Website Critical of Anti-War Celebrities to Be Shut Down
By Scott Hogenson
CNSNews.com Executive Editor
May 01, 2003
(CNSNews.com) - An Internet website that has gone after Hollywood actors for their past statements against the Bush administration and its policy of removing Saddam Hussein from power is shutting down, the site claimed Thursday.
Under the title "Our own personal wind chill," the website Boycott-Hollywood.us stated that its domain registrar will shut down the site within 24 hours after having received a threatening letter from a law firm representing a major talent agency.
"Apparently, our domain registrar (namesdirect.com - subsidiary of Dotster.com) has caved to the pressures of the William Morris Agency giant. On April 29, 2003, Dotster.com received a letter from the William Morris Agency in regards to this website," stated the Boycott-Hollywood site. "Their complaint accused us of libel and potentially other civil and criminal offenses."
The website, which criticized entertainers from Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins to the Dixie Chicks, claimed correspondence to its domain registrar from the Los Angeles law firm of Rintala, Smoot, Jaenicke and Rees, LLP, prompted the shutdown.
"The fact that we're being shut down because of the William Morris Agency tells me that we truly touched a raw nerve in someone, somewhere," a statement on the site read. "At the very least, it tells me that our message was received by the people that it was intended for."
The website published an image of part of the letter, which was obtained from Dotster, the parent company of Boycott-Hollywood's domain registrar, NamesDirect.com
Attempts to reach Dotster and NamesDirect.com were unsuccessful, and an official with Rintala, Smoot, Jaenicke and Rees refused to comment on whether the William Morris Agency is a client of the firm. However, the Rintala, Smoot, Jaenicke and Rees website lists the agency as one of its "representative clients."
The letter to NamesDirect.com warned that "by engaging in the conduct described above, the authors and/or other persons responsible for the www.boycott-hollywood.us website may be liable, both criminally and civilly, for a variety of offenses."
Boycott-Hollywood stated Thursday that it stands firm "on the belief that we have done nothing wrong at this website. The celebrities have expressed their views, and we have responded in kind by expressing our views regarding the thoughts and ideas that they have, publicly, expressed."
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