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CONTENTS: + CASPIAN calls for worldwide Benetton boycott ========================================================================= CASPIAN is calling on consumer-citizens around the globe to BOYCOTT BENETTON PRODUCTS until the company takes a more socially reponsible position with regard to RFID technology. Specifically, we are asking Benetton to: (a) Publicly renounce its plans to equip clothing with RFID tags (b) Provide a guarantee to customers that all garments available
for ========================================================================= Imagine clothing imbedded with tiny computer tracking devices
that can be read at a distance -- RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)
chips. Imagine a future where such reader devices form a pervasive
"global network," hidden in everything from doorways,
carpet, and floor tiles, to the refrigerator and medicine cabinet
in your home.* Imagine this Imagine a world of no more privacy. Now imagine an Italian fashion company kicking off this future with the announcement that it has put RFID tracking chips into 15 million of its garments -- garments to be worn by unsuspecting young men and women in 160 of the earth's countries. Benetton made that announcement earlier this month, launching
a shocked public into a debate it did not even realize it needed
to have. Whether or not Benetton realizes the societal implications
of tagging clothing To allow time for all interested citizens to get "up
to speed" on what RFID remote surveillance technology is
and what it can do, CASPIAN is calling on all consumer goods
manufacturers and retailers to impose an ================ ========================================================================= Our Boycott Benetton website is now online. Many thanks to our dedicated, professional volunteers for creating the site. http://www.boycottbenetton.org If you manage web content anywhere on the Internet, please consider linking to this site. ========================================================================= Millions of AP Radio affiliate listeners in dozens of US cities heard a one-minute "Consumer Watch" story this weekend warning of Benetton's spy chip plans and spotlighting CASPIAN's call for a worldwide boycott. The story blanketed the nation from one end to the other.
AP affiliate radio stations include: WTOP Washington D.C.;
WBBM Chicago; KABC Los Angeles; KOA Denver; KRLD Dallas, WSM
Nashville; WSV Atlanta; KCMO Kansas City; WLS Chicago; KFAS
Omaha; WCCO Minneapolis; WJR Detroit; ========================================================================= Public response to the Benetton announcement has been overwhelming! ========================================================================= 1.3 millions Australians read about Benetton's clothing tracking plans and CASPIAN's calls for a worldwide boycott this weekend in the Sydney Morning Herald: "Benetton Chip Plan Under Fire" Kirsty Needham, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, Australia, March 22, 2003 - http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/21/1047749940587.html Privacy advocates have called for a worldwide boycott of
Benetton after the fashion label revealed plans to implant 15
million microchips into its garments.... a group called Consumers
Against Supermarket Privacy "Benetton could easily link your name and credit card
information to the serial number in your sweater," said
the group's US director, Katherine Albrecht. "Then any time
you go near a radio frequency reader device the The group has asked consumers to avoid Benetton products until the company renounces the technology. Benetton's Australasian office said many consumers had expressed concern at the reports. ------------- The Sydney Morning Herald 1.3 million Saturday readership
figures come from: ========================================================================= Philips' press release says that Benetton garments have ALREADY
been fitted with RFID tags, but in recent interviews Benetton
claims that it has not yet tagged any garments. Which is it?
We'll keep you posted as 1. YES: Press release dated March 11, 2003: "Clothes produced under Benetton's core brand Sisley have been fitted with RFID-enabled labels based on Philips' I.CODE semiconductor technology." 2. NO: Sydney Morning Herald article dated March 22, 2003: "a spokeswoman from Benetton's Italian head office stressed that no garments now contained the chips." 3. NO: AP Radio "Consumer Watch" interview dated March 21, 2003 Federico Sartor, Head of Benetton's Press Office in Italy, also said that no Benetton clothing has been fitted with the chips Which is it, Benetton? You can't have it both ways. Sources: ========================================================================= Benetton is claiming that it will disable the garment tracking
chips at checkout, but the truth is that the tracking chips
CANNOT BE PERMANENTLY DISABLED, they can only put into "sleep"
mode. Anyone with a reactivation device within three feet of
the chip can turn it back on again at any time -- without
the wearer's knowledge or permission. Benetton's claim: "Benetton... said it was possible
to deactivate the chip when the shopper left the shop." Here are the Philips technical specs explaining how easy it is to turn the chip back on: "The Special Functions block holds the two EAS bits
(Electronic Article Surveillance mode active - the label answers
the EAS command) as well as the two QUIET bits (QUIET mode enabled
- the label is permanently http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/acrobat/other/identification/sl048112.pdf By the way, Japanese manufacturers are working on a $20 hand-held RFID chip reader, which will put tracking and remote ID technology within the range of the average person (including the neighborhood voyeur). See: http://216.121.131.129/article/articleview/279/1/1/ ========================================================================= In addition to forwarding this message to everyone you know, please take a few minutes to forward it to television, radio, and print media. The link below will help you quickly find media outlets in your area and around the United States where you can forward this message. http://congress.org/stickers/?dir=congressorg&media=1 If you are a member of the media and would like to request
an interview with a CASPIAN spokesperson, please contact Katherine
Albrecht <kma@nocards.org or Mary Starrett <mstarrett@nocards.org.
Please ========================================================================= CASPIAN - Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering A national consumer organization opposing retail surveillance schemes since 1999 http://www.nocards.org We encourage you to duplicate and distribute this message to others. ========================================================== To subscribe or unsubscribe to the CASPIAN mailing list, click the following link or cut and paste it into your browser: http://www.nocards.org/cgi/mojo/mojo.cgi If you have difficulty with the web-based interface, you may also subscribe or unsubscribe via email by writing to: admin@nocards.org ========================================================== For CASPIAN's overview of RFID product identification and tracking technology, please see: http://www.nocards.org/AutoID/overview.shtml For a recent Boston Globe article highlighting CASPIAN's opposition to RFID technology see: http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/076/business/Privacy_advocate_warns_of_microchip_invasion+.shtml |