Controversial magician stirs up controversy in YouTube debate
Monday, July 09, 2007
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Uri Geller became a 1970s superstar and made millions with an act that included bending spoons, seemingly through the power of his own mind.
Now the online video generation is so bent out of shape over the self-proclaimed psychic's behavior that he's fast reaching the same Internet pariah status as the recording and movie industries.
Geller's tireless attempts to silence his detractors have extended to the popular video-sharing site YouTube , landing him squarely in the center of a raging digital-age debate over controlling copyrights amid the massive volume of video and music clips flowing freely online.
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A new generation of critics led by 30-year-old Brian Sapient of an organization called the
Rational Response Squad have taken their crusade online.
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Geller, who has become nearly as famous for his prolific litigation as for his alleged psychic abilities, knows his way around the court system.
He unsuccessfully sued longtime nemesis James "Amazing" Randi at least three times for defamation, stemming from Randi's own efforts to unmask Geller as a fraud, and lost several other cases lodged against his critics throughout the years.
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Winelander said the takedown notices and lawsuit were motivated by Geller's brother-in-law, business associate and filmmaker
Shipi Shtrang, who got upset when he saw that the eight-second video he made appeared among Sapient's 13 minute of video.
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