eBay and Yahoo shut the clown down
IMO, corporate America's weight was needed to accomplish this.
Is The Game Over For Ghettopoly?
By Angela D. Johnson
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* 2003 DiversityInc.com
October 16, 2003
Citing a violation of its merchant service agreement, Yahoo! has pulled the plug on Ghettopoly's Yahoo! Store. Listings for the product have also been removed from eBay.
"That news to me is good news," said Wayne Charness, SVP of Hasbro, marketer of the original Monopoly concept. While Charness says Hasbro did not request that Yahoo! shut down the Ghettopoly site, the company has sent a cease and desist
order to David Chang, the game's creator.
Hasbro contends that Ghettopoly violates its intellectual property rights and is prepared to take legal action if sales continue. In Ghettopoly, traditional Monopoly house and hotel properties are replaced with crack houses and project developments. The money is counterfeit and the banker is a loan shark. Instead of "Get out of jail free" cards, "Ghetto Stash" cards have messages such as "You got your whole neighborhood addicted to crack: Collect $50 from each playa." The game also pokes fun at civil rights leaders such as Malcolm X and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who are referred to as Malcum X and Martin Luthor King.
Yahoo!'s merchant service agreement states that the company "reserves the right to refuse to host or continue to host any Store which it believes, in its sole discretion
offers for sale goods or services
that are illegal, obscene, vulgar, offensive, dangerous, or otherwise inappropriate."
Illegal or dangerous? Probably not. But many have found Ghettopoly offensive. Earlier this month, civil rights organizations such as the NAACP, Anti-Defamation League and the National Action Network launched protests against Urban Outfitters, the only bricks-and-mortar retailer known to carry the game. Shortly after, the store pulled the products from its shelves.
Discussion of Ghettopoly has reached local nightly news casts as well as blogs and message boards online. While some are thoroughly appalled by the game, others think what the game represents is no different than the images that are presented in rap videos.
For those who were troubled by the game, Yahoo! and eBay, two companies supporting the sale of the game online, replaced Urban Outfitters as a target of protest. eBay removed Ghettopoly product listings from its site on Monday.
Jennifer Caukin, senior manager, communications, at eBay said Ghettopoly "was not consistent with the spirit of our community."
Caukin was unsure as to whether the decision to remove the item was a response to complaints from users; however, she said, "It's not unusual where we would get feedback from our users letting us know about items they feel are offensive."
In the past, eBay has discontinued the sale of potentially offensive items such as Nazi paraphernalia or Black Americana items containing the word "n*****" in the description. Earlier this year, eBay changed its policy to only allow the term when it is in the official title of the product being sold.
For now, sale of the game online has been halted; however Chang, through a message on the Ghettopoly Web site, has promised to fulfill outstanding orders. According to the site, the game is currently sold out, but Chang anticipates completing more than 10,000 unfilled requests on or around Dec. 10.
Neither Chang nor Yahoo! responded to requests for an interview. However, Chang has posted what he claims is the message he received from Yahoo. It reads in part: "It's been brought to Yahoo!'s attention that your Yahoo! Store has violated the terms of the Yahoo! Terms of Service and/or the Yahoo! Store Merchant Service Agreement
As of this notice, your Store Ghettopoly has been placed into 'not open' status, which will allow you to finish any pending business. You may not accept new orders or republish your Store."
But for some, the game is not over. According to New York Newsday, activists including New York City Council member John Liu and Council Deputy Majority Leader Bill Perkins are asking for a formal apology from Chang and for proceeds from the sale of the game, which retails for $29.95, to be donated to charities
serving minority communities.
"White people should be denouncing this and corporate America should be denouncing this," Perkins was quoted as saying in Newsday. "This is not just the responsibility of the victims but all of us should make sure this game is not on
the market." Some words of wisdom for the less-enlightened among us over in CC....
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