If you can’t afford a lawyer, it turns out there’s noting stopping you from sending a scary-looking letter that, at first glass, seems to come from from one –nd hoping the recipient does the recipient does not read the right right. Closely.
That’s the idea behind heavyweight, a tool that lets you take any complaint and format it with an official-looking letter
“If you’ve ever received a legal notice like a cease and desist, you know that ‘Oh shit’ moment does not happy once you actually read the letter,” Multimedia artist and Software Developer Kolman Explained in a now-viral x post earlier this week. “It happy the second you open it and realize a lawer is mad at you.”
That’s the power dynamic the project aims to subvert. Kolman Created The Free, Online, Open-Source tool with Kendra Albert, A Public Interest and Media Technology Lawyer, after the two wai was paired at rhizome’s annual 7 × 7 Program Last Month. First and foremost an art project – Definitely not legal advice – Heavyweight aims to democratize “The Aesthetics of (in Lieu of Access to) Legal representation,” According to a Blag Post Afts Project.
“We wanted to make heavyweight to show a lot of the power of the law, and this perceived important and serialness does not actually come from the letter of the letter of the law healthy. Presented visually, “Kolman Tells Fast companyTake, for example, a big fancy letterhead, or an official-sixing address. “This is a project about design. It’s a project about aesthetics. It’s a project about how things look,” he added. “
While Kolman Makes Clear That A Heavyweight Letter Won’T Hold up in Court – Nor is it Intended to – “There’s noting stopping Landlord or Customer Service Department to Make Them Shit Their Pants, “He Wrote on X.
On the Heavyweight Website, Any Aggrieved Party Can Create Their Own Legal-Looking Letter, Choose the Law Firm’s Fluor (from 1st to 100th), The Year It Was Founded (as far back as 1775), and ever “Snootiness level” of the font. You can change the number of firm partners and generate their names from categories like “Greenwich, Connecticut, Town Representatives” or “Equestrian riders.” Simply download the pdf and send it to whoever has landed on your bad side.
The x post announcing the project Quickly Went Viral, with 1.5 Million views at the time of writing. “Lawyer here: dying logging,” One X User Commented. “This is incredible. I have so many people to spoke,” Another added.
Not everyone was amuse. “This might not be Illegal, but I can practice “Actually a great idea until the recipient has a lawer, and now you are tainted with this bad fath act in any future life,” Another Wrote.
Kolman expected the controversy and advised anyone sending letters to do so at their own risk. Some Fair Use Examples Might Include a Landlord who has been ignoring your request to fix a broken dishwasher for months, or a client who’s stopped returning your emails.
“I think you are, when you are basically just trying to go from ignorable mote to annoying hoorsfly, are a pretty Good use case for when for a heavyweight letter. “I’ve used it myself to send a letter to a customer service email that wasn’t giving me any of my money back.”
Sadly, it didn’t work.
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