Taking down Obamawaffles.com online store (for fun and profit*)

[sudopod]

Could Obamawaffles.com be violating Yahoo's Terms of Service for their online store? (LOL YES, SEE BELOW) I suspect there may be a clause in the ToS agreement that specifically rules out selling racially insulting merchandise through their online storefront.

"WTF, Yahoo?" you might be asking? The Obamawaffle mix is sold through a Yahoo online store. See here, for example: https://us-dc1-order.store.yahoo.net/cgi-bin/wg-order?ysco_key_event_id=1&ysco_key_store_id=yhst-40750686137825§ionId=ysco.one-page&yscoc=krPOqtAmAUdleROhg0zk2pzyUNsuwHxL4j3m0tQ.S02psuv33FyjodOwQsgFPfR47Kzrtd5lzRDcmPOkEyX44BwXijoeOuOKSD.RF7o.tdQ_H_n_MorhaJNg.SwR3N6NnljoVW6oA_ME4w--&yscos=6COl7nwmAUfJGKycSL1kuqycLW_0m7x87ctTQb.vfs4Iw5JT8iQ4vxv211PBVxABBd6fFvw5hA1D241v5h_rL9zffvxdwC5eLKQG1goyGgFdyQAWvE_Ieehu3O_nllLoJaAHBYa.F81qCw--&yscob=4.Jw8dImAUfCHCklhPprlfLjorah2jx.SCAhEVg7acLcoujoJEeRi8BnN7rtkWdQ6CAIBlExwCjEPkuHYKC_iiEmlXhdcjlq.iaYlBW14_Oxv4qJr84zoYws_7EFn2w6Tw--

(long url is long, lol)

Where can we find the text of this agreement, and if this store violates them how can we get Yahoo to enforce it?

___________________________________________________________

EDIT:

Store setup page is found here: http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/ecommerce/

Terms of Service are here: http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/tos/tos.php

Small Business ToS Abuse Report Form is here: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/smallbusiness/abuse.html

I think this is the clause we care about:

"15. Suspension, Cancellation, Transfer
Registrant agrees that registration of its domain name shall be subject to suspension, cancellation or transfer by any ICANN procedure, or by any registry administrator procedure approved by ICANN policy:

15.1 to correct mistakes by Registrar or the registry administrator in registering the domain name;
15.2 for the resolution of disputes concerning the domain name; or
15.3 in case of arbitration or court proceedings being commenced with respect to the rights to the domain name. In addition to the above rights, Melbourne IT may suspend or cancel the registration of Registrant's domain name, or, suspend the delegation of Registrant's Domain Name, if as reasonably determined by Melbourne IT in its sole discretion, the Registrant or any other person uses the domain name in connection with any:
15.4 activity that infringes the intellectual property rights or other rights of any third party;
15.5 activity that defames or disparages any third party; or
15.6 otherwise illegal or fraudulent activity, or otherwise in accordance with Melbourne IT's Acceptable Use "

___________________________________________________________

This is kind of a big deal because 1) They are using Senator Obama's image for profit without his permission, 2) It may not be shielded by the 1st amendment as it may not pass the legal definition of satire, and the biggie, 3) It absolutely does defame and/or disparage a 3rd party, namely, Barack Obama.

If these fools have violated the Yahoo terms of service, they lose their online store. Judging by the rough edges of the site, it will cause these guys substantial inconvenience.

Let's take it down for Senator Obama.

For America.

For the lulz.

* The profit being the warm fuzzy feeling we get from pwning these goobers. ^_^

[flamingdem]

1. Please notify Yahoo. Good point

Lots of people should do it.

Post your results thanks.

[sudopod]

2. bumpalicious

[tannybogus]

3. Here's what I found:

<snip>
7.2 Prohibited Uses

In addition to those matters set forth in the Yahoo! Policies, You shall not post, transmit, retransmit, or store material on or through any of the Services which, in the sole judgment of Yahoo! (i) is in violation of any local, state, federal, or foreign law or regulation, (ii) is threatening, obscene, indecent, defamatory, or that otherwise could adversely affect any individual, group, or entity (collectively, "Persons"), or (iii) violates the rights of any person, including rights protected by copyright, trade secret, patent, or other intellectual property or similar laws or regulations including, but not limited to, the installation or distribution of "pirated" or other software products that are not appropriately licensed for Your use. You agree that you will NOT knowingly use the Service, among other things, to:

(a) upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable;
<snip>
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/tos/tos.php

It is a long list, but I believe these are the pertinent points.

[sudopod]

4. Between the provisions of sections 7 and 15

We've got em cold.

Nice work!

[calimary]

5. Recommended!

Sounds, to me, like it fits the description perfectly.

[Whoa_Nelly]

6. How to contact Yahoo TOS Violation???

Link????

have just been all over the Yahoo site, and can't find an email link to report. :shrug:

[tpsbmam]

8. Ditto....I just posted the same but yours is clearer. n/t

[sudopod]

9. Here is the abuse report form!

http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/smallbusiness/abuse.html

[tpsbmam]

7. Okay, being dense here.....

where is the form or email address needed to file a complaint against the store? Sorry -- just don't see that.

