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Wikipedia: Royaldutchshellplc.com 1 June 2021

Replica of the Wikipedia article: royaldutchshellplc.com

As Wikipedia editors are aware, my father Alfred Donovan passed away in 2013. Since there are a number of references to him in the above Wikipedia article, I provided proof in the form of a Guardian newspaper article about Shell that mentioned his death, hoping the information would be updated. 

Strange tale of Shell’s pipeline battle, the Gardaí and £30,000 of booze

However, the several years out of date information remains and the supply of the information politely supplied triggered a negative response within 20 minutes.

Apparently, after being displayed on Wikipedia for over 15 years, the article is going to be merged into the Wikipedia Royal Dutch Shell article.

Shell will not be pleased initially, but they should not be too concerned as any content transferred will be quickly edited out of existence by anonymous supporters of the energy giant, as conveniently happened to other Wikipedia articles critical of Shell in the past.

So some good news for Shell after the recent flood of damaging headlines. 

The article text for the current Wikipedia article for royaldutchshellplc.com is displayed below, as of 1 June 2021 date.

Royaldutchshellplc.com
Type of site
Gripe site
Available in Originates in English; translation available
Owner Alfred and John Donovan
Created by John Donovan
Revenue None
URL royaldutchshellplc.com
Commercial No
Registration Not required
Launched October 29, 2004; 16 years ago
Current status Active

royaldutchshellplc.com is a Royal Dutch Shell gripe site and blog operated by Alfred and John Donovan, who engaged in several marketing campaigns with Shell during the 1980s and early 1990s. The father and son duo believe Shell violated intellectual property agreements and filed several lawsuits against Shell prior to starting several websites critical of Shell, including royaldutchshellplc.com. The site has been oft quoted in news sources and is known for its activities as an Internet leak and forum for Shell whistleblowers.

Contents

Website background[]

The Donovans owned a chain of petrol stations in east London and Essex, for which they created many sales promotion campaigns under their company Don Marketing.[1] In 1981, Don Marketing devised a promotional game scheme for Royal Dutch Shell called “Make Money”.[2][infringing link?] Because the promotion was successful, Don created several other promotional campaigns for Shell,[3][self-published source?] which led in part to Shell being identified as “perhaps the biggest user of games” in 1986.[4][self-published source?]

In 1992 Shell appointed a new National Promotions manager to whom Don’s promotional ideas were disclosed on a confidential basis.[5] In 1994, Don Marketing issued a writ against Shell with respect to a follow-up “Make Money” promotion claiming breach of confidence and breach of contract, which ended in a £60,000 settlement.[6] A second writ was issued concerning a Nintendo promotion that ran in 1993.[7] Shell settled both claims in October 1996.[5] A third lawsuit was processed in 1999; however, the claimant abandoned the claim.[8]

During the course of the litigation, the Donovans founded the “Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group”[9][infringing link?] and accompanying gripe site, which Shell UK Media Relations responded to internally in March 1995.[10][infringing link?]

After Don Marketing was dissolved, father and son Alfred and John Donovan created several websites to expose their perceived injustices while working with Shell, one of which is royaldutchshellplc.com. They also operate Shellnews.net.

While Royal Dutch Shell plc is a trademarked name of the company, the domain name was first registered by Alfred Donovan.[11] It avoids being an illegal cybersquatter as long as it is non-commercial, active, and no attempt is made to sell the domain name, as determined by WIPO proceedings[12] In 2005 Donovan said he would relinquish the site to Shell after it “gets rid of all the management he deems responsible for its various recent woes.”[13]

Reaction to site[]

Internet leak[]

The site has been recognized by several media outlets for its role as an Internet leak. In 2008 the Financial Times published an article based on a letter published by royaldutchshellplc.com,[14] which Reuters and The Times also covered shortly thereafter.[15][16] The site has also been cited several other times by the aforementioned news sources as well as others.

