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272 aboriginal deaths in custody Jan 1980 - Jan 2000 source: ATSIC ACT NOW Email   or Fax the Government about Refugee Rejections Mandatory Sentencing Uranium Mining in Kakadu The Kyoto Protocol The PM's refusal to say Sorry Land Rights East Timor Press Releases > Unolympics.com launches... > IOC backs down... MEDIA RELEASE IOC backs away from Legal Action Sydney 28th September 2000 Unolympics.com, a non profit organisation responsible for the Shame 2000 web site (www.unolympics.com), has scored a tactical legal victory over the all powerful International Olympic Committee. Shame 2000 is the "official record of Australia's Unolympic performance in events that matter." The satirical website is a lobbying tool and resource base for Australian social justice, human rights and environmental issues. Unolympics.com organisers received an official notification alleging unauthorised use of trademark/copyright - the IOC's trademark rings and the Sydney 2000 logo - on Monday September 25th. The notification gave the group only twenty four hours to remove any offending symbols, or further legal action would be taken. The Unolympics.com team responded swiftly, and by Wednesday evening the IOC's lawyers had withdrawn their threat. "It's a victory for free expression," said Graham Catt, Unolympics.com spokesman and Media Assassin. "Without going into the legal intricacies, we told them that anyone with half a brain would realise that Shame 2000 is in no way connected to the official Olympic sites." Unolympics.com's Net Activist and Producer, David Gravina, explained that any resemblance between Shame 2000 and the official SOCOG Sydney 2000 website was "purely intentional." Gravina said "We wanted to build a site that was visually unattractive and very difficult to navigate. The Sydney 2000 site was an inspiration." The Shame 2000 logo symbolises "a person sitting on a toilet whilst throwing toilet paper over her head." The "Unolympic Ovals" are five collapsed rings which symbolise the collapse in Australia of the five central tenets of Reconciliation, Indigenous Justice, Human Rights, The Environment, and Foreign Policy. "If you cant tell the difference between a circle and an oval, or between a running man and a woman on the toilet, well what can we say?" said Catt. "We really felt quite sorry for the IOC when we got their infringement notice." The Unolympics philosophy is that "the Howard Government's mean spirited policies contradict the ideals of the Olympic movement." "We're not anti-Olympic," says Catt. "In fact we're a lot more Olympic in spirit than the Olympics. It's nice to have the IOC acknowledge it."

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