The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: September 17, 2006

Official News - page 5

NEW CHARM TO BE THE VERY LAST

by Hazed

If you've been an avid collector of the keyring accessories sold by Gallagher's on Earth, make sure you get the new one that went on sale today - because it's going to be the very last! Anton Gallagher, the somewhat eccentric owner of the high-class store, has announced that he does not intend to supply any further charms. In a statement to the press, he said that he was disgusted with the way other vendors have been flouting the law by offering alternative items to be attached to the TenBrane keyring, when his shop was the only authorized outlet for such charms.

He said, "I am withdrawing from this market as a protest against the fraudsters, charlatans and mountebanks who have cheapened the concept of exclusive keyring jewellery by offering a series of tawdry gewgaws which are infinitely inferior to the high-class charms that I have designed."

He stated that the keyring would continue to be available, so that customers would continue to be able to gain access to the executive washroom.

To onlookers, this looks less like a business move, and more like the petulant tantrums of a sulky child. Anton Gallagher has tried on several occasions to sue Diesel for allowing the craftsman to sell charms in her bar, but his cases have all been thrown out of court. On several occasions, judges have ruled that while his shop is the only one authorized to sell the keyring, there's nothing that prohibits owners from dangling whatever they want from it, and therefore anybody can sell things to go on it.

Gallagher's withdrawal from this lucrative market will surely leave a gap for some other enterprising entrepreneur to fill. There is clearly a desire for trivial but decorative items, and even if no other keyring charms are produced on a regular basis, you can be sure that somebody will come up with something collectible to relieve people of their groats or their slithies!


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