Thursday, May 22, 2008

Kafka

Kafka, according to Wikipedia :

Franz Kafka, (3 July 1883 - 3 June 1924) was one of the major German-language fiction writers of the 20th century. He was born to a middle-class Jewish family in Prague, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic). His unique body of writing—much of which is incomplete and was published posthumously—is among the most influential in Western literature.[1]
His stories, such as The Metamorphosis (1915), and novels, including The Trial (1925) and The Castle (1926), concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal and bureaucratic world.
Kafka’s work is seen as the symbol of the uprooted man in modern times. No one believes that his work is only an attempt, in an obvious battle with “superior forces”, to give the initiative back to the individual, who makes his own choice responsibly.

Below is a text I received from one of our friends who authorized me the post it on my blog. It refers to the interpretation of the Evin law, etc…

“Dear Jean-Luc,

Three months ago, we brought to your attention the publication of an order from Paris appeals court forbidding any forms of promotion and publicity of alcohol on the Internet, and particularly wine. We started a petition and received more that 4500 signatures. What we feared actually took place. The decision from the Paris court on the Heineken case and the confirmation of the Evin Law’s new interpretation produced their first concrete effect: Microsoft’s advertising sales division informed their customers in the wine industry (distributors, wine stores, wineries, etc.) that they will stop posting their adverts staring June 1 2008 noting that “the legislation states that the internet is not included in the mediums authorized to broadcast advertizing spots on alcohol (Article L3323-2). Therefore, Microsoft adCenter decided to ban adverts promoting and/or encouraging sales of alcohol.”
We have reached another stage as advertisers are now forbidding the promotion of wine on the internet. If Google and Yahoo follow Microsoft, how will winemakers and merchants be able to promote their wine on the internet?

An article posted on our blog (
http://www.findawine.com/blog/)shows presents in details Microsoft’s decision. We also updated the petition page, “support wine on the Internet”, in order to give a boost to signatures. I recall that several members of parliament accepted our petition and are working on a proposal for legislation.”

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