• by Tom Siebert , January 5, 2007

One guy took on Disney--and won.

The Walt Disney Company has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the blogger and media critic "Spocko," effectively closing down his Web site, Spocko's Brain, after the online muckraker instigated a letter-writing campaign that caused national advertisers including Visa and MasterCard to flee the Bay Area ABC-affiliate radio station KSFO.

KSFO features hard right-wing talk show hosts who endorse torture and mock the tortured, called for the public hangings of New York Times editor Bill Keller and other journalists, and demand that callers mock Islam. They also mock their own advertisers, calling Chevrolet "sh!tty" and recommending that Sears' Diehard battery be attached to an African-American's testicles.

Spocko (a pseudonym for the blogger, who does not want to be identified), recorded the station's programming and posted audio files on his site, calling attention to the hate speech. He also began sending letters to advertisers on KSFO, including AT&T, Bank of America, Visa, MasterCard and others, pointing out the station's content and directing them to his blog to hear proof, via his audio files.

Since Spocko began contacting advertisers, they have departed KSFO in droves.

Netflix, MasterCard, Bank of America, and most recently, Visa have pulled their advertising from the station. According to Spocko, Federal Express, AT&T and Kaiser Permanente are weighing their departure as well.

Now, Disney is fighting back.

The Friday before Christmas, Dec. 22, ABC Radio sent a cease-and-desist order to Spocko and his Internet Service Provider, 1&1 Internet, claiming unauthorized use of copyrighted material.

Neil Simpkins, spokesperson for ISP provider 1&1 Internet, says his company received the same letter from ABC Radio that was sent to Spocko's Brain, citing unauthorized use of copyrighted material. He says 1&1 gave Spocko one week to pull the material, and when he did not, the ISP pulled his site Jan. 2.

Spocko claims he should be allowed to post the audio files, citing the "Fair Use" provision of copyright law.

Simpkins says 1&1 is particularly leery of posting the actual audio files from the KSFO broadcasts, and it would "probably be more than likely" to allow the site to return if Spocko used transcripts of the show--as opposed to actual audio files of what aired.

"The [fair use] battle for bloggers hasn't been waged yet," Simpkins notes. "Right now, technology is outracing the legal system."

A spokeswoman for ABC Radio declined comment.

Spocko's situation was originally reported through the Web site Daily Kos.