Glen here...
...writing for Harry because he's been out of the loop for the last day, and there have been some problems which need to be addressed honestly and pointedly.
There is something of an unspoken protocol between masters of web sites. Perhaps the two most important elements of this protocol are: 1) always give credit to other sites if you are aware that specific information comes from those other sites, and 2) always stay out of other site's business whenever addressing the public - because how they conduct themselves and run their site is their business, and not your own.
The two exceptions to this latter rule: 1) when you are able to reference and refute information posted on a certain site or 2) when another site's business becomes your own. The latter of these two exceptions is what brings me here today.
I am referring specifically to the torrent of e-mail and rumors flying around about the Net regarding a site called Countingdown. Said site has gotten a lot of attention the last few days because of a generally accepted notion that Countingdown would be posting the latest Star Wars: Episode One trailer yesterday afternoon.
Without going into too extensive a breakdown, I will make this as simple as possible:
**1) This weekend, Countingdown posts a heads up to people, telling them to expect something big on Tuesday (yesterday). At first Countingdown's message actually indicates it is the much anticipated Episode One Trailer B, but the message is alter adjusted to avoid indicating exactly what is coming.
Concurrently: fans, being aware that the new Episode One trailer hits theaters this week, function under the impression that this is what Countingdown had somehow managed to snag an advanced copy of.
**2) Countingdown was keenly aware of the public's perception that the trailer would be posted on Tuesday, and did little or nothing on its site to dissuade the notion. Posting a simple ("What's coming Tuesday is not the trailer!" message would have taken all of...what....about two minutes?)
** 3) COuntingdown posted a message yesterday afternoon indicating it would not be posting Trailer B (aka "the trailer") due to Lucasfilms' influence, and how sad the webmaster was very sad about this.
**4) The Internet fan community undertsands this to mean Lucasfilms has served one of their dreaded Cease and Desist orders on Countingdown, and immediately sets about damning "those Lucas bastards".
At one point, I (here at AICN) get phone calls from foreign press looking for a statement about how Lucasfilms went after "the little guy", and so forth. One caller from U.K. press indicates Countingdown having been hit with a Cease and Desist order, and that Countingdown had gotten the trailer from some folks at U.K's Channel 4.
In other words, the perception that Countingdown had the trailer & was barraged by Lucasfilms' legal department was wide-spread across the Net, and even the global press held that notion.
** 4) Last night, Countingdown posts yet another message, indicating he never had the trailer, that he never said he had the trailer, that he had a joke trailer involving Sourth Park characters which is what he had intended to post all along (this was the first time the South Park trailer had ever been mentioned in public on his site), and neglected to clear up any misconceptions about Lucasfilms' and their legal assault on Countingdown.
Countingdown blamed sites like AICN, theforce.net, jedinet, etc. for perpetuating the understanding that it was about to post the trailer, and fialed to address Countingdown's own accountability, responsibility, and lack of clarity in this matter.
So, to all the people who waited by their computers & hung around Countingdown yetserday...expecting to see Episode One, Trailer B (which it turns out the site never had)...you were the victim of a joke.
A joke which deliberately allowed a known misconception to go unaddressed, a joke which quickly caught the attention of the global press, a joke which has cast a negative light on Lucasfilms, who has done nothing (in this instance) to be the villain. A joke which should have been summarily terminated the moment Countingdown became aware of its readerships' unfounded beliefs and expectations.
This should serve as a potent and ugly reminder that Webmatsers on highly visible web sites - who are being watched by mass media from all over the world - are all accountable for their actions, and for understanding the level of responsibility and influence we possess. We are all wrong sometime, and there's nothing unexpected or spectacular about that.
But to mislead many thousands of people by omission of fact, or silence - in a time when so many sites are struggling to attain mainstream credibility? You be the judge.
While I (personally) hold a great deal of criticism for how Lucasfilms has conducted itself in the past, they're getting a raw deal this time around. It is important for both the Net community - and the press who contacted AICN yesterday - to know that Lucasfilms did not attack Countingdown. There was nothing to attack - Countingdown did not have the item in question, the item it allowed people to believe it had.
As for "the joke"? Well, I suppose the upside of all of this is the "trailer" which ultimately got posted by Countingdown (the South Park SW trailer parody) is being well received and much appreciated by foks who have taken the time to download it. To access it, just click on any one of the kabillions of Countingdown links which appear throughout this article.
This statement is extremely case specific. It is not meant to suggest AICN is in any way a perfect entity, and has never made mistakes. It is not meant to suggest that we believe ourselves to be the "policemen" of the Internet, or in any way have the right to judge or defame others.
This is, simply, our site's effort to get to "the truth" of a very unfortunate and disappointing scenario which involves one of AICN's most covered subjects. A situation which caught this site (and many other sites and individuals) in its slipstream yesterday. We are not attempting to discourage visitors from visiting Countingdown. We are, simply, trying to put the final...and correct...spin on a story which had not quite come to a conclusion.
Somebody has to...
