---------------greetings from blasthaus-----------------
A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: BOYCOTT ETOYS: read on for details
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IN SHORT:

THIS FRIDAY 10 DEC from 8pm-10pm:

ART OPENING featuring recent work by Capsule 9 aka Chris Pew
at 26MIX, 26th & Mission Streets in SF
*

ETOY.com shut down by agressive online etailer etoys.com in a
stunning preliminary injuncture
*

IN LENGTH:

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CAPSULE 9 : :  ART OPENING : : FRIDAY, DEC 10, 8pm - 10pm
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blasthaus' straBe http://www.straBe.com project now takes a
different shape in the form of monthly art exhibitions inside
one of the City's most recent hotspots: 26MIX, corner of 26th
and Mission Street.

The first show features new works on canvas and paper by
CAPSULE 9 aka Chris Pew http://www.capsule9.com

THE OPENING is this FRIDAY, Dec. 10th from 8pm-10pm and is FREE
with drink specials and complimentary snacks and DJ's Val and Ammon
on the turntables.

The works in this series take off on fashion clip art and sewing
patterns from the 1950's as well as other found imagery which
is emblazened on the surface via photoemulsion, and then rectified
and distressed with layers of pigment and texture. Over 15 pieces
will remain on display throughout the month of December.

For further information, visit http://www.blasthaus.com

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ETOY vs. ETOYS case makes headlines around the world
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In a stunning event, 'net artist collective ETOY shut down it's
primary website etoy.com, the result of a hostile legal battle
initiated by online toy seller etoys, and a successful preliminary
injunction claiming among other things, trademark devaluation,
infringement, unfair competition and illegal stock operation. All
of this despite the fact that etoy existed online a full 2 (two)
years prior to etoys.com and has no similarity to the toy site.

This is a case of a corporate bullying and agressive tactics in
what could become an important legal case on "reverse domain
name hijacking". If the preliminary injunction holds and etoys wins,
it would mean any corporate power or someone with a lot of money
could essentially force other domain's out of business, even if
those domain's existed prior to theirs. It's obvious that this would
be understandable for cybersquatters, or those who secure domain
names such as microsoftwin.com in the hopes that they can be paid
huge sums for the site from Microsoft or in cases where there is
understandably some confusion between two parties, such as
estamps.com and estamp.com which both compete for the same
area in commerce.

BUT etoy.com is never and has never been interested in toys, there
are no references to etoys.com nor is there any interest or attempts
to confuse the public in any way, shape or form. This action by
the greedy (and understandably nervous amidst their competition and
weaker-than-expected sales and overvalued stock: 6 billion market cap!)
e-tailer should not be tolerated. There is already a huge number of
articles and the etoys stock is (really!) going down at the moment,
ever since this story broke in the Village Voice a week ago. Now today
there's an article in the New York Times, tomorrow is the Washington
Post and National Public Radio, not to mention European press.

WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO SELL ALL etoys (symbol NASDAQ: etys) STOCK
in protest of this outrageous act of hostility. BOYCOTT ETOYS BY
PLACING A BANNER ON YOUR SITE FROM THE LINK BELOW. ENCOURAGE
ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO DO THE SAME. THE FUTURE OF
INTERNET FREEDOM IS AT STAKE. DO YOU WANT THE NET TO LOOK LIKE
TV? ETOY NEEDS YOUR HELP AND LUCKILY THERE ARE A LOT OF WAYS
YOU CAN DO THAT. VISIT http://www.eviltoy.com just one of MANY
protest sites for the cause of ETOY.

RTMark.com has just announced today a new fund for those who wish
to help the cause of etoy. Visit their website to see how you might
be able to contribute, even in a small way, it will help. The etoy artists
have already had to incur almost 20,000$US in court costs and the
next hearing will be on 27 DEC. They need all the help they can get,
and not just financial, there are MANY ways you can help fight this
visit http://www.rtmark.com for more details.

For those of you who don't know, etoy.com is the work of a European
collective of artists who's conceptual work centers around the idea
of a "net-based" art corporation. They function under the umbrella
of etoy and etoy.com has been their sole platform since 1995, a full
two-years before etoys.com even existed. The etoy.AGENTS play around with
people's preconceived conceptions about corporate agendas, the
nature of the internet and fame. Etoy survives via it's sponsors,
which are more often art grants and other (real) corporations who
enjoy their work and humour. After several individuals, museums and
corporations asked if there was anything they could "buy" from etoy
and hang on their wall, the group decided that since etoy does'nt "sell
products, etoy IS the product", they would initiate the idea of selling
"shares"
which is a play on the idea of investing in art, furthering their agenda
and a humourous attempt to comment on the 'net stock hype. Etoy
"shareholders" include many famous and important figures in both the tech/art
world and government (the Chancellor of Austria is an etoy.SHAREHOLDER).
And furthermore, the museums and collectors receive an original "share
certificate" which is a slick 3-color laser print mounted to aluminum and
signed in an official "public action" which also is a media/press event.
Etoy won the prestigious Golden Nica award at Ars Electronica in '96, the most
prestigious tech/arts prize.

Their exhibition last year at the blasthaus gallery after a residency at
UCSD's
CRCA program was a huge success and many of those in San Francisco recall
the bald orange-clad crew making public appearances in addition to the
"actions"
and "share-signings" at the gallery with etoy.TANK-17, a 40-foot cargo
container
installed next to the gallery for two months, their platform for producing art
and coming "back to earth" from the pioneering 'Net days of the group.

FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE: BOYCOTT ETOYS, support ART AND FREE SPEECH ONLINE.
put up a banner on your webpage from here:
http://www.violentnation.com/gallery/threads/index.html

TO BE KEPT ABREAST OF ALL CURRENT NEWS AND FUTURE ORGANIZED PROTESTS
IN SAN FRANCISCO AND NEW YORK, email contact@blasthaus.com with subject:
BOYCOTT ETOYS.

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