Hackers Take Over Nike Web Site

The Nike corporate Web site was taken over by hackers Wednesday who replaced the content with a message about the inequality" of the global economy.

A Web page posted by a group calling itself "S-11" appeared when the www.nike.com address was requested.

The page says that "global justice is coming; prepare now," and includes a "call to action" at the "World Economic Forum 2000" on Sept. 11-13 in Melbourne, Australia.

The top of one page on the "S-11" site contains the words "shut down the world economic forum."

The 2000 Olympic Games are set to begin Sept. 16 in nearby Sydney, Australia, and Nike is a major corporate sponsor.

Nike computer technicians were regaining control of the site, according to Nike spokesman Vada Manager.

"We're backtracking now to find out how this happened," Manager said, but he had no other immediate details.

Nike has faced repeated criticism by student and labor rights groups for years over conditions at contract factories overseas, especially in Asia and Latin America.

The Beaverton-based athletic shoe and clothing company has worked to improve conditions, hiring monitors and creating executive positions to deal exclusively with labor rights.

But Nike founder and chairman Phil Knight recently pulled all his donations to his alma mater, the University of Oregon, for joining the Worker Rights Consortium, a New York-based labor watchdog group organized mostly by college students.