<nettime> Has ADBUSTERS Been Informed? *8-/

[Bruce Sterling <bruces@well.com>]

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
___________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 6, No. 149, Part I, 9 August 2002



'BLACK PR' GOES ON TRIAL... One of the first -- if not the first --
criminal cases brought against a practitioner of "black PR" will reopen in
the Lenin Raion Court in Perm on 13 August, regions.ru reported on 8
August. Dmitrii Mikhailov of Yekaterinburg is accused of extortion and the
dissemination of falsehoods via advertisements. Mikhailov allegedly
started a campaign to discredit the local Tolstyak brand beer. After
articles started appearing in the local press about the discovery of
intestinal bacteria in the beer, Mikhailov reportedly demanded $15,000
from the directors of producer to stop the campaign. However, the managers
instead turned to the police, who arrested Mikhailov. The company reckons
it sustained 16 million rubles ($507,000) in damages from the campaign.
According to "Nezavisimaya gazeta," one reason Mikhailov's case is
considered the first is because there is a gap in federal law prohibiting
so-called black PR that makes the prosecution of such cases difficult. JAC




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