PetitionOnline

Last updated
PetitionOnline
Type of site
Internet petition
Dissolved 2014
Country of origin United States
Owner Change.org, Inc.
Created byArtifice, Inc.
URL www.petitiononline.com
Launched1999
Current statusShutdown September 30, 2014

PetitionOnline was the first widely known Internet petition service [1] that allowed users to create and sign petitions. It went live in 1999, [1] was acquired by Change.org in 2011 and shut down in 2014.

Contents

History

It was launched and trademarked in 1999 by Artifice, Inc., [2] [3] [4] a private 3D modeling software company launched and led by Kevin Michael Matthews, [5] a professor at the University of Oregon during the 1990s. [6] [7] [8] By the end of February 2000, Matthews had included and trademarked the site's slogan: "This is the marketplace of free ideas". [9]

In 2011, the service was acquired by Change.org. [10] It underwent a design change on October 30, 2011. [11] [12]

On September 30, 2014, PetitionOnline shut down citing increased costs of web hosting and development. [13]

Functioning

A petition that gathered a required number of signatures could be delivered by its creator to its intended recipient, usually by e-mail. According to the site itself, as of October 29, 2011 it had collected over 93 million signatures. [12] By October 2000, the petitions were grouped into eight thematic categories, four of which were explicitly political: "Politics and Government – USA", "Politics and Government – International", "Politics and Government – State", "Politics and Government – Local", "Entertainment and Media", "Environment", "Religion", and "Technology & Business". [14] [12]

In the news

Some of the site's petitions received outside attention for the issues they have stood for. The site claimed that its first official response to a hosted petition was from the "Dissatisfied Web TV Consumer Petition", in which Dennis Reno, senior director of Web TV customer service, responded to the claims of low-quality service. [15] In January 2002, CNN wrote a formal apology to the National Association of Muslim Women, which posted the "Petition to Correct the Negative Portrayal of Muslim Women in CNN Program Coverage" on the PetitionOnline site in December 2001, over perceived offensive comments made by Leon Harris during the TalkBack Live program. [16] Later that year, the New York Post promoted a PetitionOnline-hosted petition asking the ABC television network to keep country singer Toby Keith in its 2002 Independence Day special over the controversy regarding Keith's song "The Angry American". [17]

In 2004, the petition "iBook Logic Board Failure" was part of the coverage over a threatened lawsuit against Apple Computer over defective iBook laptops. [18] In 2005, the petition "Support for Nathan Warmack's Right to Wear his Kilt" received attention for the issue of the mentioned high school student's right to wear a kilt to a school dance in Jackson High School in Jackson, Missouri. [19] In 2007, the petition "Filipino Americans demand for apology from ABC and Desperate Housewives" received media attention after the American television series Desperate Housewives included a line said to be bigoted against Filipinos. [20]

Other claims of success through hosted online petitions include the introduction of Sci-Fi Channel Australia and the stopping of the possible closure of the San Francisco Japantown. [21]

Criticism

Some of the petitions hosted on the site have cause the credibility of the site to be questioned. [22] [23] One petition, titled "Let's Save America - Ban Anime Now!" is an example of a hoax petition that was easily created on PetitionOnline, intended to demonstrate the unmonitored oversight of petitions on the site. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Darwin Awards are a rhetorical tongue-in-cheek honor that originated in Usenet newsgroup discussions around 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool by dying or becoming sterilized by their own actions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban legend</span> Form of modern folklore

Urban legends is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Carlin</span> American stand-up comedian (1937–2008)

George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor, and author. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of counterculture comedians". He was known for his dark comedy and reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and taboo subjects.

MSNBC is an American news-based television channel and website headquartered in New York City. It is owned by NBCUniversal — a subsidiary of Comcast — and provides news coverage and political commentary. The network produces live broadcasts for its channel from studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, New York City, and aggregates its coverage and commentary on its website, msnbc.com.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teri Hatcher</span> American actress (born 1964)

Teri Lynn Hatcher is an American actress and singer best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997), Paris Carver in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Mel Jones and the Beldam in Coraline (2009) and Susan Mayer on the television series Desperate Housewives (2004–2012), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MoveOn</span> American grassroots progressive campaigning community

MoveOn is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest and most impactful grassroots progressive campaigning communities in the United States, with a membership of millions. MoveOn did not endorse a candidate during the 2020 presidential primary campaign; it then endorsed and actively supported Joe Biden in the general election. MoveOn is currently endorsing Kamala Harris, the current Vice President of the United States, as the Democratic Party nominee for president in the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Rahna Epting has been Executive Director of MoveOn Civic Action and MoveOn Political Action since 2019.