On October 18, 2006, the site published an article stating that Shell had for some time been supplying information to the Russian government relating to Sakhalin II.[17] The Russian energy company Gazprom subsequently obtained a 50% stake in the Sakhalin-II project.[18]

Other instances where the site has acted as an Internet leak include a 2007 IT outsourcing plan,[19] as well as a 2008 internal memo where CEO Jeroen van der Veer expressed disappointment in the company’s share-price performance.[20]

Recognition[]

The gripe site has been recognized as a source of information regarding Shell by several news sources. In the 2006 Fortune Global 500 rankings, in which Royal Dutch Shell placed third, royaldutchshellplc.com was listed alongside shell.com as a source of information.[21] In 2007 the site was described as “a hub for activists and disgruntled former employees.”[1] A 2009 article called royaldutchshellplc.com “the world’s most effective adversarial Web site.”[22] The site has been described as “an open wound for Shell.”[17]

References[]

  1. Jump up to:a b Garside, Juliette (2007-09-10). “Online Revolutionaries”The Sunday Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  2. ^ “What About the Tiger Tails?” (PDF). Incentive Marketing and Sales Promotion Magazine. 1984-03-01. Retrieved 2009-05-02 – via ShellNews.net.
  3. ^ Donovan, John. “The Shell Success Story”ShellNews.net. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  4. ^ Donovan, John. “Games People Play”ShellNews.net. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  5. Jump up to:a b O’Sullivan, Tom (1998-04-23). “High Court papers unveil ‘secret’ Shell writ losses” (PDF)Marketing Week. Retrieved 2009-05-14 – via ShellNews.net.
  6. ^ Rines, Simon (1999-06-06). “Donovan takes Smart case against Shell to court” (PDF)Sunday Business. Retrieved 2009-05-14 – via ShellNews.net.
  7. ^ Benady, Alex (1994-10-20). “Shell Struck by Writ” (PDF)Marketing Magazine. Retrieved 2009-05-02 – via ShellNews.net.
  8. ^ “Don Marketing Limited –V- Shell UK Limited”ShellNews.net. 1995-03-17. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  9. ^ “Pressure group to target Shell” (PDF). Forecourt Trader Magazine. 1995-02-01. Retrieved 2009-06-23 – via ShellNews.net.
  10. ^ “Don Marketing Limited -v- Shell UK Limited” (PDF). Royal Dutch Shell. 1995-03-17. Retrieved 2009-06-23 – via ShellNews.net.
  11. ^ Cummins, Chip (2005-06-02). “Shell Wages Legal Fight Over Web Domain Name” (PDF)The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
  12. ^ Gervais, Daniel J (2005-08-08). “WIPO ADMIN PANEL DECISION”World Intellectual Property Organization. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
  13. ^ Walsh, Dominic (2005-08-16). “In a Spin on Report”The Times. London. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  14. ^ “Shell pension scheme value falls 40%”www.ft.com. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  15. ^ “UPDATE 4-Shell’s pension underfunded, contributions rise”Reuters. 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  16. ^ Stiff, Peter. “HSBC hit by fear factor as downturn spreads to Asia”The TimesISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  17. Jump up to:a b Brower, Derek (2007-02-01). “Rise of the Gripe Site”Prospect. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  18. ^ Macalister, Terry (2007-04-19). “Thin Smile from Shell as it Sells Sakhalin Stake”The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  19. ^ Bergin, Tom (2007-12-21). “Shell to Cut Thousands of IT Jobs”Reuters. Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  20. ^ Chazan, Guy (2008-03-18). “Shell Addresses Output Issue”Wall Street JournalISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  21. ^ “Executive Bookmark”Fortune. 2006-07-24. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  22. ^ Eringer, Robert (2007-09-10). “Gripe Sites are All the Rage Now” (PDF)Santa Barbara News-Press. Retrieved 2009-05-04 – via ShellNews.net.

External links[]

Categories:

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

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