royaldutchshellplc.com

royaldutchshellplc.com is a gripe site operated by Alfred Donovan and his son John Donovan, which is critical of Royal Dutch Shell. Due to an oversight, the management of the Royal Dutch Shell Group had not registered the dotcom name for the new company which resulted from the unification in 2005, of The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company Plc and the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company Limited. The domain name had already been registered by Alfred Donovan, who exploited a loophole which allows an online critic to legally use a dotcom domain name identical to a target company's name or trademark. To fall within this category, the gripe site must be non-commercial, with no subscriptions and no paid advertising. To avoid being considered a cybersquatter the domain name and associated website must be active, with no attempt made to sell the domain name, especially to the company holding rights to the corresponding trademark or company name. Shell unsuccessfully attempted to obtain via WIPO proceedings, ownership of this address and two other Donovan owned domain names: royaldutchshellgroup.com and shellnews.net.

Background to legal battles with Shell

The Donovan’s owned a chain of petrol stations in East London and Essex and created many sales promotion campaigns. In 1981, the Donovans devised a promotional game scheme for Royal Dutch Shell called “Make Money”. Because the promotion was successful, many other Shell promotional campaigns followed, including a £4.5 million Mastermind TV Series themed game; a scratch card game offering £2.5 million in Harrods food prizes; a playing card themed promotion endorsed by UK TV celebrity Bruce Forsyth and in 1991, a £4.5 million “Every Card Can Win” scratch card game with a Star Trek theme.

The business relationship which operated on an international basis, floundered after Shell appointed a new National Promotions manager in 1992 to whom the Donovan’s promotional ideas were disclosed on a confidential basis. In 1994, the Donovan’s issued a Writ against Shell in respect of a follow-up “Make Money” promotion claiming breach of confidence and breach of contract. They also threatened to sue each of Shell’s 2,000 UK petrol stations. The Donovan’s accepted a £60,000 settlement but continued to pursue legal claims over a Shell Nintendo scratch off game and a film themed collector game called “Now Showing”. Shell settled both claims in October 1996. During the course of the litigation, the Donovan’s founded the “Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group” and what may have been the worlds first "gripe" websites. Shell referred to the Donovan's internet activity in a [1] press statement issued on 17 March 1995. An article published on 11 June 1998 by The Daily Telegraph under the headline of "Donovan's beef with Shell on-line" reported that "Donovan is publicising his gripes on two elaborate and colourful internet websites, don-marketing.com and shell-shareholders.org".

In June 1999, a High Court trial commenced in respect of a claim by John Donovan against Shell relating to a loyalty programme utilising smart card technology for a multi-retailer scheme by Shell. The legal costs were estimated to be over a million pounds. According to a report in The Sunday Telegraph Shell Legal Director, Richard Wiseman, denied allegations made by Donovan against Shell and said that he was “misguided” and had been wrongly encouraged by Shell’s previous payments. Donovan alleged that Shell had used an undercover agent, Christopher Phillips, in the run up to the trial. According to The Sunday Telegraph report Shell’s lawyers admitted that they hired Mr Phillips, but only to carry out “routine credit inquiries”. According to an article published in February 2007 by Prospect magazine, "Shell agreed to settle out of court, paying the Donovans a sum "in the thousands" as part of a "peace treaty" stipulating that neither party speak about the matter in future". The acticle quotes Donovan as alleging that Shell subsequently broke the "peace treaty".

Alfred Donovan and John Donovan are both retired from commercial activities. Their former company, Don Marketing, ceased trading several years ago. Their websites are all non-commercial; do not seek or accept donations, offer all services without charge, and carry no advertising.

Appeals to Shell shareholders, Shell employees, and the public

Royaldutchshellplc.com was described in an article published in February 2007 by Prospect magazine in the following terms: "The Donovan website has become an open wound for Shell". It has been used to publish appeals on behalf of a number of parties who wanted to reach Shell shareholders and/or Shell employees, or the public e.g.

