<nettime> WTO freaked out by costume

[Yes Yes Yes <yes@theyesmen.org>]

Hi there! We run http://www.gatt.org/. Here's what the WTO--that's the
World Trade Organization, of course--has been saying about us on their
front page at http://www.wto.org/:

	"Warning: Fake WTO website - http://www.gatt.org - deceitful
	and a nuisance to serious users"

They go on to describe how gatt.org interferes with "serious users"
looking for "genuine information"
(http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news01_e/gattdotorg_e.htm):

We think the WTO is acting just a little bit paranoid, don't you? After
all, this is less than TEN DAYS before the start of the WTO's big hooplah
in Doha, Qatar.

Maybe they're nervous--in Qatar, any form of protest is strictly illegal,
and VERY heavily punishable (depending on the King's mood). How will
people react when the first hundred protesters get their heads chopped
clean off? Morocco doesn't like that sort of extremism, and neither do
France or Nepal. Lots of beheaded peaceniks is likely to annoy almost
everyone!

Funny thing, the WTO acted this way just before Seattle as well:
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres99_e/pr151_e.htm . It probably is
just a bad case of nerves.

See you on the chopping block!

Your friends at http://theyesmen.org/


p.s. Here is the text of the WTO's Halloween news item:

	WTO NEWS: 2001 NEWS ITEMS
	30 October 2001
	Warning: fake WTO website
	 
	A fake WTO website - http://www.gatt.org - has been created 
	to deceive Internet users by copying the entire official WTO
	website. While the design is identical, the texts have been
	distorted. The fake site also uses the email address
	enquiries@gatt.org

	The use of WTO designs, logos and materials is strictly
	unauthorized. Worse, some pages on the fake website could
	cause unsuspecting visitors to reveal their email addresses
	and other information to the site's operators. The fake site
	could also be picked up by search engines, a nuisance for
	serious users looking for genuine information.

	The only official WTO site is www.wto.org.

(In an e-mail sent today to subscribers, they went even further, claiming
"it uses a form which will reveal your e-mail address to the fake site's
operators, who may then make use of it to send you misinformation in the
name of the WTO.")





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