I've often wondered if we could deal with graffiti in a similar way. Since it usually consists of an "artist's" tag that personally identifies him, let's start appending "has an itty-bitty wee-wee" to tags and see if the broadcast of one's tiny manhood solves the problem. :P
Event Cancelled
11–20 of 41 posts
Re: Event Cancelled
#12So, what I'd want to do is find a couple acts I really hate, make a bunch of fake posters about their show, and get their "events cancelled".
Presumably you can already do the same thing and get them fined 120 EUR.
Re: Event Cancelled
#13This reminds me of the dunces cap that 37signals were putting alongside stupid or troll comments on the SvN blog. I haven't seen them do it for a long time now so perhaps it really worked.. :-)
Re: Event Cancelled
#14Sure - it might work well. But isn't it against the law to publicly spread false information that affect someone's business? Whether it's the city, or a random person, I would expect the same rules to apply - and I would expect to get sued if I started putting "cancelled" stickers on all posters. Two wrongs do not make a right...
But isn't it against the law to publicly spread false information that affect someone's business?
Not if the city of Ghent has effected a bylaw for this specific practice. When you're part of "the state", you can do that.
It's against the law to clamp a motor vehicle you don't own, yet the council can still come along and clamp you if you don't buy a ticket in their car parks. Punishments aren't typically illegal if you violated the rules effecting that punishment. After all, it's illegal to murder people, yet the majority of US states have provisions for execution as a form of punishment.
Re: Event Cancelled
#15Sure - it might work well. But isn't it against the law to publicly spread false information that affect someone's business? Whether it's the city, or a random person, I would expect the same rules to apply - and I would expect to get sued if I started putting "cancelled" stickers on all posters. Two wrongs do not make a right...
But it's a catch-22 situation. They would have to incriminate themselves to file a lawsuit. Or if they make the argument that they weren't responsible for the poster being put up, the local government can make the same claim. "I didn't see who put it up there, so it's not my responsibility".
Part of it's brilliance is how easily defensible it is.
Re: Event Cancelled
#16But... Did they cancel the event, or didn't they? I'm confused there. Maybe they just forbid the organizers to go ahead. Maybe they really did cancel it.
No, the point of the stickers is to ruin the effectiveness of illegal postings through disinformation; it has no effect on the event itself. (Although, if enough people think the event is canceled, and no one shows up...)
...and the parent post is a perfect demonstration of that.
Re: Event Cancelled
#17I've often wondered if we could deal with graffiti in a similar way. Since it usually consists of an "artist's" tag that personally identifies him, let's start appending "has an itty-bitty wee-wee" to tags and see if the broadcast of one's tiny manhood solves the problem. :P
This was the subject of a Saturday Night Live sketch starring Rudy Giuliani, who was at the time Mayor of NYC.
"From now on, every time you write your name in graffiti on public property, we're going to put the word "Sucks" right under it. That's right. Instead of being Mr. Cool, everyone's going to think you suck."
Video at http://hotair.com/archives/2007/02/06/video-rudy-combats-gra...
Re: Event Cancelled
#18Here's a video which shows the stickers (warning:ads):
http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/994/stand-der-dingen/article/de...
Re: Event Cancelled
#19Sure - it might work well. But isn't it against the law to publicly spread false information that affect someone's business? Whether it's the city, or a random person, I would expect the same rules to apply - and I would expect to get sued if I started putting "cancelled" stickers on all posters. Two wrongs do not make a right...
But it's a catch-22 situation. They would have to incriminate themselves to file a lawsuit. Or if they make the argument that they weren't responsible for the poster being put up, the local government can make the same claim. "I didn't see who put it up there, so it's not my responsibility". Part of it's brilliance is how easily defensible it is.
Not sure about "easily defensible". If the city doesn't do it legally (as in police can quickly verify who is doing that), then:
1. Person A puts up a lot of posters in an obviously illegal area where other posters are quickly "cancelled".
2. "Completely unrelated" person B waits for the person adding the "cancelled" stickers, notifies the police about suspected behaviour. For more fun mentions "strange equipement" and "patroling the area for a long time". Bonus points for doing that near/on a government building.
Making it risky for other people to put the "cancelled" stickers would force the city to either stop this, or make it legal and well known.
Edit: I assumed it was US - not sure how easy it is to scare police in Belgium with suspected "terrorism".
Re: Event Cancelled
#20Wouldn't it be cheaper (stickers aren't free) and more effective to remove the poster? Nasa made a 1 million dollar pen to write in space, the Russians...