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Thursday, August 31, 2000
Just outside Philadelphia, there are a pack of creative individuals who have created chaos on the Web -- Camp Chaos, that is.
Led by Internet entrepreneur, Bob Cesca, the Camp Chaos so-called Mafia creates "back-of-the-brain" humor -- most of it Flash-based video that is short enough that you can view it while your boss isn't looking. The Camp Chaos Mafia started gaining national attention recently with its Metallica vs. Napster cartoon spoofs -- leading to a full line of "Napster Bad!" and "Napster Good!" merchandise.
Warner Bros. executives heard about these guys and commissioned them to create a series of cartoon spoofs featuring characters from HBO's Sopranos, in which Warner Brothers executives (voiced by themselves) ask Tony Soprano to "whack" Napster creators. Warner Bros. was to use the spoofs at one of its fan conventions, then give Web-rights to Camp Chaos.
The cartoons were created. The payments were made to Camp Chaos. And the cartoon spoofs, in Macromedia Flash, were posted to the Net. Only problem: the contract was never signed, and all agreements were oral.
Apparently, the Warner Bros. execs became embarrassed by the Flash-based spoofs, and the fact that they were available worldwide for anybody to see. So they asked Cesca to remove them from his Web site.
Perhaps the two participating executives were embarrassed because they used so much colorful language in the spoofs. Maybe they were suddenly concerned that the spoofs might hurt their case against Napster. Or they might not have received the proper approvals from their bosses. Some might say the Warner executives involved really didn't understand what "Web rights" means.
Whatever the reasons, Cesca agreed to pull the animations from his Web site. He could probably go to court, but he'll be up against big-company lawyers, having only a small-company budget. At least this way, he can try to get more business from Warner Bros. if the situation lends itself. After all, he has remained a good business partner.
I find it a great win for small business and the new Internet power structure to think that the company that created Looney Tunes and Batman comics would ask a Web entrepreneur to create such product. It speaks volumes for the need to find new processes to meet market demand quickly.
I also love the idea that the project was turned around in a fraction of the development time as most corporate projects -- even without the full contract in place. That speaks highly of the cooperation between the two companies. Cesca is even pleased by the quick payment by Warner Bros.
Have a question for David Radin? Contact him at his Web site
But it also shows the inadvisability of stating a project without getting all the details worked out. And in the Internet-related world, it is easier than ever to miss details. A lot of the problems stem from individuals having little or no experience in the medium. And that's probably what we have here.
Q: Last week in your column, you showed how to keep programs from starting up automatically by editing the autoexec.bat in Notepad. How do you open Autoexec.bat in Notepad? Once the item is found and you REM it, how do you register the change?
A: Simply open Notepad from your start menu (typically [Programs], then [Accessories]. Then, using the [File], [Open...] command, find autoexec.bat in your C:\directory. You'll have to make sure the drop down list shows "All Files" to see the file. As soon as you save the autoexec.bat, it will be effective. The next time you reboot the system, the item in question will not start automatically.
David Radin is host of the nationally syndicated radio show Internet Insider, a local version of which is aired on KDKA AM 1020 on Saturdays at noon.
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