• An appeal by the World Wildlife Fund(WWF) in relation to environmental concerns about Shell's Sakhalin II project. Part of the WWF appeal published on the Donovan website on 2 February 2006, stated: "If you have a story you would like to tell, then please get in touch with us or Alfred Donovan in confidence, or make your views known to EBRD. This is a crucial time for influencing this project, when it is essential the real story of Sakhalin comes out." A further appeal on behalf of the WWF was published on the Donovan website in March 2006.
• An appeal by The World Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility. The statement by the ECCR published on the Donovan website on 25 January 2006 included the following explanation and appeal: "The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility intends to bring a shareholder resolution to Royal Dutch Shell plc’s 2006 AGM. ECCR believes that Shell’s impacts on `frontline’ communities and the environment in County Mayo, Ireland, the Niger Delta, and at Sakhalin II in Russia merit urgent attention. The resolution calls for a major improvement in Shell’s performance in terms of community and stakeholder consultation, risk analysis, and social and environmental impact analysis. ECCR needs 100 Shell shareholders to co-sign the resolution before the end of February."
• On 25 January 2006 an appeal by Zack Brown, an Arctic Wilderness Associate of the Public Interest Research Group. Brown stated: "Our campaign continues to push Chevron and ExxonMobil on the Arctic, but in 2006 most of our attention will focus on Royal Dutch Shell." He went on to make the following appeal: "As a part of our effort, we are building a large pool of individual Royal Dutch Shell common stock investors. If you, or anyone you know owns Royal Dutch Shell common stock (RDS-A or RDS-B) please contact Zack Brown at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund..."
• An appeal by U.S. lawyers, Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz in September 2004 for evidence in respect of a major class action law suit brought against Shell in relation to an oil and gas reserves recategorisation. In September 2004, Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz confirmed that they had received calls as a result of the appeal. In March 2006 the litigation was given permission to proceed as a global class action against Royal Dutch Shell. A Shell shareholder to represent all non holders of Royal Dutch Shell stock was found following an appeal published on the Donovan website on 20 January 2006.
• An appeal for support by Friends of the Earth in the Netherlands was posted on the royaldutchshell.com website from 20 December 2006 for a campaign entitled shelladvert.org.

Royaldutchshellplc.com is also used to publish information by The National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS) "an independent, non-profit entity that functions as the students unit of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)." A letter from NUOS to President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was published on 17 December 2006. It demanded that the license granted Shell Oil to operate in Ogoni should be revoked. The following is an extract from the letter "the worlds' most impoverished people inhabiting one of the world's wealthiest span of land. This irony ridiculously fed by succeeding governments of Nigeria and Shell Oil Company is unacceptable." Shell has unsuccessfully attempted to promote a reconciliation process with the Ogoni which would allow Shell to recommence oil production in Ogoniland.

Connection with Shell Sakhalin-II project

Moves by the Russian government in relation to environmental issues concerning the Royal Dutch Shell led Sakhalin-II project in eastern Russia has created an international furore, with representations made to President Putin by Prime Minister Tony Blair and many other heads of government. On 18 October 2006, the Donovan's published an article confirming they had for some time been supplying information to the Russian government relating to Sakhalin II. Information in the form of Shell internal emails and Shell insider comments, posted on Royaldutchshellplc.com, were passed by the Donovan's to Oleg Mitvol, the Deputy Head of Rosprirodnadzor, the Russian Environmental Agency. In November 2006, Oleg Mitvol confirmed in an interview published in This Week in Argus FSU Energy that the evidence on which a prosecution against Sakhalin Energy claiming $10 billion in damages was being mounted, was supplied by John Donovan of royaldutchshellplc.com. Mr Mitvol was quoted as saying: "Who will take Sakhalin Energy to court? I will take them. I have documents proving that the Sakhalin Energy management was aware that the company violated technical standards, but carried on trying to meet project deadlines and refused to stop work. I am confident of winning my case in Stockholm. What documents are these? Where are they from? I have email correspondence between executives in Sakhalin Energy management from 2002. I received these letters from John Donovan, owner of the anti-Shell website www.royaldutchshellplc.com." The Russian energy company Gazprom controlled by the Russian government subsequently obtained a majority holding in the Sakhalin-II project.

Recommended by Fortune magazine for information about Royal Dutch Shell plc

On 2 August 2006, CNNMoney.com published a feature from Fortune magazine recommending books and websites focused on the world's top five companies, as ranked in the "Fortune Global 500". A company website with a corresponding website critical of the company’s activities was featured for each multinational. For Royal Dutch Shell, listed as number 3 in the rankings, Shell's portal website shell.com was cited along with royaldutchshellplc.com

Financial Times says website has long been a thorn in Shell’s side

On 6 June 2007, the Financial Times published a front page article under the headline: "Pipeliners All!’ Shell’s memo to Sakhalin

The article was about a leaked motivational memo in the form of an email from David Greer, the Deputy Chief Executive of Sakhalin Energy, the company in which Shell is a shareholder and former owner. The email was circulated to Sakhalin-2 staff. The article stated that "The memo was leaked to the website www.royaldutchshellplc.com, which has long been a thorn in Shell’s side. Shell confirmed the e-mail was genuine but was reluctant to discuss it further". The article quoted extensively from the memo. The entire content of the leaked memo was published by the FT on the same date. The FT also conducted a separate online poll asking the question: "Is this the worst motivational memo ever?"

