Work
Vote-Auction
[V]ote-auction (2000-2006), UBERMORGEN.COM
Action and Website
- Date:
- 2000
The website was conceived by the student James Baumgartner and then sold to the Austrian business-artists Hans Bernhard (founder of etoy) and Lizvlx from UBERMORGEN.COM in Austria and (V)ote-auction Inc. in Sofia/Bulgaria (a subsidiary of the UBERMORGEN.COM group) for a undisclosed sum. Voteauction was UBERMORGEN.COM’s feature Media Hacking performance in the year 2000.
Several US States (Missouri, Wisconsin, Chicago, Arizona, Nevada, California, Massachusetts, New York) issued temporary restraining orders or injunctions for alleged illegal vote trading. This led to the shutdown of 2 domains (voteauction.com and vote-auction.com). Federal Attorney Janet Reno, the FBI and the NSA were investigating the case to ensure the integrity of the voting process on November 7th, 2000.
Over 2500 global and national News features in online media, print, television and radio have been reported (including a 27 min. CNN exclusive “Burden of Proof”).
[V]ote-Auction is one of most risky and paradoxically successful projects by UBERMORGEN.COM: it is “the only platform in the world that provide the final consumer an effective role in the American election industry”. A true interchange system that finally “brings capitalism and democracy closer together”.
UBERMORGEN.COM received a Award of Distinction from Prix Ars Electronica 2005 for the project.
