4 ms·

Tell me that you don’t seriously believe this actually happened lol

by Vaslo 4y ago

Taniwha 4y ago
Yup it all happened, I don't think we ever took them to court, we did call one of the 6 weekly followups (it was 6 weeks because the company had to hold a meeting 6 weeks after being notified that 100 shareholders wanted a meeting). I may not have explained just how red the chair's face went when we moved that motion (there is no "1873 Aged and Infirm person's Act", it was made up for the purpose, we didn't really need a reason to move a motion of no confidence in the chair) - we had all gone in with flowcharts of how we were going to do it written down on paper. It all happened in the aftermath of the 1981 rugby tour https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/1981-springbok-tour https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/1981-springbok-tour (having said this it was 40 years ago, I may have gotten some minor details wrong - it was however a grand social hack)
- Vaslo 4y ago
  - Taniwha 4y ago
    The company we attacked pushed back pretty hard, we didn't "down" them, we did mess with them a lot, the other companies caved and announced they weren't importing any more SA wine rather than have us show up at their meetings. Our goal wasn't to "down" any company, it was to isolate the SA apartheid govt, in this case by reducing their trade - we also went after tinned guavas - no one wants to stock tins of stuff that keeps getting opened in the shop and left to go rancid on the shelves
- itsoktocry 4y ago
  How did you manage to buy shares in local companies so easily, in 1981? What companies were these?
  - Taniwha 4y ago
    This was in NZ, probably more '82 or '83 - I can't remember the company name, they were based in Christchurch (or at least the AGM was there) - I had my lawyer buy them for me, had to buy a 100 unit packet for ~$100 which was worth a lot more back then, I'd bought a (very!) small cottage by the sea for $8.5k a few years before.
- CamperBob2 4y ago
  I may not have explained just how red the chair's face went when we moved that motion (there is no "1873 Aged and Infirm person's Act", it was made up for the purpose Well, wait, doesn't that make the whole exercise fraudulent? Here in the US at least, this tactic would only work once. You'd be faced with charges of disorderly conduct or trespassing the next time you tried citing a nonexistent law, whether you held shares in the company or not. You might as well just skip the CS theory and call in a bomb threat every time they try to hold a meeting.
  - FPGAhacker 4y ago
    The second half of the sentence that you stopped short of quoting in full explains that no reason is required for a motion of no confidence. It was added solely as a prod.
    - CamperBob2 4y ago
      Yeah, I keep forgetting how judges in civil suits, such as the one that would inevitably follow shenanigans like this, are easy to fool by citing technicalities, especially ones that don't exist or that "aren't necessary." My bad.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]

Tell me that you don’t seriously believe this actually happened lol

by Vaslo 4y ago

Tell me that you don’t seriously believe this actually happened lol

Yup it all happened, I don't think we ever took them to court, we did call one of the 6 weekly followups (it was 6 weeks because the company had to hold a meeting 6 weeks after being notified that 100 shareholders wanted a meeting). I may not have explained just how red the chair's face went when we moved that motion (there is no "1873 Aged and Infirm person's Act", it was made up for the purpose, we didn't really need a reason to move a motion of no confidence in the chair) - we had all gone in with flowcharts of how we were going to do it written down on paper. It all happened in the aftermath of the 1981 rugby tour https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/1981-springbok-tour https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/1981-springbok-tour (having said this it was 40 years ago, I may have gotten some minor details wrong - it was however a grand social hack)

Vaslo 4y ago
- Taniwha 4y ago
  The company we attacked pushed back pretty hard, we didn't "down" them, we did mess with them a lot, the other companies caved and announced they weren't importing any more SA wine rather than have us show up at their meetings. Our goal wasn't to "down" any company, it was to isolate the SA apartheid govt, in this case by reducing their trade - we also went after tinned guavas - no one wants to stock tins of stuff that keeps getting opened in the shop and left to go rancid on the shelves
itsoktocry 4y ago
How did you manage to buy shares in local companies so easily, in 1981? What companies were these?
- Taniwha 4y ago
  This was in NZ, probably more '82 or '83 - I can't remember the company name, they were based in Christchurch (or at least the AGM was there) - I had my lawyer buy them for me, had to buy a 100 unit packet for ~$100 which was worth a lot more back then, I'd bought a (very!) small cottage by the sea for $8.5k a few years before.
CamperBob2 4y ago
I may not have explained just how red the chair's face went when we moved that motion (there is no "1873 Aged and Infirm person's Act", it was made up for the purpose Well, wait, doesn't that make the whole exercise fraudulent? Here in the US at least, this tactic would only work once. You'd be faced with charges of disorderly conduct or trespassing the next time you tried citing a nonexistent law, whether you held shares in the company or not. You might as well just skip the CS theory and call in a bomb threat every time they try to hold a meeting.
- FPGAhacker 4y ago
  The second half of the sentence that you stopped short of quoting in full explains that no reason is required for a motion of no confidence. It was added solely as a prod.
  - CamperBob2 4y ago
    Yeah, I keep forgetting how judges in civil suits, such as the one that would inevitably follow shenanigans like this, are easy to fool by citing technicalities, especially ones that don't exist or that "aren't necessary." My bad.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]