One passage in the motivational memo was so striking that Time Magazine published it in their “Quotes of the Day” feature on 6 June 2007: “… So Lead me, Follow me or Get out of my way; Success is how we bounce when we are on the bottom”.

A keen eyed FT reader noticed that inspirational passages were appropriated from a famous speech given by the legendary U.S. General George S Patton, on 5 June 1944 on the eve of D-Day the Sixth of June. On 7 June 2007, a quarter page follow-up article was published in the Financial Times newspaper and on the FT.com website, under the headline: "Sakhalin motivational memo borrows heavily from Patton”.

On 9 June 2007, The Moscow Times published a front page article under the heading: Sakhalin Pep Talk From 'Old Blood and Guts' The article said: “Greer's memo, which was leaked to an anti-Shell web site, Royaldutchshellplc.com, appears to show the pressure that he and his fellow managers have been under, as it talks of "the risk of becoming a team that doesn't want to fight and lacks confidence in its own ability." The Moscow Times article contained forthright comments by the Russian environmental watchdog, Oleg Mitvol, about the email.

On Monday 11 June 2007, the Financial Times published a further article on the subject this time headlined: “Motivational memos must make their message clear”. One of the opening paragraphs stated: “The memo (www.ft.com/shell) is crass, poorly punctuated and most of it wasn't even written by its author, David Greer, deputy chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell's Sakhalin Energy Investment Company. He had lifted the words of General George S. Patton with no attribution, and clumsily adapted them to spur on his team of recalcitrant pipeline engineers”.

On Friday 22 June 2007, The Moscow Times published a front page story with the headline: "Sakhalin Energy's Greer Steps Down". The newspaper reported that "David Greer, the Sakhalin Energy deputy CEO running the giant Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, has left the company unexpectedly just weeks after a leaked e-mail he wrote revealed the pressure that managers working there were facing". The article said that Greer had been a 27-year Shell veteran and was leaving to pursue other business interests.

There is a Wikipedia entry covering the David Greer memo affair entitled Plagiarism controversy over Sakhalin-2 motivational memo.

A gripe site can have a profound impact on global organisations

An "Accountability in Action" newsletter published in July 2007 by the One World Trust, an independent research organisation associated with the UK legislature and the United Nations, said: "As The Royal Dutch Shell plc website shows, a gripe site can have a profound impact on global organisations". The newsletter went on to say: "The site has not only cost Shell billions of dollars in Russia... "even Shell insiders unhappy with the company use it". The article also said: "Royaldutchshellplc.com is just one of many examples of how the Internet makes it possible for concerned individuals to initiate discussion about global organisations, post and share information about organisational actions and their impact, and provide a common forum for affected stakeholders. At the very least, ‘gripe sites’ such as this have a valuable watchdog function and remind global companies of the power of public opinion – thus forcing them to confront weaknesses in their own accountability". Email correspondence in August 2007 between Royal Dutch Shell Plc and the owners of the website provide evidence of the unusual involvement by the website in the day-to-day functioning of the company.

Legal action by Shell relating to website

Eight Royal Dutch Shell Group companies collectively obtained in June 2004 an Interim Injunction and Restraining Order against a Shell whistleblower, a Malaysian geologist and former Shell employee, Dr John Huong, in respect of alleged defamatory postings attributed to Dr Huong on the Donovan website. The Shell action is directed solely against Dr Huong. Further proceedings against Dr Huong were issued by the same plaintiff companies in 2006 in respect of publications on the Donovan website in 2005 and 2006. The further proceedings include a "Notice to Show Cause" relating to a "contempt of court" action potentially punishable by imprisonment. Numerous proceedings have been issued by Shell in connection with the on-going litigation. On 6 August 2007, Mr Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary and General Counsel Corporate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc kindly notified 90 year old Alfred Donovan that the Shell plaintiff companies had "on compassionate grounds" waived the right to cross examine him in relation to an affidavit he had supplied in the Dr Huong case.

External links

• http://www.royaldutchshellplc.com
• http://shellnews.net
• http://shell2004.com/