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Chamber of Commerce sues Yes Men
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday announced it would sue a group of activists who tried last week to impersonate their organization.
After the Yes Men staged a fake press conference at the National Press Club to "reveal" the Chamber supported cap-and-trade legislation, the Chamber has decided to sue the group for misappropriating its logo and violating a host of related copyrights.
"The Chamber is a strong proponent of free speech and encourages public debate on issues of the day," said Steven Law, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a statement Monday. "However, the law is clear that you can't misappropriate others' intellectual property for personal financial gain."
The Yes Men began last week's hoax with a press release announcing the Chamber had made an "about face," and now supported pending climate change legislation in Congress. After a few reporters picked up on the release -- some of which accidentally reported it as true -- the activist group held a press conference to further make the case for why the Chamber now backed Democrats' climate change efforts.