[sudopod]

10. Here! Just found it. It's sort of hidden away in the Yahoo maze. :3

http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/smallbusiness/abuse.html

[tpsbmam]

14. Thanks.....I found it too.....about 100 years after you did. LOL n/t

[tannybogus]

13. Here's what I found:

How can I contact Yahoo! Customer Care?We are here to provide assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our team of dedicated specialists is available by phone or email to answer your questions and guide you through trouble spots.

To contact our customer care team, just click the "Contact us" link that appears on most pages in the help center, or select the corresponding link in the Help tab of your Web Hosting Control Panel. The contact pages will help you quickly access relevant online information about your topic as well as provide email and phone contact information.
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/smallbusiness/webhosting/webhosting-03.html

I think it works for a complaint. If not, ask them who to contact.

I'm going to take an aspirin. I've got a headache from reading all that crap.:hi:

[Ghost in the Machine]

11. John Kerry should go after them, too...

[tpsbmam]

12. Think I found an appropriate complaints pages:

Yahoo! Small Business Abuse Form (Heading was Where can I go to report illegal or offensive behavior to Yahoo!?)
This link was specifically for small business sites.


http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/smallbusiness/abuse.html


More abuse links: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/abuse/

[tannybogus]

16. Email God and everybody!!!! One of those links has to work!

Email the NAACP, DNC, Congressional Black Caucus, SPLC, Jimmy Carter, or whoever you think should know this. Of course, the problem with doing this is it that it might give them oodles of publicity and increase sales. They might get it anyway if Yahoo takes out after them.
Include this comment I found if you want:
#8 Bob and I over at www.obamawaffles.com are big fans of Mrs. Palin. You're obviously a kindred spirit. We were so fired up by her speech, we created a "Buy 2 get 1 FREE" special on our site. We've created an instant waffle mix called Obama Waffles. We're cataloging his position changes and other foibles. It's an edible collectible. We've created 11 oz of instant waffle mix inside a colorful box covered with biting political satire and laugh-out-loud lampoons. Check it out and get your copy today. We'll be sure to link to your blog from ours. Will you do the same?
Posted by Mark Whitlock 2008-09-07 22:10|| Front Page|| Top

http://rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=249387&D=2008-09-...

Include the fact that they were sold at that whatever forum.

[starroute]

20. These guys are linked to Palin through CNP and James Dobson

http://www.mail-archive.com/[e-mail]/msg18897.html

It took the Family Research Council a day and a half to realize that the Obama Waffles being peddled by two fellows from Tennessee, Bob DeMoss and Mark Whitlock, might be considered by some as racist. ...

Though the Family Research Council condemned the product and its presence at the Summit, their apology seems disingenuous. Bob DeMoss served as a youth culture specialist for Focus on the Family for seven years. Bob's partner, Mark Whitlock also worked for Focus on the Family, as an engineer/producer for their radio show "Family Life Today." The Family Research Council is a division of Focus on the Family so the two good old boys were likely not strangers to the staff of the Values Voter Summit.

Bob DeMoss is a writer from Franklin, TN and has coauthored at least six books with Tim LaHaye. Tim LaHaye is the founder of the Council for National Policy, the stealth evangelical organization thought to be responsible for picking Sarah Palin as McCain's VP.


http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/352178/secretive_right_wing_group_vetted_palin

Last week, while the media focused almost obsessively on the DNC's spectacle in Denver, the country's most influential conservatives met quietly at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis to get to know Sarah Palin. The assembled were members of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.

CNP members have included Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist, Tim LaHaye and Paul Weyrich. ... Though Dobson and Perkins reportedly attended the recent CNP meeting in Minneapolis, a full roster of guests would be nearly impossible to require. ... I learned of the get-together only through an online commentary by one of its attendees, top Dobson/Focus on the Family flack Tom Minnery.

[EFerrari]

15. Sent Small Business Abuse form.

For "Yahoo ID", I used "unknown".

[Whoa_Nelly]

17. Am on yahoo, so used my name for the personal ID part, and...

for the offender ID: obamawaffles.com

Just sent in my report.

Used Area: Domains

and Subject: Defamation


All in one reportcomment area:
(feel free to copy and paste)

Per Yahoo TOS:
7.2 Prohibited Uses

In addition to those matters set forth in the Yahoo! Policies, You shall not post, transmit, retransmit, or store material on or through any of the Services which, in the sole judgment of Yahoo! (i) is in violation of any local, state, federal, or foreign law or regulation, (ii) is threatening, obscene, indecent, defamatory, or that otherwise could adversely affect any individual, group, or entity (collectively, "Persons"), or (iii) violates the rights of any person, including rights protected by copyright, trade secret, patent, or other intellectual property or similar laws or regulations including, but not limited to, the installation or distribution of "pirated" or other software products that are not appropriately licensed for Your use. You agree that you will NOT knowingly use the Service, among other things, to:

(a) upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable

15. Suspension, Cancellation, Transfer
Registrant agrees that registration of its domain name shall be subject to suspension, cancellation or transfer by any ICANN procedure, or by any registry administrator procedure approved by ICANN policy:

15.1 to correct mistakes by Registrar or the registry administrator in registering the domain name;
15.2 for the resolution of disputes concerning the domain name; or
15.3 in case of arbitration or court proceedings being commenced with respect to the rights to the domain name. In addition to the above rights, Melbourne IT may suspend or cancel the registration of Registrant's domain name, or, suspend the delegation of Registrant's Domain Name, if as reasonably determined by Melbourne IT in its sole discretion, the Registrant or any other person uses the domain name in connection with any:
15.4 activity that infringes the intellectual property rights or other rights of any third party;
15.5 activity that defames or disparages any third party; or
15.6 otherwise illegal or fraudulent activity, or otherwise in accordance with Melbourne IT's Acceptable Use

[sudopod]

18. Awesome!

Also, kick!

