The Crimes of Shell: Nigeria Outraged at US/UK Oil Plots

Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

[Owning all the oil in the middle east is not enough, and Nigerian
oil is never far from the imperialists' greedy minds, as Ken Saro
Wiwa learned.  In related news, Royal Dutch Shell will not even
permit anyone to use the name "Shell" in a German internet domain,
even though the owner is named "Shell" too and registered it before
the German subsidiary of Shell decided to grab it. Sovereignty, of
a name or of a nation, means nothing when multinational coporations
are involved. The corporations always win.]


Friday November 23, 2:16 pm Eastern Time (via Yahoo)

Nigeria orders UK and US to cancel oil meeting

ABUJA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria on Friday ordered British and
United States diplomats to cancel a meeting with the governors of the
West African nation's oil-producing states, calling it a threat its
sovereignty, officials said.

Nigeria's minister of state for foreign affairs Duben Onyia summoned
U.S. ambassador Howard Jeter and British Deputy High Commissioner
Charles Burd on Friday to tell them the meeting scheduled for Tuesday
next week must be called off.

Duben said the government was embarrassed to learn about the meeting
from a third party.

"The British and American governments should not be involved in the
nation's domestic politics without the approval of the appropriate
government authorities," Duben told reporters.

"It is the desire of the Nigerian government to consolidate her
bilateral relations with both countries. However, both countries
should respect Nigeria's sovereignty," he said.

"A meeting with governors of oil producing states of the country is
too sensitive," Duben said.

British and American diplomats said the meeting never meant to
undermine the central government.

"The intended meeting was not meant to be a threat to the sovereignty
of Nigeria," Burd told reporters.

"The meeting was to share information with the governors on some
environmental issues that would be beneficial to the oil producing
communities," he said.

Royal Dutch Shell is Nigeria's largest producer accounting for
roughly half of the country's daily crude oil output of about two
million barrels, followed by U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil, which
pumps about 620,000 barrels per day from Nigerian oilfields.

Since Nigeria returned to democratic rule about two years ago,
oil-producing states and the federal government in Abuja have been
fueding over control of its oil resources, the nation's economic
mainstay.

Militant youths in the oil-producing communities have also frequently
attacked oil production facilities as part of their campaign for a
bigger share of the oil derived in their backyard.


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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=258675340

Shell beats Shell for right to German web address

KARLSRUHE: A German court ruled on Friday oil giant Shell had more
right to the www.shell.de website than an individual called Shell who
had already registered the name.

Deutsche Shell GmbH, the German unit of Royal Dutch/Shell, sued
Andreas Shell, who owned the address, over the right to use it.

The German federal court in Karlsruhe said in its ruling the use of
web addresses should be decided by determining which party had the
overriding interest in owning the name, even if someone else had
already registered it.

When the Anglo-Dutch oil company tried to register shell.de as its
website in May 1996, it discovered the name belonged to a firm that
bought famous trade names and sold them on.

Shell was unable to reach an agreement with the registering company,
which sold the address to Andreas Shell, who used shell.de as the
homepage for a translation and publicity business.

The judge said everyone had the right to a website in their name,
regardless of whether it was for business or personal use.

However, this was meaningless if there was such a large gap between
two interests claiming the name.

The name Shell was well known, the judge said, and most customers
would expect to find the firm's website at shell.de, not that of the
individual.

The ruling is the latest in a series of international cases, brought
by famous people and firms against individuals they accuse of
"cybersquatting".

Top actresses Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman and pop singers Madonna
and Celine Dion have won cases to protect their name's trademark at
the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Rock stars Sting and
Bruce Springsteen lost their contests. ( REUTERS )
 
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