Dear Mr. Jones: We disagree with virtually everything you have written below, particularly the part about how the posting of our internal information on the World Wide Web is for your own "private and personal" use. Since your site was created, we have seen a marked increase in the amount of spam e-mails regarding unsolicited screenplays being sent to our executives. As I previously mentioned, we have a policy of not reviewing unsolicited submissions, so each e-mail is deleted immediately. The spam serves no purpose, does not have the desired effect of creating an entree into the film business, and is usually sent to lawyers or financial people (all listed on your site) who have no input on the creative side of the business. From our perspective, it is a huge nuisance, and takes away from the productivity of our people. Submissions by mail are one thing, and much easier to handle, but spam e-mails are a constant, daily irritation, and waste our time. You can do a simple search and find numerous web sites and groups devoted to the reduction, if not elimination, of spam. We share their views.
If you remove the Universal e-mail addresses from your site, then we will withdraw our complaint with Dotster. We are primarily concerned with the reduction of spam. Sincerely, Carolyn A. Hampton, Vice President - Litigation Counsel, NBC Universal
Dear Ms. Hampton: How can you disagree with simple statements of fact?
1) The formula for sending an e-mail to an employee of NBC Universal is firstname.lastname@nbcuni.com. Big whoop.
2) The Internet is crammed with information about the employees of NBC Universal. Do a Google search. I found the names of pertinent employees and put them on my website in order to more readily let them know about opportunities to make better movies than have ever been made at NBC Universal, in order to do them a favor, in other words.
If Jeff Immelt saw that he could realize a profit of hundreds of millions of dollars by making the best movie ever made he would be doing the shareholders of GE a disservice by ignoring that opportunity to do so. Get it? So I sent him and others at NBC Universal an e-mail informing them of the existence of such a project. One man's spam is another man's filet mignon. Those who have ears, hear, yadda, yadda.
3) When you guys stop advertising your products, I'll quit advertising mine. How about that?
4) If you care to read an article about the genesis of the everyonewhosanyone website read this:
http://www.mobylives.com/Jones_EWA.html
In a nutshell, I was looking for a simple way to contact agents, editors, publishers and movie guys, couldn't find one, made one up myself and made it available for other people to use for free 'cause that's the kind of guy I am. Nice.
You, on the other hand, did not inform me of your complaint but went directly to the registrar of my domain name and to my ISP and lied to them about my activities, the nature of my website and the content of my e-mails. I sent copies of your scurrilous attempt to shut down my site to other, more senior, executives at NBC Universal and you reported that as spam. Sheesh. What kind of solipsistic tree fort do you live in?
I've spent thousands of hours building my little website, but its sole function is and was and always has been and always will be to get people to read my work and to listen to the gorgeous, free audio book I've made out of GINNY GOOD. As for my own e-mails, which I do not in the least regard as spam, I'll keep sending 'em to whomever I think might have brains enough to recognize a worthwhile project when he or she sees it...and I would very much appreciate it if you would quit reporting my valid, legal, well-considered e-mails as "spam" to my ISP.
There's no telling where a good idea might come from, finance guys, lawyer chicks, secretaries, CEOs, etc. You guys make movies. I make books that would make good movies. You advertise your products, I advertise mine. It's America, land of the free, home of the brave...free speech, free press, right? You're a lawyer, you must at some point have glanced at the Bill of Rights, right? "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press..."
Oh, you're still welcome to listen to my free audio book, by the way:
http://everyonewhosanyone.com/audio/
You're in for a treat. Trust me. Heh. G.
Gerard Jones
everyone@everyonewhosanyone.com
http://everyonewhosanyone.com
cc: Rick Cotton
Mr. Jones: You did NOT solve the problem. By posting your e-mail which gives the "formula" for our e-mail addresses, plus the names, you are still inviting anyone out there to spam our executives. In addition, many of the executives listed on your site no longer work for our company. So much for your "research." As far as we are concerned, our complaint stands until you remove the "formula." Sincerely, Carolyn A. Hampton
Ms. Hampton: The e-mail addresses to which you refer were and are common knowledge, freely available through a cursory search of the Internet using Google and a little common sense. If anyone, it's Google you should be trying to shut down. Now you want me to remove common sense from my website, as well? Wow. Go for it. If your Gestapo tactics succeed in getting my website shut down, GE and its subsidiaries will be the laughing stock of generations of freedom loving Americans. "Imagination at work." Ha! Good luck. You can't take anything away from me. GE could liquidate its assets and spend all $800 billion trying to come up with a more valuable work of art than the audio book of GINNY GOOD and it would fail. What it would come up with would be the brainwashed schlock that is its current stock in trade. And I'm giving the audio book of GINNY GOOD away for free. Pretty cool, huh? If you want to provide me with more accurate information vis-a-vis the current roster of your executives, I'd appreciate it; otherwise I'll just rely on my admittedly flawed research. Thanks. G.
cc: Rick Cotton, John Eck, Ron Meyer (NBC Universal); Jeffrey Immelt, Gary Reiner, Ben Heineman (GE); Elliot Schrage (Google)
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