[justiceischeap]

19. Sent email and here's the Yahoo ID

yhst-40750686137825

[sudopod]

21. Where did you find that!?

You are made of gold and win.

[justiceischeap]

23. I just did a Google search for Yahoo ID

and the results told me where to look. :)

[sudopod]

26. hahaha, nice!

Also, LOL points for using Google against Yahoo. :D

[justiceischeap]

29. :) I can't stand Yahoo! (eom)

[sudopod]

32. They've been on my list since they started turning over

Chinese dissidents to the authorities.

That is bad enough on it's face to trigger a boycott. Also, if they are willing to do that in China in order to avoid loss of profit and other consequences, I wonder what they'd tell OUR government?

[justiceischeap]

34. I don't know that Google is any better

I just really like the simple interface. Probably won't be long before all search engines are handing over our info.

[sudopod]

35. True that. :(

I wonder how hard it would be to build a distributed "guerilla" search engine?

[justiceischeap]

37. Not sure, however, I could build the website. *shrugs* n/t

[ehrnst]

22. Write Books-a-Million, too - they're carrying the merchandise

[e-mail]

[justiceischeap]

33. Don't think that's going to help

The chairman of the board of Books-a-Million donated and supported Bob Corker. I think Mr. Clyde B. Anderson is right in line with the Obama Waffles.

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=Anderson%2C+Clyde&state=AL&zip=&employ=&cand=&all=Y&sort=N&capcode=vynmk&submit=Submit

http://www.booksamillioninc.com/profile/index.html

[dudewheresmycountry]

24. thank you for the wake up call

i just registered a complaint with Yahoo. Not about taking them down for being stupid but in my thoughts this is about slander promotion of a political party, (palin special) and promotion of racism as i see it. which is harmful to a third party

[sudopod]

25. Insisting he's a racial sterotype boogieman/secrit Muslim terrarist

is defamation, a false statement meant to damage his reputation in the eyes of the public.


Defamation is against Yahoo's Terms of Service.


LOL, winnars are us. ^_^

[ArbustoBuster]

27. sudopod , you're my hero.

This is brilliant!

[RoccoR5955]

28. Done and Done! Yahoo has been notified. n/t

[Starry Messenger]

30. Done and done!

Barely took me two minutes with all the great info posted here! I love DU.

MPK

[ColbertWatcher]

31. Good catch! n/t

[sudopod]

42. Think it would be legit to start a new thread with all of the information

laid out in a more organized manner?

[ColbertWatcher]

46. I don't understand. It seems fine, if people have questions, they can ask. n/t

[sudopod]

36. qicq nt

[sudopod]

38. Post! nt

[Starry Messenger]

39. kick.

[Starry Messenger]

40. kick

[Starry Messenger]

41. kick

[Starry Messenger]

43. kick.

[sudopod]

44. Thanks! :) nt

[SmileyRose]

45. Snort.

I'd love to see them have pay a big fat wad for the storefront.

[sudopod]

47. bumpus - reply today from Yahoo

Hello xxxx,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Shopping.

We appreciate and value the reports that we receive from users like you.
Please be assured we investigate reports of possible violations of the
Yahoo! Store Merchant Service Agreement (YMSA) regarding Yahoo! Store
accounts and will take appropriate action.

Yahoo! may, in appropriate circumstances and in its sole discretion,
terminate, or take other action on, the accounts of users who appear to
have violated the Yahoo! Merchant Service Agreement. Yahoo! cannot
comment on actions taken in regards to Yahoo! Store Accounts. For more
information, please refer to the YMSA.

As always, please feel free to continue to report any abuses of the
Yahoo! Store platform.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Shopping.

Regards,

Evan

Yahoo! Customer Care

xxxxxxxx (ref number)

For assistance with all Yahoo! services please visit:

_____________________________________

This was followed by my info, the offending store's info, and whether or not I knew how to enter captchas or not.

[ehrnst]

49. I got the same reply. Hopefully enough people will do this, and they'll actually do something. (nt)

[EFerrari]

50. I got a reply as well. n/t

[ehrnst]

51. OOOOH!! Look at their homepage now!! - A WARNING...

http://obamawaffles.com/

[LiberalHeart]

52. Holy manure. That link needs a post of its own. n/t

[Starry Messenger]

48. again i kick!

MPK

[EOTE]

53. There is personal information included in that long link.

You might want to edit it out. I apologize if it's supposed to be there.