<i>Snopes</i> Fact-checking website

Snopes, formerly known as the Urban Legends Reference Pages, is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source for both validating and debunking urban legends and similar stories in American popular culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Rinna</span> American actress (b. 1963)

Lisa Rinna is an American actress, television personality and model. As an actress, she is best known for her roles as Billie Reed on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives and Taylor McBride on Fox's television drama Melrose Place. Between 2014 and 2022, Rinna starred on Bravo's hit reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Other television credits include being a contestant on NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice and ABC's Dancing with the Stars, as well as guest-starring roles on series such as Entourage, Veronica Mars, Community, The Middle, and American Horror Stories. Rinna made her Broadway debut in Chicago as Roxie Hart in June 2007.

Desperate Housewives is an American comedy-drama mystery television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a total of 180 episodes. Executive producer Marc Cherry served as showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season included Bob Daily, George W. Perkins, John Pardee, Joey Murphy, David Grossman, and Larry Shaw.

Bonsai Kitten was a hoax website that claimed to instruct readers how to raise a kitten in a jar, so as to mold the bones of the kitten into the shape of the jar as the cat grows in the same way as a bonsai plant. It was made by an MIT student going by the alias of Dr. Michael Wong Chang. The website generated fury with many people taking it as serious and complaining to animal rights organizations. The Michigan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) stated that "while the site's content may be faked, the issue it is campaigning for may create violence towards animals". Although the website is now shut down, petitions are still circulated to shut down the site or complain to its ISP. The website has been debunked by several organizations including Snopes.com and the Humane Society of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FactCheck.org</span> Fact-checking website

FactCheck.org is a nonprofit website that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics by providing original research on misinformation and hoaxes. It is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.

TrueMajority was a progressive advocacy group in the United States. In September 2007, TrueMajority and its related organization TrueMajorityACTION merged with USAction. By 2008, the combined groups had over 700,000 members, making it, together with MoveOn, one of the two largest liberal advocacy groups in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Mayer</span> Fictional character on Desperate Housewives

Susan Mayer is a fictional character played by Teri Hatcher on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. The character was created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry. She first appeared in the pilot episode of the series on October 3, 2004, and appeared in every episode until the series finale on May 13, 2012. Susan resides on the fictional Wisteria Lane in Fairview, Eagle State, the primary setting of the show. One of four lead characters, Susan is characterized as being a "notoriously clumsy" romantic with a "magnetic charm." Her storylines tend to focus on her romantic relationships, most notably with Mike Delfino, whom she marries twice in the series.

An online petition is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. Typically, after there are enough signatories, the resulting letter may be delivered to the subject of the petition, usually via e-mail. The online petition may also deliver an email to the target of the petition each time the petition is signed.

Kevin Menear, known professionally as Kevin Matthews, is a Midwest United States radio personality, best known for his 12-year association with WLUP "The Loop" and its one-time sister-station, WMVP "AM 1000." Matthews became popular for his off-kilter take on various topics. He's known for doing voices, including that of his irascible sidekick, sportscaster Jim Shorts. One of his bits was encouraging his listeners to yell out "Free Bird!" at various concerts, whether it was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, or Barry Manilow. One incidence of this was a heckler shouting "Free Bird!" as well as the names of Matthews and Shorts at a Bill Hicks show prompting an infamous rant by Hicks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Shuster</span> American television journalist

David Martin Shuster is an American television journalist. Shuster previously served as principal anchor and managing editor for i24 News, previously working as an anchor for MSNBC and worked for Fox News, CNN, Current TV, The Young Turks, and Al Jazeera America.

<i>Desperate Housewives</i> season 4 Season of television series

The fourth season of Desperate Housewives, an American television series created by Marc Cherry, premiered on September 30, 2007, on ABC. Filming for the series was interrupted by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike in November 2007, after production on the two-episode tornado storyline wrapped. The first part, "Something's Coming", aired on December 2, 2007. "Welcome to Kanagawa", the second part and the last episode filmed before the strike, was originally going to be aired after the strike's resolution, but aired on January 6, 2008. Seven additional episodes were produced for the fourth season after the strike, the first of which aired on April 13, 2008. The final two episodes served as a two-part finale and were aired consecutively on May 18, 2008. A total of 17 episodes aired as part of the season, with one recap special airing on September 23, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Maine gubernatorial election</span>

The 2010 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010 to elect the governor of Maine. Incumbent Democratic governor John Baldacci was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third consecutive term. Primary elections took place on June 8, 2010. The candidates who appeared on the November ballot were : Eliot Cutler (Independent), Paul LePage (Republican), Libby Mitchell (Democratic), Shawn Moody (Independent), and Kevin Scott (Independent).

