Hola a tothom, A veure com ho administrem... De moment un petit missatge sobre la possible no celebració del What the Hack http://www.whatthehack.org/ Preguen en fem difussió així que... Abraçades, Yann . -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Announce-whatthehack] Emergency WTH-newsflash: mayor wants to ban What The Hack ! Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 08:52:40 +0200 From: Rop Gonggrijp <[email protected]> To: [email protected] (You can help. Read on for details) We still find it hard to believe, but we have to accept the fact that it is true. The mayor of Boxtel, the municipality under which the location for 'What The Hack' resides, seems to be refusing a permit for our gathering, citing "grave fear that the organisation of this event will endanger law and order as well as public safety". Previous instances of this event have seen no incidents of any kind. We feel this matter needs public attention to get resolved, and we issued a press statement today. The letter (dutch): http://www.whatthehack.org/news/boxtelbrief A fairly literal (and by no means legally approved) translation would say: Dear Sir, Madam, I have received word that you intend to organize an event "What The Hack" from July 28th 2005 through July 31st 2005 on Landgoed Velder in Liempde. In order to organize such an event, you will need to obtain a permit ex art. 2.2.2. of Boxtel local ordinance 2004. In light of the fact that there is grave fear that this event will endanger law and order as well as public safety, I, in my capacity as an authorized official, am herewith informing you that I will not issue such a permit. A copy of this letter will be sent to the owners of the Landgoed Velder estate. I assume that I have sufficiently informed you. Yours truly, MAYOR OF BOXTEL, J.A.M. van Homelen We have since mobilised our legal team and communicated with the municipality some more. The entire exchange can be found here, and will be updated as more communication happens. We're preparing to take this matter to court, and we have strong reasons to believe this will not stand. What you can do We issued press releases in english, dutch and german. Maybe you have means at your disposal to get this matter some attention. Please forward the message to any and all journalists you know, both at the corporate and at the alternative media. Put it on your weblog. Talk about it on online forums. If you happen to live or work in Boxtel, talk to people and make sure they understand we're good people and that their mayor seems uninformed. Make sure people understand what we are and aren't all about. Keep watching this space for news: things should be moving at a fairly high pace for the next few days and weeks. What you probably shouldn't do Please remember that for now we assume this is all somehow a big mistake, and if anything, we want to charm the local community of Boxtel. We currently do not believe we have an actual disagreement. We believe instead that the mayor does not understand what kind of event What The Hack is. We do not want to be seen as radical or pushy. Maybe it's an oldfashioned or conservative notion, but we simply feel our community has a right to gather peacefully. Getting angry or even vindictive towards the mayor, the municipality or anyone else is always counter-productive. Refunds Have no fear: What The Hack will happen. Now what comes next hurts to say, but we'd rather say the unspeakable before anyone else does: Feel secure in the knowledge that in the extremely unlikely event that 1. we will not be allowed to gather near Boxtel 2. we cannot find another location all ticket fees paid to us will be refunded in full. Period. In fact: this is your chance to show that it takes more than misinformed public servants to scare you. Buy your ticket today! Smile Perhaps most importantly: Don't let all of this get you down: a good mood and a sense of humor have always been powerful weapons. ______________________________________________ Renovamos el Correo Yahoo! Nuevos servicios, más seguridad http://correo.yahoo.es