10 Zen Monkeys

10 Zen Monkeys is a daily updated Internet publication covering a variety of subjects, including technology and popular culture, politics, internet memes, and controversies. It ranges in tone from hard news to gossip and opinion.

History

Former [http://gettingit.com/ GettingIt.com] collaborators R. U. Sirius, Jeff Diehl, and Lou Cabron started publishing "10 Zen Monkeys" in September 2006.

The Gawker Firing

Gawker blogger Nick Douglas wrote gossip about Silicon Valley on "Valleywag". After he gave an interview to "10 Zen Monkeys", he was replaced as editor. [http://www.valleywag.com/tech/housekeeping/valleywag-release-candidate-2-214343.php Public statements] by Gawker's Nick Denton announced this was due to a desire to change the site's tone. However, an [http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/memo-why-valleywag-sacked-its-editor/ internal memo] surfaced on the "New York Times" blog "DealBook" that blamed Douglas's departure on sarcastic comments he'd made in [http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2006/11/02/interview-with-valleywag-nick-douglas/ the interview] with "10 Zen Monkeys".

The Crook/EFF Controversy

The site first wrote about Ocean City, New Jersey blogger [http://www.michaelcrook.org/ Michael Crook] when he mimicked Jason Fortuny's experiment of baiting men on Craigslist by pretending to be a young woman looking for casual sex [ cite news | author = Ian Daly | title = The Sex Ad was a Setup |publisher = IGN | date =2007-01 | url = http://men.style.com/details/features/full?id=content_5288 | accessdate=2007-06-30] , and then posting their private information on a website, which he ran. The [http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2006/09/18/in-the-company-of-jerkoffs/ article] contained an image of Crook on Fox News Channel. Crook [http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/diehl_v_crook/exhd.pdf claimed he had rights] pertaining to the copyright over his likeness in the image and filed a DMCA takedown notice to have it removed. Diehl saw this as an abuse of the law and an attempt to harass the publication for criticizing Crook, and filed [http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/diehl_v_crook/exhd.pdf a lawsuit] in which he was represented by free speech lawyers from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

As the blogosphere picked up the story, Crook continued to serve takedown notices on sites that ran his image in any form, including [http://boingboing.net/2006/11/02/michael_crook_sends_.html Boing Boing] , [http://laughingsquid.com/ Laughing Squid] , and even Jason Fortuny. On March 14, 2007 the EFF [http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2007_03.php#005161 announced ] Crook had agreed to their settlement terms, including relinquishing all claims to the image, withdrawing all DMCA notices with a promise not to send more pertaining to the screenshot, and even recording [http://10zm.blip.tv/file/169553/ a video apology] to the Internet, although noting on his blog that "no settlement can force a sincere, contrite heart". He also noted that because of the settlement, no actual legal precedent was established. [ cite news | author = Michael Crook| title = Why'd Ya Settle, Dude? |publisher = Michael Crook | date =2007-11-08 | url = http://www.michaelcrook.org/blog/2007/11/08/whyd-ya-settle-dude/ | accessdate=2008-07-27]

References

External links

* [http://www.10zenmonkeys.com 10 Zen Monkeys]
* [http://www.gettingit.com/ GettingIt.com]
* [http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/diehl_v_crook/ EFF archive on representing 10 Zen Monkeys against Michael Crook]
* [http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/diehl_v_crook/crook_complaint.pdf Lawsuit complaint]