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Earthlink recently cancelled service for a website that helped people send mail to one of the Pacifica Board members, claiming that it was in violation of their "spam" policy.

In doing so, they contradicted their "political poster" ad campaign proving, once again, that it's all bullshitting to sell a commodity. It seems that you can have your freedom on Earthlink if you don't exercise your freedom of speech.

Attached is the email which set this whole ball rolling. Below is some background information.

EarthLink Launches Ad Campaign (about this campaign)

Imitation Animation, Earthlink's Theft. Earthlinks early television commercials were a blatant rip off of another artist.

Advertisement Marketing Focus Group. An example of how they figure out which ads will sell.

URLs to some early ads in the campaign:

http://www.innermagellan.com/index_flash.html

http://www.galileoschildren.com/index_flash.html

http://www.speedupevolution.com/index_flash.html

http://www.nethugger.com/index_flash.html

November 15, 2001
Pacifica Campaign Update

EARTHLINK, FANNIE MAE SUPPRESS E-ACTIVISM

Today, the Pacifica Campaign and the activist website http://progressiveportal.org launched a letter writing facility that enabled people to send their personal views on Pacifica Board Treasurer Wendell Johns to a number of his colleagues whose email addresses are publicly available.  

Less than a few hours into the letter campaign, Fannie Mae, the world's largest non-bank financial institution, had apparently pressured progressive portal's internet host to shut down the legal site. The webmaster's letter follows, along with a press release on the Friday, Nov. 16th Democracy Now! webstream demonstration, which, thanks to the DC Independent Media Center (IMC) (http://dc.indymedia.org), will be viewable as a live video webstream at http://clients.loudeye.com/dclive/dcimc.ram   Check out the protest LIVE on the web from 9-11 AM Eastern Time by clicking on this link.

In the meantime, go to: http://www.techforpeople.net/~progport/cgi-bin/test3.cgi


Letter from Progressive Portal:

Dear friend:

Around 11:30 a.m. today (PST), Progressive Portal was taken offline by Earthlink Networks, the Web host for the site. After a couple of hours of inquiries, I was able to determine that the site was cancelled (along with my personal Internet service) because of a complaint that a letter being sent to colleagues of Pacifica Radio board member Wendell Johns was "spam." While the letter-writing on our site is nowhere explicitly prohibited in Earthlink's anti-spam policy, that policy does give Earthlink discretion to censor whatever it likes.

Earthlink has also blocked access to my email, so any messages you sent to me today have not reached me, and may never be recovered.

I am working to get Progressive Portal restored as quickly as possible. I request that you do NOT complain to Earthlink at this point; I am still negotiating to retrieve my blocked email from Earthlink.

I have moved the Wendell Johns letter to another location, so that Pacifica supporters may continue to send it. You can find it at this address:

http://www.techforpeople.net/~progport/cgi-bin/test3.cgi

We will be back online as soon as possible. Meanwhile, any email communications should be sent to me at:

steve@internetaddress.com

I am sorry for the inconvenience this has caused.


*****************
November 15, 2001
Pacifica Campaign Release

Media Activists use Creative Tactics in Community Radio Struggle:

Plan 9 a.m. Friday Wireless Webcast of Award-Winning National Radio Show, Democracy Now! in Exile's War and Peace Report, in Front of Pacifica Radio Network's Headquarters and DC Radio Station that Bans the Show from its Airwaves

Activists Gear Up for the Weekend Meeting of Embattled Pacifica Radio Board of Directors

Washington, DC--Media activists will protest outside of Pacifica Radio Network's headquarters  WPFW, 2930 Champlain St. NW Wash. DC, Off Columbia Rd., Friday, November 16 from 9 - 11 AM. As part of the protest, they will use state-of-the-art wireless internet technology to audio webcast Democracy Now! in Exile's War and Peace Report, a national radio show that was previously aired on WPFW but has been banned from the station's airwaves since August 14, 2001.  The protest itself will be sent out over the internet as a live video webstream, viewable at http://clients.loudeye.com/dclive/dcimc.ram

Democracy Now! (http://democracynow.org) is the flagship national program of the Pacifica Radio Network, and its host Amy Goodman has won numerous journalism awards. But, as part of the ongoing conflict within the Pacifica Radio Network, Goodman was forced off the airwaves at most Pacifica stations and has now joined the ranks of dozens of journalists who have been censored, fired or banned by Pacifica.

Democracy Now's host and producers were physically and verbally harassed out of the studios of WBAI in New York City when that station was "re-programmed" by Pacifica management and board leaders and subsequently banned from four of the largest Pacifica Radio stations, including WPFW. But rather than stop producing the show, Democracy Now has expanded, and has begun broadcasting a daily national cable television show, "The War and Peace Report", through a collaboration with Deep Dish Television.

Since the attacks of September 11, Democracy Now! has provided some of the most incisive programming on war and terrorism to be found anywhere on radio or television. The live wireless webcast of Democracy Now!, and the protest at Pacifica headquarters/WPFW 89.3 FM are among a series of events planned for this weekend, when the Pacifica Radio board of directors will meet at the DoubleTree Crystal City Hotel.

Pacifica has been embroiled in controversy since 1999, when the Network's managers shut down KPFA of Berkeley. That shut down caused the largest protests in Berkeley since the Vietnam War. In December 2000, Pacifica "re-programmed" its New York City station, WBAI, by firing and banning long-time programmers and eviscerating the station's progressive political programming. Most recently, Pacifica suspended Amy Goodman and removed Democracy Now! from the Pacifica airwaves.

For more information about the struggle at the Pacifica Radio Network, see http://pacificacampaign.org. Following is a list of other events planned for the Pacifica Foundation Board of Directors Meeting:

SATURDAY NOV. 17th

9:00 AM - 5 PM. Pacifica Foundation Board of Directors Committee Meetings.
Doubletree Crystal City, 300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA

6 - 9 PM. Event: Independent Media in Time of War: Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, David Moore (son of Pacifica Founders) and speakers from Pacifica/s five listening areas.
All Souls Unitarian Church, 1500 Harvard Street, NW.

SUNDAY, NOV. 18TH

9 AM - 3 PM. Pacifica Foundation Board of Directors Meeting.
Doubletree Crystal City, 300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA

###


***********************************

Pacifica Campaign
DC Office
2329 Champlain St. NW
Washington, DC 20009-2666

tel: 202-483-0894
fax: 202-483-4887
info@pacificacampaign.org
http://pacificacampaign.org

After reading the article on Earthlink's shut down or a web space developed to communicate to a Pacifica board member,and the subsequent cancellation of the personal account of the organizer I am wondering if there is a call for those who have accounts with Earthlink to cancell. I joined Earthlink because they were the only internet provider to legally challenge the access of the "carnivore"gov't net privacy invasion program to any e-mail account....

g. Unsolicited commercial email/Unsolicited bulk email. Using the Services to transmit any unsolicited commercial email or unsolicited bulk email. Activities that have the effect of facilitating unsolicited commercial email or unsolicited bulk email whether or not that email is commercial in nature, are prohibited.

they pretty much abused Earthlink's services. So I fail to see how Earthlink should suffer for it.