JasonRichmond
21-06-2003, 17:51
If I'm asking for help, it's only because they ARE gonna get us in the UK if we don't RESIST.
The URL is: http://www.petitiononline.com/backtatu/petition.html
New laws that the petition will be used to oppose
I am trying to get maximum publicity for the petition and loads more sigs on it, so it can be presented to Parliament as well as Richard and Judy. Our MPs will soon decide whether to pass new laws which will enable Richard, Judy or anybody else to apply to the courts to ban the sale of tATu CDs in the shops.
If they don't get tATu under the proposed law against 'commercial sexual exploitation' of a minor (for the videos they made before they were 18 and before they were 16), they will try and get them for promoting underage sex / inciting under-16s to engage in 'sexual activity'. Liberty have already advised me that the proposed new legal definition of 'sexual' (Sexual Offences Bill, Clause 80) is so broad that it will probably include kissing on the lips.
Please note: it doesn't matter that Lena, Yulia and 200 'schoolgirls' who perform with them, are all over 18 themselves; they can still be accused of promoting / inciting underage sex by the nature / content / symbolism of their act. A live concert or performance could therefore be banned under the new law.
As things stand, our MPs are about to sleepwalk the Bill into law. The petition might at least spark a proper debate among them, and / or among the public. At the very least, the petition could potentially get more publicity for tATu, if it has enough signatures and is promoted with the right publicity stunt at the right time. (Of course, there also needs to be a separate campaign against several other anti-youth laws in the Bill, which is obviously driven by the prejudices and paranoia of parents and Daily Mail readers).
What you can do to help
tATu are due in London some time in the summer (but not, alas, for a concert). That's an opportunity for us to get together and protest, if enough people are up for it. Creative ideas for publicity stunts are welcome!
As much as I dislike chain emails, they seem to work! If I am not allowed to advocate or encourage them, then I am talking purely hypothetically here. You could, hypothetically, send a chain email with the petition URL. But I would never tell you to do that, of course!!!!
You can sign the petition if you haven't already, but please don't sign it again if you already have! This is not like voting for tATu on TRL! The official tally is about to hit 20,000, but I am not counting 1,000 of them. That's because I am estimating that number have signed more than once, signed it to spam the comments field, signed as Vladamir Putin, Britney Spears, or something like that. (I don't think the real Vladamir Putin would have said, "Leave the girls alone or face the consequences!")
You can, of course, spread the word about the petition by other methods than a chain email. You could inform you local press newsdesk, the editor of your school newsletter, and any gay organisation in your area. Whoever you tell, for obvious reasons I am targeting the UK, so please only send emails etc. to people in this country.
The one exception to that is, certain people in Russia. Can you translate scripts from English into Russian, and would you be kind enough to do that? Or do you know someone who could? Then I could send a fax to tATu and Universal Music (Russia), in which I tell them about the petition (I still don't know if they know it exists) and ask for their help. They can help by spreading the word among their British media contacts and all the rich, famous, influential Brits they have made friends with and who would be sympathetic.
You can contact me at:
Yahoo Messenger: jasonrichmonduk
AIM (aol): jason4support
http://www.tatu.us: send a PM to JasonRichmond Thanks for whatever you do to help :)
P.S. Check out what happened when I tried to post the message you have just read in the msn group, 'Addicted to tAtu'. If any of you guys can throw any light on why the managers of a tAtu fan group would want to block a post that promotes the petition, and would not want it to be successful, I would be very grateful!
"The manager or assistant manager wrote you this personal note:
We do not accept duplicate and triplicate posts, nor do we allow advertising by people who just joined in order to promote their own activities. Thank you for understanding. You are free to contribute to the community any time you wish though. :-)
Post another message
http://groups.msn.com/AddictedToTatu/messageboard
Disclaimer: Microsoft is not responsible for moderating this message board."
Subj: Re: Your message in Addicted To Tatu has been rejected
Date: 20/06/2003 18:23:07 GMT Daylight Time
From: Jason4support
To: AddictedToTatu-managers@groups.msn.com
CC: Jason4support
The petition is not my own private activity. It is to defend tAtu against attempts to ban and censor them on behalf of all the fans, gay youth and people everywhere who value liberty and diversity, and who oppose bigotry; not to mention the 19,000 people who signed it. The principles at stake here are fundamental and universal.
I do not make any money out of it. I have busted a gut for more than four months to promote it and it has COST me money and involved taking considerable risks. The petition and the general campaign against laws that Richard Madeley has already threatened to use against tAtu, are fundamentally relevant to their survival, commercial success and the success of their message in the UK. I therefore completely fail to see how I can be accused of hijacking a tATu fan group for my 'own purposes' when I am only defending their right to exist.
That accusation also implies that I am not a genuine fan or supporter, to which I take extreme exception.
My post about the petition contains important information that is not contained in my other post. It was necessary to repeat a few details, and to cross-reference the two posts, but it is nowhere near to being a copy, duplicate or triplicate. In any case, it can be moved to the other thread if the two threads are too relevant to each other. It does not have to be deleted.
I would also assert that you have a responsibility to your 1000 members to allow them to have the right to know about campaigns that are being waged on behalf of tATu and the oppressed people, such as gay youth, to whom the message of their songs is powerfully relevant.
Jason Richmond
Petition Author
The URL is: http://www.petitiononline.com/backtatu/petition.html
New laws that the petition will be used to oppose
I am trying to get maximum publicity for the petition and loads more sigs on it, so it can be presented to Parliament as well as Richard and Judy. Our MPs will soon decide whether to pass new laws which will enable Richard, Judy or anybody else to apply to the courts to ban the sale of tATu CDs in the shops.
If they don't get tATu under the proposed law against 'commercial sexual exploitation' of a minor (for the videos they made before they were 18 and before they were 16), they will try and get them for promoting underage sex / inciting under-16s to engage in 'sexual activity'. Liberty have already advised me that the proposed new legal definition of 'sexual' (Sexual Offences Bill, Clause 80) is so broad that it will probably include kissing on the lips.
Please note: it doesn't matter that Lena, Yulia and 200 'schoolgirls' who perform with them, are all over 18 themselves; they can still be accused of promoting / inciting underage sex by the nature / content / symbolism of their act. A live concert or performance could therefore be banned under the new law.
As things stand, our MPs are about to sleepwalk the Bill into law. The petition might at least spark a proper debate among them, and / or among the public. At the very least, the petition could potentially get more publicity for tATu, if it has enough signatures and is promoted with the right publicity stunt at the right time. (Of course, there also needs to be a separate campaign against several other anti-youth laws in the Bill, which is obviously driven by the prejudices and paranoia of parents and Daily Mail readers).
What you can do to help
tATu are due in London some time in the summer (but not, alas, for a concert). That's an opportunity for us to get together and protest, if enough people are up for it. Creative ideas for publicity stunts are welcome!
As much as I dislike chain emails, they seem to work! If I am not allowed to advocate or encourage them, then I am talking purely hypothetically here. You could, hypothetically, send a chain email with the petition URL. But I would never tell you to do that, of course!!!!
You can sign the petition if you haven't already, but please don't sign it again if you already have! This is not like voting for tATu on TRL! The official tally is about to hit 20,000, but I am not counting 1,000 of them. That's because I am estimating that number have signed more than once, signed it to spam the comments field, signed as Vladamir Putin, Britney Spears, or something like that. (I don't think the real Vladamir Putin would have said, "Leave the girls alone or face the consequences!")
You can, of course, spread the word about the petition by other methods than a chain email. You could inform you local press newsdesk, the editor of your school newsletter, and any gay organisation in your area. Whoever you tell, for obvious reasons I am targeting the UK, so please only send emails etc. to people in this country.
The one exception to that is, certain people in Russia. Can you translate scripts from English into Russian, and would you be kind enough to do that? Or do you know someone who could? Then I could send a fax to tATu and Universal Music (Russia), in which I tell them about the petition (I still don't know if they know it exists) and ask for their help. They can help by spreading the word among their British media contacts and all the rich, famous, influential Brits they have made friends with and who would be sympathetic.
You can contact me at:
Yahoo Messenger: jasonrichmonduk
AIM (aol): jason4support
http://www.tatu.us: send a PM to JasonRichmond Thanks for whatever you do to help :)
P.S. Check out what happened when I tried to post the message you have just read in the msn group, 'Addicted to tAtu'. If any of you guys can throw any light on why the managers of a tAtu fan group would want to block a post that promotes the petition, and would not want it to be successful, I would be very grateful!
"The manager or assistant manager wrote you this personal note:
We do not accept duplicate and triplicate posts, nor do we allow advertising by people who just joined in order to promote their own activities. Thank you for understanding. You are free to contribute to the community any time you wish though. :-)
Post another message
http://groups.msn.com/AddictedToTatu/messageboard
Disclaimer: Microsoft is not responsible for moderating this message board."
Subj: Re: Your message in Addicted To Tatu has been rejected
Date: 20/06/2003 18:23:07 GMT Daylight Time
From: Jason4support
To: AddictedToTatu-managers@groups.msn.com
CC: Jason4support
The petition is not my own private activity. It is to defend tAtu against attempts to ban and censor them on behalf of all the fans, gay youth and people everywhere who value liberty and diversity, and who oppose bigotry; not to mention the 19,000 people who signed it. The principles at stake here are fundamental and universal.
I do not make any money out of it. I have busted a gut for more than four months to promote it and it has COST me money and involved taking considerable risks. The petition and the general campaign against laws that Richard Madeley has already threatened to use against tAtu, are fundamentally relevant to their survival, commercial success and the success of their message in the UK. I therefore completely fail to see how I can be accused of hijacking a tATu fan group for my 'own purposes' when I am only defending their right to exist.
That accusation also implies that I am not a genuine fan or supporter, to which I take extreme exception.
My post about the petition contains important information that is not contained in my other post. It was necessary to repeat a few details, and to cross-reference the two posts, but it is nowhere near to being a copy, duplicate or triplicate. In any case, it can be moved to the other thread if the two threads are too relevant to each other. It does not have to be deleted.
I would also assert that you have a responsibility to your 1000 members to allow them to have the right to know about campaigns that are being waged on behalf of tATu and the oppressed people, such as gay youth, to whom the message of their songs is powerfully relevant.
Jason Richmond
Petition Author