FC: Gatt.org pranksters are back: WTO announces it will dissolve

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Politech archive on the gatt.org pranksters' earlier exploits:
http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=gatt

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Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 20:18:37 -0400
To: declan () well com
From: Keith Dawson <dawson () world std com>
Subject: A WTO hoax
Cc: jonathan () killyourtv com

Hi Declan -- This morning I received a press release apparently from the
communications office of the WTO, with the headline: WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATION WILL DISBAND, REFOUND UNDER NEW CHARTER. It's posted at [1].

The press release claimed:

  > As of September, agreements reached under the WTO will be
  > suspended pending ratification by the new organization,
  > tentatively referred to as the Trade Regulation Organization
  > ... Existing agreements ... each will be subject to individual
  > review for compliance with the TRO's charter, which is based
  > upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Disbanding for humanitarian reasons sounded quite unlike any WTO I had
ever heard of. A little examination fingered the press release as a hoax.
Further investigation revealed that it is an unusually well put-together
hoax.

In the past, the culture jamming groups The Yes Men and RTMark have
acknowledged responsibility for WTO hacks originating at gatt.org [2]
since just before the Seattle meeting of the WTO in November 1999. Don't
know for sure who is responsible for the latest one. More details are at
[3].

[1] http://tbtf.com/resource/WTO-hoax.txt
[2] http://www.gatt.org/
[3] http://tbtf.com/blog/2002-05-19.html#1
_______________________________________________________
Keith Dawson   dawson () world std com   http://dawson.nu/
Layer of ash separates morning and evening milk.




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