Imagine your surprise upon calling up the Web site for what you
think is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Lo and
behold, you're a visitor of the People Eating Tasty Animals site, a
resource for people who enjoy eating meat, wearing fur and leather,
hunting and are supportive of animal research.
It's easy enough to click out, and move on, but the whole
experience may leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.
Surprisingly, the real PETA is not raising hairs over the
so-called guerilla Web site.
"If nothing else, this other Web site benefits us greatly.
Imitation is the greatest form of flattery," said Steven Ragland,
spokesperson for PETA. "This is the best PR for us, someone showing
little compassion for animals, makes our message even stronger."
Ragland said the organization is "thrilled with all of the
attention PETA has gotten because of it." The dispute has been covered
in Editor & Publisher, The Netly News and various newspapers across
the country.
The Internet may be best compared to the Wild West with its
freewheeling access, "anything goes" attitude and its lack of
hierarchy -- Web bandits can air grievances, spread rumors and spoof
official Web sites and get the same amount of attention with the
world-wide Internet audience of 200 million as a Fortune 500
corporation can.
Independent anti-corporate Web sites are blossoming on the Web.
For example, by typing "Anti-Microsoft" you'll find more than a dozen
sites whose sole purpose is to spread negative publicity about
Microsoft. And if you just type in "Microsoft," Bill Gates's
opposition is listed.
"Just about any Tom, Dick or Harry can create a Web site. That is
the beauty of the Web--it is unencumbered, free of barriers to
access," said Lynn Hinkle, president of Astra Communications, a
marketing and communication firm in Topeka, Kansas. "It is the
greatest equalizer, here David and Goliath would have the same
opportunities."
But many times you don't even have to search for a negative site:
when you type in the search word IBM on Yahoo, for example, you get an
ad for IBM (I Bought a Mac) T-shirts; for Candyland board game, the
Web site is a striptease site for the sophisticated male; and for
PETA, you get People Eating Tasty Animals.
By taking advantage of domain name registration policies,
peripheral Web site creators are beating slow-acting corporate
communicators to the virtual punch by grabbing their domain names. The
courts have not ruled yet whether domain names can be linked to
trademarks; a current court case involving Warner Bros. and Roadrunner
Computer System may set the precedent for that. In that case, Warner
is seeking to have Roadrunner change its domain name of Roadrunner.com
since Roadrunner is a Warner Bros. character.
Some organizations, however, are staying out of the courtroom.
PETA, for example, has filed a dispute resolution with InterNIC, the
company responsible for assigning domain names on the Internet.
Mike Doughney, editor of the People Eating Tasty Animals site,
however plans to fight for his domain name. He claims his right to
free speech has been infringed by the dispute.
"The tasty animals Web page has been recognized as a work of
political satire and commentary. Does PETA really wish the U.S.
Government to deny me my right to speak? Is this the image that their
organization wishes to present to the public?," wrote Doughney in a
public rebuttal on his Web site.
Doughney may be right. According to Gary Weinstein, an
intellectual property attorney with Faegre & Benson Professional
Limited Liability Partnership in Minneapois, aside from domain name,
copyright, trademark, satire or false advertising disputes, guerilla
web sites have the right to exist on the web.
"As long as you don't violate principles of free speech, anything
goes on the Web," he said. "It's the nature of the beast."
(Real sites: PETA, http://envirolink.org/arrs/peta/index. html;
IBM, http://www.ibm.com; and Microsoft, http://www. microsoft.com)