down sites, then Fox will educate the fans on
%copyright issues, sort of a dos and don'ts so fans don't confuse the issue
%with free speech. It'll be a FAQ. Then we will prepare an internet press
%kit of sorts, where people can download photos that are legally cleared for
%use on fan sites. Hopefully this won't take too long. Be patient, we'll
%post all of the information on the official sites so people can find it.
%
%Chris Fusco
%Supervisor of On-Line Production
%Fox Broadcasting Company
It sound like sort of a compromise, *if* it really happens this way.
I can't personally vouch for this Chris guy - except for that he's got a title that's
way cooler than mine (but Wayne's going to teach me how to *hog-tie*) - but I
was surprised that I even got a response.
--
nan
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Scully: "That's impossible. It would take a large python hours to consume and
weeks to digest a human being."
Mulder: "You really do watch the Learning Channel."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gia Gittleson
Thanks for your footwork! If Fox were smart, it would have had this
"Internet Press Kit/FAQ" in place concurrent with the pulling of the
sites. Why invite bad press and ill will when better planning could have
thwarted the wrath of the X-Philes? Then again, maybe the suits at Fox
thought we'd just accept what was dished our way.
best
Gia
-don't blame me, I voted for Moose and Squirrel-
Gia Gittleson
munc...@netcom.com wrote:
> [snippage]
> What kills me is that all of this noise and bad feeling could have been
> avoided with a simple compromise: post a few GIFs and logos for folks to
> download and use with proper attribution on their sites. It's not like
> Fox would lose money on the deal: they hand out free media kits to print
> journalists and BEG them to print those images, free for nuttin'. The
> fact that a simple compromise like granting permission to use a few
> specific images was not even considered tells me that this is not a
> matter of protection, or even of money. It's a control thing.
>
I can understand Fox's desire to protect its copyrighted material. Happily, your
solution represents a win-win scenario: kosher GIFs and logos for fan web sites. It
seems that (esp. in Gil's case) Fox has taken a stand of no-negociation. Bad marketing
in my estimation.
Pls note, though, that if X-Philes merely roll over and accept this form of corporate
hubris, Fox and whatever wax-winged entity basically takes dump on its fans next, the
big guys win will again. (And, perhaps, that's why they're the big guys and will
continue to get bigger and bigger and bigger until they have us all zoning out by the
glow of the TEEVEE in a seemingly-democratic/cashless society.)
Now, oddly enough, the leitmotif of TXF has been Moose vs Goliath in which an erstwhile
Moose does all he can so shed some high wattage on the big, bad guys' evil doings. Ah,
this all goes back to my "CC--part of the problem or part of the solution?" post.
best,
Gia
-urging you all as the ATX WUW to read Mander's "Four Arguments for the Elimination of
Televsion"-
Bernardine
I just saw this post from Starbuck in another thread and wanted to
bring it to everyone's attention, as she notes, there is no way to
verify if the information is true, but no reason to doubt it either
(thanks Starbuck, btw):
Portia
Bernardine and Starbuck forwarded the following message from Fox:
>>%Fox has no intention of shutting down all of the fan sites, just
making %sure that copyrights aren't violated. So what Fox is doing to
remedy the situation is first issuing a press release that quells the
false rumors that Fox is shutting down sites, then Fox will educate the
fans on copyright issues, sort of a dos and don'ts so fans don't
confuse the issue with free speech. It'll be a FAQ. Then we will
prepare an internet press kit of sorts, where people can download
photos that are legally cleared for use on fan sites. Hopefully this
won't take too long. Be patient, we'll post all of the information on
the official sites so people can find it.
>>%
>>%Chris Fusco
>>%Supervisor of On-Line Production
>>%Fox Broadcasting Company
I posted a month ago that Chris was preparing this kit, but he wasn't
clear at that time whether images would definitely be included. It
seems obvious now that they will be. No additional sites have been
targeted since the Millennium premiere over a month ago, despite
rumours that the sky was falling. This lends credibility to Chris'
statement that Fox has no intention of challenging fan sites per se.
Chris runs the XF and Millennium official sites, BTW, and has been very
patient with the deluge of misinformation and rudeness posted to the
discussion areas of those sites.
I know we'll never all agree on this subject, but may I suggest that we
put it in the past and move on, in the interest of X-Ville civic
harmony? I don't think anyone wants us to need a Guard unit to quell
civil unrest. Of course I do want to know the details when the press
release and the kits are issued, but the continued debate over how Fox
*should have* handled this is tiresome and divisive.
Bernardine
por...@ix.netcom.com(Portia) wrote:
<snip>
>I know we'll never all agree on this subject, but may I suggest that we
>put it in the past and move on, in the interest of X-Ville civic
>harmony? I don't think anyone wants us to need a Guard unit to quell
>civil unrest. Of course I do want to know the details when the press
>release and the kits are issued, but the continued debate over how Fox
>*should have* handled this is tiresome and divisive.
The main reason I re-posted Starbuck's article. The problem with
continued discussion has been a lack of qualified information. But I
have to add that this current strategy was an afterthought, and Fox's
original process (legally driven, not promotionally driven) was an
oppressive one and according to information provided by Gil and
others, DID indicate that web-sites in general were a competitive
issue for Fox. It is entirely possible that the discussion and
protest that did ensue was a catalyst for this solution -- so I don't
think that we should categorize the conflict as too overly
non-constructive.
That said, this is the solution I've (and others have) mentioned a few
times, I think it's a best-case scenario, and will work fabulously.
I'm very pleased to see it being executed.
- Bernardine
Stef Davies
Portia writes:
>> Chris runs the XF and Millennium official sites, BTW, and has been very
>> patient with the deluge of misinformation and rudeness posted to the
>> discussion areas of those sites.
I would love to have had the courtesy of a reply when Fox Network had my
web-page suspended last Spring. They instigated the rudeness by the manner
of the suspension and their failure to even bother to reply to my polite
e-mails. So to talk of their 'patience' in this matter is a little
disingenuous. They are responding because of the bad publicity their move
on Gil and other Millenium sites generated - not out of the kindness of
their hearts.
But I do agree it is time to move on if there is indeed a solution which
is livable-with.
_____________________
____________________________________
*I* am the master of my fate;
*I* am the captain of my soul.
____________________________________
bogus...@aol.com
yo're weird looking man