rage against the advertising machine

Too much time on their hands: the fine folks at illegalsigns.ca

The project: "Everyone should have a hobby. Our hobby is destroying illegal billboards with the rule of law."

Time to complete: their work is, of course, never done. Their blog archives indicate that they've been at it since January of 2007.

Illegalsigns describe themselves as "a team of volunteers who fight illegal billboards," specifically in Toronto, Canada. They maintain a blog at http://illegalsigns.ca. Their statement of purpose/call to arms:

"The outdoor advertising industry has a global culture of non-compliance with the law. Advertising companies are erecting illegal billboards all over the world, wherever they can get away with it. In Toronto, this renegade, lawless industry has been acting with impunity due to bureaucratic negligence.

Our Streets are where civic capital is created. Illegal billboards monetize our civic capital, under no colour of right, by treating citizens as consumers first. Illegal billboards commodify what is unique about our neighbourhoods by turning our Streets into pages of a mass-market magazine, without regard to the law. Join us as we fight to legalize and democratize Toronto's visual environment. Join us as we fight to Reclaim the Streets."

As it turns out, Toronto already has someone in charge of enforcing regulation of signage: Municipal Licensing and Standards. Unfortunately, according to illegalsigns, "Toronto's Sign Inspectors don't know what they are doing - MLS has decided that hundreds of illegal signs are legal because they haven't a clue how to investigate billboards."

Fortunately for the citizens of Toronto, illegasigns are watching the watchers.

They're not fooling around, either. They have a section on their blog called "before and after," where they detail successful billboard removal campaigns. They have a map showing the locations of illegal signs. They have detailed descriptions, which they call "street studies," wherein they take readers on a virtual walk down a street and point out the various illegal signs. They have an amazing understanding of the convoluted chains of ownership, leases, licenses, etc. behind the billboards of Toronto. And they have, collectively, too much time on their hands.