Live McLibel Web Event
LIVE DEBATE WITH McLIBEL DEFENDANTS
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Friday 15th January 1999:
o 7pm to 9:30pm GMT London
o 2pm to 4:30pm Eastern Time(New York)
o 11am to 1:30pm Western Board Time(Los Angeles)
o 2am to 4:30am Bangkok Time
o 4am to 6:30am Tokyo Time
Helen Steel and Dave Morris, the McLibel defendants, will be appearing live on the McSpotlight website this Friday. Anyone interested in the case can log on and ask questions: how did they cope defending themselves in the longest ever trial? What happened at the secret settlement meeting? Did they suspect McDonald's were using spies? Does Helen intend joining the legal profession after the case? And does Dave's son want to eat at McDonald's?
The two McLibel Defendants will be joined by other participants from the case and campaign, including:
o Franny Armstrong
Director of 'McLibel: Two Worlds Collide'
o Bob Roberts
McSpotlight campaigner
o Dan Mills
Ex-McLibel Support Campaign co-ordinator
o Veggies
Co-operative co-ordinating national and international network of campaigns - including Adopt-A-Store and Operation Send IT Back.
Other participants are to be announced.
This event will mark the return to court of Helen and Dave (f1) as they challenge the use of libel laws as a form of censorship, as well as to overturn the parts of the verdict which went against them in the controversial case brought by the McDonald's Corporation. This event will also mark the weeks global screening of the McLibel documentary
'McLibel: Two Worlds Collide'(f2).
With more than 65 million accesses over three years, McSpotlight provides the other side to McDonald's success story. This Friday's event will attract a large audience keen to discover how the first week of the appeal has progressed as well as find out more about these two activists who have had McDonald's on the run for much of the 90's. There will also be the opportunity to talk to the maker of 'McLibel: Two Worlds Collide' and find out how despite the best efforts of McDonald's bullying tactics this forceful documentary is still being globally screened. Activists from McSpotlight will also be online ready to talk about how the internet has changed the nature of campaigning and how a well orchestrated online campaign that repeats the very so-called libel Helen and Dave are accused of cannot be stopped.
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WHAT SOFTWARE WILL YOU NEED:
So as to ensure as many people have access to this event there will be no need to download or have any IRC software or java enabled browser on your computer. It will be accessible to anyone using Netscape2 or IE3 upwards (and frames compatible).
WHAT TO DO:
To join in with this event go to http://www.mcspotlight.org/livedebate/ at the prescribed time and follow the instructions.
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NOTES:
*1: The Appeal:
The Appeal takes place in Court 1, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, WC2. It is expected to take 2 to 3 months
*2: Global McLibel Screening:
More than 100 screenings of "McLibel: Two Worlds Collide", the 60-minute documentary controversially pulled by lawyers at both the BBC and Channel 4, will be made on cable channels and at public venues around the world, including Australia & NZ, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, France, Hungary, Peru, Turkey, UK & USA. It can also be viewed on the internet.
More info: http://www.spanner.org/mclibel
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Note: Background information on the case and verdict is available from
the McLibel Support Campaign, or by visiting the McSpotlight website:
McLibel Support Campaign
5 Caledonian Road, London, N1 9DX, UK
Tel/Fax 0171 713 1269
E-mail: mclibel@globalnet.co.uk
Internet info - http://www.mcspotlight.org
None.
