The World Trade Organization is opening some of its Seattle proceedings
to Internet visitors and hosting a cyberspace chat room, while criticizing
as deceptive and illegal an anti-WTO Web site that closely mimics its own.
"It's ironic that while the WTO is accused of lacking transparency,
some critics who put out misleading or false information are camouflaging
their identities," Mike Moore, the WTO's director general, wrote in a
press release.
The phony site, http://www.gatt.org/, replicates the WTO's
own site, http://www.wto.org/, down to
the logo, typeface, colors and layout. It even carries a 1999 WTO
copyright notice at the bottom of the page.
But on the fake site's "Director-General's Home Page" -- complete with
a picture of Moore -- the message reads, "The WTO's purpose is to broaden
and enforce global free trade. Global free trade already gives
multinational corporations vast powers to enforce their will against
democratic governments."
Similar language appears throughout the phony site, which also contains
about two dozen links to sites maintained by organizations opposing the
WTO. A site called rtmark.com claims credit for the "gatt" site.
Though the phony site is confusingly similar in appearance to the real
thing, people seeking WTO information through search engines won't be
misled.
The fake doesn't come up when "WTO" is entered in most major engines,
while the WTO's site does. It doesn't even come up when "GATT" (short for
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, a predecessor to the WTO) is
entered. The only arguably misleading reference appears to be the link
back to the phony site from rtmark's site, which says, "Looking for the
WTO site? Visit http://www.gatt.org./"
The WTO itself is using the Internet to make some of its proceedings
more public than they've been.
Yesterday, a symposium of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) was
Webcast from the WTO's site.
Today through Friday, the WTO's plenary sessions will be Webcast live
in English, French and Spanish. Webcasts are scheduled all day today and
Friday, and all day and evening tomorrow and Thursday.
Another link on the WTO's page leads to a chat room, where visitors
from around the world can discuss eight issues, including agriculture,
development, dispute resolution and the environment. But few people appear
to taking advantage of the forum. By yesterday afternoon, no discussion
had more than four postings.
The WTO is also using its site to counter what it describes as "a
number of Web sites contain(ing) accusations against the WTO which are
based on incorrect information or downright falsehoods."
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