Etoy
Encyclopedia
Etoy is a European digital art group. Etoy won several international awards including the Prix Ars Electronica
in 1996. Their main slogan is: "leaving reality behind."
Etoy routinely experiments with the boundaries of art
, such as selling shares of "stock" in the etoy.corporation, a registered company in Switzerland
and travelling the world as well as living in "etoy.tanks" (cargo containers).
In 2007, German and Swiss director Andrea Reiter realised a documentary (produced by Hugofilm) about etoy's "Mission Eternity" project, a "digital cult of the dead".
According to Toywar.com eToys Inc. offered etoy $516,000 for the rights to the etoy.com domain name. After etoy rejected this offer, eToys Inc. responded by filing a lawsuit on the grounds of "unfair competition, trademark delusion, security fraud, illegal stock market operation, pornographic content, offensive behaviour and terrorist activity." The Toywar soon ensued. eToys was successful at one point in the litigation process and was able to get an injunction to temporarily shut down the etoy website. But before long the Toywar developed into a high-profile tactical media event.
and etoy for the domain name
etoy.com. Fearing brand dilution and customer confusion about the similar domain names, eToys sued etoy for trademark infringement, and asked etoy to remove graphic images and profane language from their website that were bringing customer complaints. The artists refused to comply, and eToys eventually obtained a preliminary injunction against etoy which shut down their website. etoy fought back with a coordinated public relations campaign and Internet-based denial of service attacks on eToys.com. After several weeks eToys dropped the lawsuit and the etoy website returned to operation.
It has been called "the most expensive performance in art history", citing eToys' market capitalization
loss of $4.5 billion dollars
during the conflict. However most analysts denied that this had been caused by the efforts of etoy and its supporters alone. The story is one of the subjects of the documentary film
, info wars
.
An email campaign was led by Internet activists including etoy agents developing the toywar website, a battlefield for 2000 toysoldiers.
A book
about the story of the etoy corporation, Leaving reality behind, by Regula Bochsler and Adam Wishart
was released in 2002.
Prix Ars Electronica
The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the most important yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music...
in 1996. Their main slogan is: "leaving reality behind."
Etoy routinely experiments with the boundaries of art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, such as selling shares of "stock" in the etoy.corporation, a registered company in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and travelling the world as well as living in "etoy.tanks" (cargo containers).
History
Etoy was founded in 1994 and the authors behind etoy's brand were an art collective that started to sell virtual shares and is owned now by hundreds of etoy.shareholders: international art collectors, the etoy.agents and toywar.soldiers (who protected the etoy.brand during the toywar). The etoy.inventors own, control and protect the corporate "sculpture".According to Toywar.com eToys Inc. offered etoy $516,000 for the rights to the etoy.com domain name. After etoy rejected this offer, eToys Inc. responded by filing a lawsuit on the grounds of "unfair competition, trademark delusion, security fraud, illegal stock market operation, pornographic content, offensive behaviour and terrorist activity." The Toywar soon ensued. eToys was successful at one point in the litigation process and was able to get an injunction to temporarily shut down the etoy website. But before long the Toywar developed into a high-profile tactical media event.
Toywar
The toywar was a legal battle between the Internet toy retailer eToys.comEToys.com
eToys.com is a retail website that sells toys via the Internet. It was established by a startup company of the same name during the dotcom boom, but the company went bankrupt towards the end of the boom, after which the site went through a number of changes of ownership, and was acquired by Toys...
and etoy for the domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
etoy.com. Fearing brand dilution and customer confusion about the similar domain names, eToys sued etoy for trademark infringement, and asked etoy to remove graphic images and profane language from their website that were bringing customer complaints. The artists refused to comply, and eToys eventually obtained a preliminary injunction against etoy which shut down their website. etoy fought back with a coordinated public relations campaign and Internet-based denial of service attacks on eToys.com. After several weeks eToys dropped the lawsuit and the etoy website returned to operation.
It has been called "the most expensive performance in art history", citing eToys' market capitalization
Market capitalization
Market capitalization is a measurement of the value of the ownership interest that shareholders hold in a business enterprise. It is equal to the share price times the number of shares outstanding of a publicly traded company...
loss of $4.5 billion dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
during the conflict. However most analysts denied that this had been caused by the efforts of etoy and its supporters alone. The story is one of the subjects of the documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, info wars
Info wars
Info Wars is a 2004 film which shows the mechanics of modern information warfare and media hacking. The featured stories are intertwined but circle around the central subject of the film: How the modern mass media can be used to reach certain ends by all involved parties.The film is named after...
.
An email campaign was led by Internet activists including etoy agents developing the toywar website, a battlefield for 2000 toysoldiers.
A book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
about the story of the etoy corporation, Leaving reality behind, by Regula Bochsler and Adam Wishart
Adam Wishart
Adam Wishart is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. His professional background includes writing, directing, and appearing in various productions for BBC television projects.- Writing :...
was released in 2002.
The Twelve Days of Christmas
With the ongoing legal struggle with eToys, etoy.Avisor Reinhold Grether issued a call to arms, asking for agents of the Toy.Army to create "new toys" to help with the fight. ®TMark responded by creating a game-esque campaign called The Twelve Days of Christmas. The Twelve Days of Christmas aimed to interrupt the website of eToys during its busiest time of the year. ®TMark calls their "new toy" a "multi-user Internet game whose goal is to damage (or possibly even destroy) the company [eToys]". This was just one of the many projects created by ®TMark for the "etoy fund", which aimed at causing financial devastation to the value of eToys stock. The project also involved placing numerous pages on the eToys server, including financial documents, which would slow the eToys server during the busiest sale season of the year.The Surrender
The ongoing battle hurt the image of eToys Inc. The company's stock fell by over 70%, plummeting from $67 to $19. The Toywar had also begun to garner worldwide press attention. After a number of weeks, eToys decided to surrender, dropping the lawsuit and etoy's website was returned to operation. It has been reported that eToys declared bankruptcy after the legal dispute with etoy.External links
- website etoy.CORPORATION
- New York Times article on the end of the lawsuit
- the digital hijack
- the digital flapjack - a parody of digital hijack created at the 1996 Prix Ars Electronica by SITOSITOSITO is an online artist collective which began in January 1993, making it one of the oldest Internet-based art organizations. It was started by Ed Stastny and has been maintained by Stastny and a group of volunteers and supporters...
- http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/12/cyber/artsatlarge/09artsatlarge.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/12/cyber/articles/18etoy.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/12/cyber/articles/30etoy.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/01/cyber/articles/26etoy.html
- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/victory-declared-in-the-toy-war-723532.html
- http://www.projects.v2.nl/~arns/Texts/Media/No_Toy_War_ArtIndia_2.pdf
- http://www.pamdixon.com/etoys.htm
- http://www.rtmark.com/etoypr.html