RTMark and Adbusters at the WTO Conference in Seattle

The 1999 WTO (World Trade Organization) Conference in Seattle not only attracted a multitude of demonstrators, but also artistic and cultural activists like RTMark and Adbusters.

Adbusters, well known as fighters against corporate disinformation, injustices in the global economy and "physical and mental pollution", timely for the WTO Conference purchased three billboards in downtown Seattle. Featuring an image with the text "System Error - Type 2000 (progress)", the billboards were meant to challenge "... the WTO's agenda of global corporate growth and expose what isn't reflected in the United State's GNP - human and environmental capital."

At the same time RTMark went on-line with its spoof WTO website http://gatt.org. Shortly after its release WTO Director-General Mike Moore accused RTMark of attempting to "undermine WTO transparency" by copying the WTO website's design and using "domain names such as `www.gatt.org` and page titles such as 'World Trade Organization / GATT Home Page' which make it difficult for visitors to realize that these are fake pages." http://gatt.org is not the first time that RTMark has used website imitation aiming at rendering an entity more transparent. RTMark has performed the same "service" for George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani, Shell Oil, and others with the principal purpose of publicizing corporate abuses of democratic processes.

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On-line Advertising and the Internet Content Industry

Applied to on-line content the advertising model leads to similar problems like in the traditional media. Dependence on advertising revenue puts pressure on content providers to consider advertising interests. Nevertheless new difficulties caused by the technical structure of online media, missing legal regulation and not yet established ethical rules, appear.

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About Wines

http://www.aboutwine.com/

http://www.aboutwine.com/
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Pine Gap Station



Pine Gap, run by the CIA, is near Alice Springs in central Australia and mostly an underground facility. Pine Gap was mainly established to serve as the groundstation and downlink for reconnaissance satellites like the RHYOLITE and ORION system. The facility consists of more than 7 large antennas in randomes. In Pine Gap's Signals Processing Office transmitted signals are received and transformed for further analysis.There is a no fly zone 4km around PG, and local land holders have agreed not to allow "visitors" access to there properties. It is said that Pine Gap employs nearly 1000 people, mainly from the CIA and the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

Source:

Jeffrey T. Richelson, The U.S. Intelligence Community, (Westview Press, 4th ed., 1999)p190

Nicky Hager, Secret Power, New Zealand's role in the internatinal spy network, (Craig Potton, 1996)p34ff

Pictures of Pine Gap

http://www.networx.com.au/home/slider/Pine-Gap.htm

http://www.networx.com.au/home/slider/Pine-Ga...
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