ArchitectureWeek is an international weekly magazine covering architecture and design. It is published online by Artifice, Inc. in Eugene, Oregon, United States. ArchitectureWeek was founded in May 2000, and its first issue was published on May 17, 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joy Reid</span> American journalist (born 1968)

Joy-Ann M. Lomena-Reid is an American progressive political commentator and television host. She is a national correspondent for MSNBC and is best known for hosting the political commentary program The ReidOut since July 2020. Her previous anchoring credits include The Reid Report (2014–2015) and AM Joy (2016–2020).

References

  1. 1 2 Ronzhyn 2016, p. 2.
  2. Kevin Matthews, Privacy Statement for PetitionOnline, PetitionOnline, archived from the original on 9 May 2008
  3. "Www4.PetitionOnline.com", September 11 Web Archive, Library of Congress , retrieved 13 May 2024
  4. Julie Katz (20 July 2010), 8 online petition tools: How to make a difference, SocialBrite
  5. Kevin Matthews (2001), Creative Tools and Media for Spatial Design, Artifice, Inc., archived from the original on 2001-03-11
  6. Kevin Matthews (2001), Kevin Matthews, Design Laboratory, archived from the original on 2001-04-08
  7. Graber Goodwin, W. Fletcher (14 August 2000), Matthews v. Oregon State Board of Higher Education University of Oregon (2000), United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  8. "Profiles in Computing... Architecture's Kevin Matthews" (PDF), Computing News, 7 (2): 1–2, November 1991
  9. "www.PetitionOnline.com provides free online hosting of public petitions for responsible public advocacy". PetitionOnline. Archived from the original on 29 February 2000.
  10. Change.org, Activist Facts , retrieved 13 May 2024
  11. The Marketplace for Free Ideas, PetitionOnline, archived from the original on 30 October 2011
  12. 1 2 3 PetitionOnline.com provides free online hosting of public petitions for responsible public advocacy, PetitionOnline, archived from the original on 29 October 2011
  13. PetitionOnline (2014), Goodbye and thank you! (PDF)
  14. www.PetitionOnline.com provides free online hosting of public petitions for responsible public advocacy, PetitionOnline, archived from the original on 3 October 2000
  15. Reno, Dennis. "Re: Dissatisfied Web TV Consumer Petition". PetitionOnline. Archived from the original on December 18, 2000. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  16. Bunda, Susan (2002-01-11). "Re: Petition to Correct the Negative Portrayal of Muslim Women in CNN Program Coverage". Petitiononline.com. Archived from the original on 2002-04-08. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  17. "Wail on Jennings". New York Post. 2002-06-26. Archived from the original on July 19, 2002.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) The mentioned petition is Support Toby Keith and The Angry American Song
  18. "Apple users threaten to sue computer maker". CNN . Reuters. 2004-01-01. Retrieved 2007-12-15. The mentioned petition is iBook Logic Board Failure
  19. "Kilt-wearing teen seeks dress code change". MSNBC . Associated Press. 2005-12-22. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-25. The petition mentioned was Support for Nathan Warmack's Right to Wear his Kilt .
  20. "Desperate Housewives producers say sorry to Pinoys". Philippine Star. 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2017-05-09. The mentioned petition was "Filipino Americans demand for apology from ABC and Desperate Housewives" by Kevin Nadal
  21. "Some PetitionOnline Success Stories". Petition Online. Archived from the original on 2011-10-04.
  22. Mikkelson, Barbara; Mikkelson, David P. (2007-10-20). "Starving Dog Art". Snopes . Retrieved 2007-12-15.
  23. Mikkelson, Barbara; Mikkelson, David P. (2008-01-05). "Ban on Gay Marriages". Snopes. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  24. Bundy, Rebecca (2005-02-04). "The Great Online Petition". Hey Answerman!. Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2005-03-02. Retrieved 2024-06-16.

Bibliography