[owm] OWM Volkswagen sues over wire cars!!

[Laura Wendell]

I can't believe this!!  Volkswagen's "public relations agency of record" 
is listed below.  The Director of Corporate Communications is Steve 
Keyes steve.keyes at vw.com:

Michael W. Kempner
President and Chief Executive Officer
MWW Group
OneMeadowlands Plaza
East Rutherford, NJ 07073
Voice: 201-507-9500
E-mail:
mkempner at mww.com <mailto:mkempner at mww.com>

Hi Laura,

We apologize for having to send this out. This email is intended as vital
information for anyone who stocks the Volkswagen Model.

Last night we received a Cease and Desist order from Volkswagen of America's
lawyers - demanding that we pay royalties on all previous sales, send our
inventory for destruction, cease to sell any more and provide contact
information on the supplier.

As you know we have been assisting the Teenage Mothers Association of Kenya
(TEMAK) in marketing a wire Volkswagen model in the USA. The model is made
from recycled wire and hand painted; it is a piece of art. Before the
production of this and other wire items the artists were making less than
one dollar a day. The income generated from the sales of this item helps
support the artisans and TEMAK's work including fighting AIDS and Female
Genital Mutilation in Kenya.

We have created a web page  <http://www.globalcrafts.org/vofa.html>
www.globalcrafts.org/vofa.html which has a copy of the C & D order and our
initial response to Volkswagen of America.

It is likely that later today we will withdraw the product from sale for the
month of August while we try to resolve this matter. If you are selling this
product in your store or online you too could receive the same cease and
desist order. We are not able to advise you of what to do, this is your
decision, but you need to  be aware that you could receive a C & D notice.
We will not be passing on any information about our customers to Volkswagen
of America or its lawyers, however their tactic here seems to be using the
Internet to find suppliers of anything Volkswagen related.

We feel that this is a baseless claim in law, and that morally Volkswagen
would not wish to purse it. However while we make further investigations we
will not be able to sell the product.

We have always been grateful to our customers for your loyal support. As
this develops we may well take on this case in the media.  We would like to
ask you now for your help in reaching local and national media if that time
comes. We feel that if nothing else it is morally repugnant for a large
corporation to try to prevent an artisan in Kenya who struggles for daily
survival to make a decent living producing a simple piece of wire art in the
shape of a world recognized car.

We will be keeping you informed at critical stages and thank you in advance
for your support.

Kevin & Renice

Global Crafts


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