Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:09:23 -0400 (EDT)

From: Andy Bichlbaum <admin@theyesmen.org>

To: "White, Robert S C" <robert.white2@uk.bp.com>

Subject: Use of a website... infringing copyright on the trademarks of BP p.l.c.

Dear Mr. White, BP p.l.c.,

Thank you very much indeed for taking the time to write to us in regard to

your company's website, BP.com.

First of all, please allow me to say that we do completely understand and

sympathize with the hurt that your company has every right in the world to

feel, and we deeply apologize for occasioning this emotion.

And although we do know that there can be no excuse at all for this slight,

I would beg your indulgence for just one minute, so that I might try to

explain our side of the story, such as it is.

Back in 2006, we began preparing some satires on a number of companies that

we considered to be the world's prime malefactors, in order to help expose

their monstrous crimes in a humorous way. These companies included

ExxonMobil, Halliburton/KBR, and a number of other entities, including your

own.

Sadly, while we did get around to fully realizing some of the spoofs -

including the ones on Exxon and Halliburton - we actually *forgot* about

yours shortly after we began work on it, and it thus remained in the

execrable half-finished state in which, to your horror, you found it last

week. It didn't even have its own URL!

I would like to sincerely apologize to your company on behalf of the Yes

Men. Like morons, we were misled by appearances. Like morons, we thought -

or rather, felt - that the malefaction of those other companies was more...

maleficent than your own.

Yes, we can be real morons sometimes. There is no doubt of that.

But I am here to tell you today that we are making efforts. We now

understand that objectively, BP does every bit as much damage to this planet

as does Exxon, Halliburton, or any other more obviously nefarious company,

regardless of its carefully engineered professions of decency and concern.

And we are ready today to prove our maturity, sincerity, and newfound

intelligence by offering you a fully realized spoof of your own:

http://beyond-petrol.com/. We have likewise deleted the offending

pages you refer to below.

I know that our admissions today may be rubbing salt in your wounds, but I

do hope that this website can in some way make amends. Any relationship,

after all, must start from a place of truth and honesty, not deceit and

subterfuge. This is the honest truth, and so this is where we begin.

Again, please accept our deepest apologies, and our hopes for a better

future.

Yours most faithfully indeed,

The Yes Men

-------- Original Message --------

Subject: Use of a website... infringing copyright on the trademarks of

BP p.l.c.

Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:15:09 -0000

From: White, Robert S C <robert.white2@uk.bp.com>

Dear Sirs,

My name is Robert White and I work in Group Trade Marks - part of the

Legal Department of BP p.l.c.

Our responsibilities extend to protecting the BP brand and trade marks

which includes monitoring the internet for infringements and fraudulent

activities.

Our attention has been drawn to the existence of the following web pages.

http://www.theyesmen.org/agribusiness/beyondpetrol/

You will note that these pages bear a remarkable similarity to the

genuine www.bp.com <http://www.bp.com> website.

You will observe that the webpages in question include multiple

reproductions of the BP logo. BP p.l.c. has not authorised this and

submit that this infringes the copyright in BP's trademarks.

In addition, we are concerned that there is a real risk of that genuine

visitors could be confused and being diverted away from the genuine

www.bp.com <http://www.bp.com> site. For example, please refer to link

to the "Contact Us" page

http://www.theyesmen.org/agribusiness/beyondpetrol/contactusdisplay.html

You will see that there are a number email addresses listed all ending

in "@beyondpetrol.com". BP neither owns the www.beyondpetrol.com

<http://www.beyondpetrol.com> domain and nor the email addresses

attached to the domain.

Whilst we do not object to the www.theyesmen.org

<http://www.theyesmen.org> per se, our concerns relate to the web pages

appearing at the http://www.theyesmen.org/agribusiness/beyondpetrol/

level (and below) in the hierarchy of the site.

[...]

Yours faithfully,

*Robert White*

BP p.l.c.

Group Trade Marks

20 Canada Square

London

E14 5NJ

United Kingdom

Direct Line: +44 (0) 207 948 5726

Fax: +44 (0) 207 948 7723

Email: robert.white2@bp.com <mailto:robert.white2@bp.com>

/BP p.l.c., a company registered in England and Wales with the

company number 102498 and whose registered office is 1 St James's

Square, London SW1Y 4PD/

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by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) is unauthorised. If you

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