[lbo-talk] Fwd: Axis of Weasels

[Frederick Emrich, Editor, info-commons.org]

According to an email I received Aug. 8 from John Steins, the artist who
made the litho-prints and offered them on e-Bay, he was contacted that day
by a company representative who said he was free to offer the prints on
e-Bay if he chose, but they asked him to confine his political views to the
"About Me" section of the site, rather than placing them directly in
listings.

http://www.info-commons.org/blog/archives/000093.html

Seeing as Steins reported he had experienced great difficulty in getting
human contact with e-Bay prior to that time, it would appear that heading
off negative media could have been the reason for e-Bay's offer to Steins.
The artist did not indicate to me that he planned to sell the cards on e-Bay
again (they are available on his site), though he saw the company's decision
as a victory for himself.

The initial move by e-Bay may have been a result of pro-war sentiment, or it
may have been a company trying to get rid of a listing that was causing them
problems because it was generating lots of complaints.  I don't see either
of these as acceptable.  But given the company's offer to Steins, unless and
until Steins tries to post another listing and we see the response, there is
no strong evidence of ongoing censorship.

Or has somebody heard something more?

Frederick Emrich

----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 11:44 PM
Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Fwd: Axis of Weasels


> N P Childs wrote:
>
> >Apologies if this was already posted while I was off line.
> >
> >The good news is that eBay has relented and he is now selling the
> >prints through them.
> >
> >PC
> >
> >
> >>http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/08/06/cards_artist030806
>
> Just checked eBay and couldn't find them - only Axis of Weasels stuff
> was prowar. Censorship!
>
> Doug
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk