Activism & Law
Items
Zapping Zazzle
Hundreds of art enthusiasts attending the opening of South African born artist, Clinton Fein’s exhibition, Numb and Number were greeted with a revised exhibition after Palo Alto-based printing company, Zazzle, destroyed two of Fein’s giant images. Fein learned of the last minute decision after a company representative informed him that two of his images had been deemed inappropriate, and Zazzle did not want to be associated with the images. The abrupt decision by the printing company altered the presentation of the exhibition and damaged the integrity of editions already released by the company.
Read →In the California Supreme Court
The case of Aguilar v. Avis Rent-A-Car System, on workplace harassment and free speech, with Fein's amicus brief.
Read →Conduct Unbecoming Excerpts
Excerpts from the Conduct Unbecoming CD-ROM based on Randy Shilts' book.
Read →Navy Seals and Trademarks
Days before the release of Conduct Unbecoming, the Navy attempted to bar the use of a 1972 recruiting poster featuring the first African American used in a recruiting campaign. Servicemember Ed Graves had been discharged from the\ \ Navy a few years later for being gay. Refusing to allow the"Don't Tell" provision of the new policy relating to gays and lesbians in the armed forces to extend to civilians as well, ApolloMedia refused to pull the image. Following a high-profile press conference where ApolloMedia's president, Clinton Fein, announced the company's intent to defy the Navy's warning, the Navy obliged and withdrew their initial threats. ApolloMedia, represented by Michael Traynor at Cooley Godward, effectively established the de facto acknowledgment that First Amendment protections must be extended to CD-ROM publishers and, in so doing, helped shape the legal foundations for defining the content of interactive digital media."
Read →Post Traumatic Press Syndrome
On Artforum's refusal to run advertising for Fein's work. The advertisement consisted of an image displaying a purse-lipped Rudy Giuliani sitting naked in a urine-filled glass box, referencing the technique used by artist Damien Hirst and part of an exhibit Sensation that resulted in the former mayor withholding funding from the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Read →Who's That Queer?
In response to the Navy's delayed discharge of a servicemember for being gay, ApolloMedia's Annoy.com launched a campaign.
Read →Conduct Unbecoming
A CD-ROM exploring gays in the US military, based on Randy Shilts' book, and the first CD-ROM to face and win a First Amendment case against the Navy.
Read →The US Government Strikes Back
In June 1999, the United States government ordered ApolloMedia to disclose the identity of a user of our site, annoy.com's popular electronic greeting card service. The service facilitated anonymous communications. The information they were seeking followed a similar attempt in April 1999 by the University of Houston, which tried unsuccessfully to obtain ApolloMedia records. At the same time, the court slapped a gag order on ApolloMedia. We were ordered to refrain from discussing not only the content of the order with anyone until authorized by the court but the very existence of the order and its application. The unprecedented blanket gag order was unlimited in time and scope. Payback for our own Supreme Court lawsuit against the United States, ApolloMedia v. Reno?
Read →Reno v. ACLU
In June 1999, the United States government ordered ApolloMedia to disclose the identity of a user of our site, annoy.com's popular electronic greeting card service. The service facilitated anonymous communications. The information they were seeking followed a similar attempt in April 1999 by the University of Houston, which tried unsuccessfully to obtain ApolloMedia records. At the same time, the court slapped a gag order on ApolloMedia. We were ordered to refrain from discussing not only the content of the order with anyone until authorized by the court but the very existence of the order and its application. The unprecedented blanket gag order was unlimited in time and scope. Payback for our own Supreme Court lawsuit against the United States, ApolloMedia v. Reno?
Read →Annoy.com Lawsuit
Clinton Fein took on Attorney General Janet Reno. Their battle went all the way to the United States Supreme Court."Unlike other snotty purveyors of irritation such as Suck or Spy, though, Fein's expletive-laced rantings have an oddly earnest ideological passion behind them. See, annoy.com is largely a response to a provision in the Communications Decency Act that makes it illegal to send communications over the Internet that are "indecent" with "intent to annoy." Though the "indecent" part has been struck down by the Supreme Court, the "annoy" provision still stands. Theoretically, Fein could face two years in prison and a substantial fine for his unpleasantness, though he has thus far emerged unscathed from his legal wrangling with Janet Reno." -- Michelle Goldberg
Read →Activism and Law
Clinton Fein is a South African-born artist, activist, and entrepreneur best known for his work in digital art and internet activism.
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