Venezuela
Posted by Simon Pavitt on Nov 19, 2007
The BBC is reporting how the king of Spain's recent undiplomatic outburst at the Venezuelan president has become a ringtone hit across Spain. An estimated 500,000 people have downloaded the insult featuring the words "Why don't you shut up?", generating a reported 1.5m euros ($2 million). King Juan Carlos asked Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at a summit in Chile after Chavez said that Spain's ex-PM Jose Maria Aznar was a "fascist". In Venezuela, a group of students who oppose Mr Chavez's government have also been downloading the ringtone. Companies selling the ringtones have avoided legal problems concerning breach of the king's image rights by using an actor to voice the line.