and finally....
Well, that's all I could come up with inside of fifteen minutes. Keep up the fight.
Maybe she should trademark her name so I can't use that last one.
It is rumored that a group of dedicated RRU supporters are training mutant dung beetles to transport vials of streptococcus bacteria to various undisclosed locations. It is believed that these locations are favorite leisure areas where a certain long necked beasty is known to frequent.
We have also been informed (by a reliable source) that that same unnamed long neck beasty actually is only 4' 3" tall and wears platform shoes he acquired from a yard in San Jose from some old 70's flower children cleaning out their basement.
Our ever vigilant staff will be on the watch for any other late breaking information and will advise you of any developments.
Please add my name to the list of people boycotting the idiots at TRU. Hey, TRU, get a clue. You come on the net with lawyers and try to beat up on people without trying to find out what is really going on. Typical Newbie [garbage].
Wal Mart is nearby and open late. U R'nt the only game in town.
Another name entry that was expressed too eloquently to not be published.
When I lived in the Washington, D.C., area, I learned how deeply rooted some people's bad grammar can be. I overheard one woman tell another that she was going to "Toys Is Us"! This is the inspiration for my entry, a testimonial to how deeply rooted some corporations' stupidity can be: "Roadkills Is Us"!
This person is also setting up an "-R-Us" site in protest.
Here's what I sent via their feedback section on their web page...
(Lot of nerve, calling it the Mind Meld.... Gene Roddenberry's estate should sue...)
Someone else made this same point the same day.
Gentlemen,
I have been reading with vast amusement and (I admit) some trepidation about your fascist attempts to force Miles O'Neil to change his web page Roadkill-R-Us.
The trepidation came from your attempt to have Mr. O'Neil's Constitutionally guaranteed right of free speech interdicted by threatening his former ISP (Internet Service Provider) with legal action if they did not pull his access. Such tactics (I thought) belong in totalitarian states such as Nazi Germany, not the United States.
I'm a veteran of our country's military services. I and others have been prepared to shed blood, and in many cases done so, for the rights of the people of this country to say what they will. Your actions are exactly the sort of thing that was fought against.
I find it incredible that your company's legal department has that much time to waste harassing a private citizen to the degree I've seen. I have two children, a comfortable disposable income, and a major holiday coming up. Rest assured that none of my dollars will ever find their way into your stores. My children are of an age to begin to understand principles such as freedom of speech, and I feel that these principles are important enough to discuss with them, as well as the parents of their friends.
Until such time as your company:
a) stops the harassing pseudo-legal tactics currently employeed against Miles O'Neil, and
b) issues a public apology on UseNet, your web page, and all newspapers that have carried this story (such as the Houston Chronicle),
Neither I, nor any member of my family will shop at your establishments.
Well, it's easy to join the side of the right, and I'm joining it. Allowing Toys'R'Us /any/ leeway in this would be a bad precedent. I encourage you not to expend any effort in changing the name of Roadkills'R'Us. Humoring TRU in any way is bad, bad, bad!
Imagine they were to walk away from this challenge feeling that they'd won. What next? McDonald's goes after any companies with names such as McAffee's? International Business Machines sues Carolina Business Machines? Ken Griffith gets sued by TRU because _Zippy the Pinhead_ occasionally mentions TRU (in HUMOR?)!
Don't humor them! Your web page is like your shirt. Say what you like. The responsibilities of free speech do not prevent you from having a page of RoadkillsRUs.
They don't want to grow up, so you must expect them to behave as children. The best response to a kid who's been taught to cry for what it wants is to ignore it. Let it steep in frustration until it abandons the pursuit.
Does Toys R Us have an e-mail address so I can tell them this parent and long-time customer thinks their threat to sue is down-right bone-headed and that I will not support their store should they proceed.
Keep up the good fight!
I'm sending him the email address, of course!
Added to page Dec. 13
Subject: Giraffe Breaks Neck and Suffocates on own VomitGreetings and Salivations!
After reading just a few lines on your page concerning the threat of lawsuit from Toys-R-Us, my first thought was "Oh PUH-LEEEZE!" Where do these people come from? Okay, I can see them suing someone for opening a store called [insert something here]-R-Us, which indeed would be in violation of a trademark, but give me a break - suing someone for creating a web site dedicated to giving people something to laugh at while winding down from a long day at work?
Actually, it's not clear they could successfully sue for that, but at least I could understand why they might want to.
That does it. They can kiss the few measly hundred bucks I spend there annually goodbye. And while they're at it, they can kiss my rosy white behind. No, make that [AHEM]. This is the internet and I can say that if I please.
And this page is rated ``G'', so no you can't. But I'm sure certain giraffes, lawyers and other corporate people receiving this will be able to properly substitute.
That does it. Not only am I going to provide the number one link on my web page to Roadkills-R-Us, along with a link to allow disgusted individuals like me to drop by and leave Geoffrey a word or two, I hereby declare to use as MANY *-R-Us titles on all my web pages. If enough of us do things like this, they will be forced to either sue all of us or back down. Did the folks at Miller Brewing Company sue everyone for using the, albeit terrible misspelling, word "Lite?" So many products have that now-common misspelling on them that my young niece thought that *was* the proper spelling. Oh dear... Hey, TRU thought they were cute by copping a shortened version, why can't the rest of us follow suit? Oh, wait, maybe that was the wrong way to put it. At any rate, you have my support, not only as a neighbour (I live in the same area as you do), but my moral support as well. Let them sue ME; I have nary a dime to my name and they would only be, shall we say, [spraying liquid] in the wind.
Sincerely Irked, [signature]
My Dearest Geoffrey:
In as much as I don't know you personally, I would like to take a moment to remind you that I have many credit cards. As a loyal American consumer, I use these credit cards to purchase all manner of useless and wasteful products.
Since it is near Christmas Season and since the consumers loudest voice is the way they spend their dollars, I do not choose to share my dollars with Toys~R~Whatever.
As long as you choose to continue these lawsuits against anyone using an R in their name, I feel that I can no longer purchase your useless and wasteful consumer products.
I also think that the consumers should start a grass roots campaign to investigate the toys purchased in the U.S. from the overseas sweatshop, child labor abusing countries which are printed on so many of your products.
In closing, let me just say that even though you may feel justified in protecting your stuffed animal, without consumer support, you are just another vendor with no outlet.
[RRU]
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[Out of the Blue!]
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[Lightning Strikes Twice]
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[A Slap to the Head]
[They Think They Won]
Last updated: 25 October 2001
