Use and Abuse of Web Videos - Signed, Anonymous
Former presidential candidate Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" made waves this summer as both a blockbuster hit and a meditation on the state of global warming,
but recently a controversy surrounding the movie surfaced, putting a public affairs/PR firm in the hot seat: A video spoof of Gore's film shown on YouTube.com that was allegedly
created by a 29-year-old Beverly Hills resident identified as "Toutsmith" has been traced back to a computer registered with Washington D.C.-based DCI Group, as originally
reported by the Wall Street Journal. While the PR firm has declined to comment on why press communications with the supposed video maker appear to originate in their office, the
news raised eyebrows all around, especially considering that DCI counts once-environmental-offender ExxonMobil Corporation among its clients. According to the WSJ article: "Dave
Gardner, an Exxon spokesman, confirms that Exxon is a client of DCI. But he says Exxon had no role in creating the 'Inconvenient Truth' spoof."