PetitionOnline

Infobox Website
name=PetitionOnline
url= [http://www.petitiononline.com Petition Online]
type=Internet petition
owner=Artifice, Inc.
author=Artifice, Inc.

PetitionOnline is an Internet petition service owned and trademarked by Artifice, Inc. that allows users to create and sign petitions. When enough signatures on a petition are collected, the creator of the petition can send it towards its intended target, usually by e-mail. According to the site itself, as of April 3, 2008, it has collected more than 66 million signatures and "thousands and thousands" of active petitions.cite web
url =http://www.petitiononline.com
title =Petition Online
accessdate =2007-11-25
publisher =Petition Online.com] A large number of hosted petitions are political in nature, but petitions come in eight categories: Politics and Government (including categories for USA, state, local, and international), Entertainment and Media, Environment, Religion, and Technology & Business.

In the news

Some of its petitions have received outside attention for the issues they have stood for. The site has claimed that its first official response to a hosted petition was from the "Dissatisfied Web TV Consumer Petition", in which Dennis Reno, senior director of Web TV customer service, responded to the claims of low-quality service. [Reno, Dennis. [http://www.petitiononline.com/BAMMO49/petition_response.html Re: Dissatisfied Web TV Consumer Petition] . PetitionOnline: 2001] In January 2002, CNN wrote a formal apology to the National Association of Muslim Women, which posted the "Petition to Correct the Negative Portrayal of Muslim Women in CNN Program Coverage" on the PetitionOnline site in December 2001, over perceived offensive comments made by Leon Harris during the "TalkBack Live" program. [cite web
url =http://www.petitiononline.com/CNN1214/petition_response.html
title =Bunda, Susan. Re: Petition to Correct the Negative Portrayal of Muslim Women in CNN Program Coverage
date=2002-01-11
accessdate =2007-11-25
publisher =Petitiononline.com] Later that year, the "New York Post" promoted a PetitionOnline-hosted petition asking the ABC television network to keep country singer Toby Keith in its 2002 Independence Day special over the controversy regarding Keith's song "The Angry American". [cite web
url =http://www.mediaresearch.org/printer/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20020627pf.asp#5
title ="Unorthodox" or "Liberal" Court?
work=CyberAlert
date=2002-06-27
accessdate =2007-12-25
publisher = Media Research Center The mentioned petition is " [http://www.petitiononline.com/tkaa/petition.html Support Toby Keith and The Angry American Song] ]

In 2004, the petition "iBook Logic Board Failure" was part of the coverage over a threatened lawsuit against Apple Computer over defective iBook laptops. [cite news
url =http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/biztech/01/01/apple.suit.reut/index.html
title =Apple users threaten to sue computer maker
date = 2004-01-01
accessdate = 2007-12-15
work= CNN|publisher=Reuters The mentioned petition is " [http://www.petitiononline.com/ibook123/petition.html iBook Logic Board Failure] "] In 2005, the petition "Support for Nathan Warmack's Right to Wear his Kilt" received attention for the issue of the mentioned high school student's right to wear a kilt to a school dance in Jackson High School in Jackson, Missouri. [cite news|title=Kilt-wearing teen seeks dress code change|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10570399/ |work= MSNBC|publisher=Associated Press|date=2005-12-22|accessdate=2007-11-25 The petition mentioned was " [http://www.petitiononline.com/kilt05/ Support for Nathan Warmack's Right to Wear his Kilt] ".] In 2007, the petition "Filipino Americans demand for apology from ABC and Desperate Housewives" was noted during coverage of the "Desperate Housewives" Filipino joke controversy. [cite news
url =http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/2007-10-03-3650831628_x.htm
last=Elber|first=Lynn
title =Housewives' Filipino joke draws ire
date = 2007-10-03
accessdate = 2007-11-25
work= USA Today|publisher=Associated Press The mentioned petition was " [http://www.petitiononline.com/FilABC/ Filipino Americans demand for apology from ABC and Desperate Housewives] " by Kevin Nadal]

Other claims of success through hosted online petitions include the introduction of Sci-Fi Channel Australia and the stopping of the possible closure of the San Francisco Japantown. [cite web
url =http://www.petitiononline.com/stories.html
title =Some PetitionOnline Success Stories
accessdate =2008-02-12
publisher = Petition Online]

Criticism

Some of the petitions hosted on the site have cause the credibility of the site to be questioned. [cite web
last=Mikkelson|first=Barbara|last2=Mikkelson|first2=David P.
title =Starving Dog Art
url =http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/vargas.asp
date=2007-10-20
accessdate =2007-12-15
publisher = Snopes] [cite web|last=Mikkelson|first=Barbara|last2=Mikkelson|first2=David P.|title =Ban on Gay Marriages
url =http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/marriage.htm|publisher = Snopes|date=2008-01-05|accessdate =2008-02-12] One petition, titled "Let's Save America - Ban Anime Now!" is an example of a hoax petition that was easily uploaded on PetitionOnline, intended to demonstrate the unmonitored oversight of petitions on the site. [cite web|last=Bundy|first= Rebecca|title=The Great Online Petition|url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2005-02-04 |work=Hey Answerman!|publisher= Anime News Network|date=2005-02-04|accessdate=2007-12-16] There are also numerous petitions that aim to stop online petitioning.

ee also

*Internet petition

References