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Moylan's moment cost millions

By Elke Nagy - posted Tuesday, 15 July 2014


Jonathan Moylan, who has admitted to sending the fake media release, must look like easy meat. A successful prosecution with a long jail term would be worn as a badge of honour when ASIC executives visited board rooms in glass towers."

Crown's Counsel described how Moylan's deception had involved "extensive planning and premeditation", including setting up the email address media@anzcorporate.com at a cost of $27, copying the ANZ logo from the bank's website and using the name of a real ANZ communications spokesman in his media release. Moylan had also listed his own mobile number and changed his voicemail to the name of the legitimate ANZ employee.

At the same time, Crown's Counsel noted all previous cases brought under the false and misleading information provision of the corporations law had involved personal and selfish intentions, such as the desire to make a profit. As Moylan's case differs in this respect, a custodial sentence was not sought. Instead, the court discussed the possibility of an assessment for an intensive correction order where Moylan would be required to wear an electronic bracelet.

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The hearing continues.

Dr Matthew Rimmer, Associate Professor at the Australian National University College of Law, reports there has been a series of legal battles where environmental activists have harnessed tactics such as hoaxes, impersonation and identity correction which have led to charges of civil disobedience, corporate fraud, misleading and deceptive conduct.

These kinds of actions are known as culture jamming - a concept derived from radio jamming where public frequencies are pirated and subverted for independent communication, or to disrupt dominant frequencies. Identity correction involves the impersonation of representatives of companies, governments and international institutions in order to criticize the absurdity of their discourse.

In the USA, similar protest tactics have led to charges of copyright infringement, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair competition, false advertising and cyber-squatting. For example, in 2009, the Yes Men staged a press conference, pretending to be the United States Chamber of Commerce and announced the Chamber had decided to support substantive legislative action on climate change. Then they published a media release and set up a website. The resulting court action was eventually withdrawn so it remains unknown how the judge would have dealt with the case.

If nothing else, it can be certain there will be a continuing plethora of perplexing questions for the courts to ponder as climate activists continue to clash with the richest and most powerful industry on earth.

Activists now have better access to legal assistance. Australian organisation, Activists Rights, helps "Australian activist networks and movements face the police and legal system, build resilience against repression and to keep working for a better world." Electronic Frontier Foundation is an US-based collective of lawyers, policy analysts, activists, and technologists who uphold free speech, privacy, innovation and consumer rights in the courts.

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Moylan's predicament may hold all the elements of a tragic-comedic stage drama, yet the final outcomes of court cases like this have the power to affect us all.

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About the Author

Elke Nagy is a freelance writer and visual artist with an academic background in law, philosophy and science.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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