Wal-Mart, the nation’s most sued company, has engaged in a little legal action of its own, against a website operation that Wal-Mart says “encourages the public to participate in a modern-day version of the old scam in which a customer takes a price sticker from a cheap item, and puts it on a more expensive item before handing it to the check out person.” The website, Re-code.com, says it does not advocate relabeling items in stores. The website operators say the whole site is just a satire, but Wal-Mart isn’t laughing. “The Re-Code.com website is a complete mockery of the Priceline.com website which promotes the concept of “Name your own price.” Re-Code.com only attempts to take this advertisement to its logical conclusion. The goal of the project is to create a new space for political satire using products that already exist in stores. The audience for this form of art/activism becomes the cashiers and shoppers at targeted stores.” But Wal-Mart says Re-code.com “provides a forum for consumers to share and print out bar code information for inexpensive items in stores such as Wal-Mart, and then take them to Wal-Mart and place them on top of the legitimate bar code for more expensive items.” Re-code.com admits that its sample bar codes are based on products found at Wal-Mart. The point, says Re-code.com, is to “raise awareness about the true cost of products”. “What if products were not subsidized,” Re-code.com asks. “What if the price of motor oil was directly tied to the price of human life? What if a rifle cost the same as a Care Bears movie?” The website lists various options that consumers could use to replace bar codes. Option 1 says: “Defend your family and home against the potential of terrorist threats. They are everywhere. Switching Ortho Home Defense Repellant Spray with Moseberg Model E35 12 gauge pump shotgun may prove interesting for the cashier and other shoppers.” In another sample, Winchester rifle ammunition is switched with the UPC code for Nerf balls. “Ain’t no war like a Nerf war.” “Re-Code.com believes that our customers deserve the right to make their voices heard and protest their own contributions to the support of the bloated adsvertising space that inflated prices of name brand goods. We encourage our customers to truly name their own prices.” Wal-Mart has declared war on Re-code.com, threatening the website that hosted Re-code.com with “encouraging and facilitating theft and fraud against Wal-Mart”, and demanding that they shut Re-code.com down within 48 hours. On April 10th, Re-Code. com was informed that their service agreement had been terminated by their domain host.
“Is political satire illegal?” Re-code.com asks. “Does Wal Mart have the right to police the net? Are barcodes intellectual property? These are only a few of the questions that may be raised over the next few days as the battle begins between artist and transnational corporation. For more information, go to Re-code.com.
