A French judge has reserved his decision on a lawsuit brought by
oil giant Esso trying to sue Greenpeace in France over the use of
logos on the StopEsso website.
Judge Cinoche, in the First Chamber of the Tribunal de Grande
Instance de Paris is expected to hand down his ruling on Monday 8th
July over the StopEsso website's use of a logo which Esso alleges
will cause the public to think of the infamous SS. Esso is marketed
as Exxon and Mobil globally.
Esso claimed that a double dollar sign of one logo associated
the company with the Nazi SS. Esso had demanded the withdrawal of
all the logos, a penalty of 80,000 Euro a day for reputational
damage and 80,000 Euro per day per logo if Greenpeace failed to
comply. It also demanded removal of all use of the term
"StopEsso".
"This case is more than just about free speech on the internet,
" said Greenpeace International climate campaigner, Stephanie
Tunmore. "Esso's own behaviour in attempting to undermine
international action on climate change is hurting its
reputation.
"Esso is trying to use the court system to silence us. The
company has a history of using money to get what it wants, such as
buying pseudo-science and advertising campaigns that have the
effect of confusing the public.
"But Esso knows it could never buy our silence. So instead, it's
trying to shut us up with a protracted court case. It knows it
won't win this case, but it has plenty of money to throw at lawyers
over the year or more that it could take this case to be fully
heard."
StopEsso, a coalition of groups including Greenpeace, is
campaigning around the world to stop Esso from sabotaging
international action to address climate change, such as the Kyoto
Protocol. The French website www.greenpeace.fr/stopesso/ over which
Esso sought to sue, is one of several StopEsso sites globally.
"Esso can't win a debate about climate change, and it won't
discuss the content of the website. Esso's action in taking
Greenpeace to court has simply worsened its already bad
reputation."
Esso is the world's biggest oil corporation. In 2001 the company
made profits of US$15.5 billion.
"This court case is just another attempt by Esso to use its
money as a means of continuing its dirty business unhindered. But
money can't buy justice and no-one, not even the richest oil
corporation in the world, can buy the climate."