Here's the responses he got..

From: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
nikeid_personalize@nike.com
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti@media.mit.edu
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000

Your NIKE iD order was cancelled for one or more of
the following reasons:

1) Your Personal iD contains another party's trademark or other intellectual property
2) Your Personal iD contains the name of an athlete or team we donot have the legal right to use
3) Your Personal iD was left blank. Did you not want any personalization?
4) Your Personal iD contains profanity or inappropriate slang, and besides, your mother would slap us.
If you wish to reorder your NIKE iD product with a new personalization please visit us again at www.nike.com
Thank you, NIKE iD

From: "Jonah H. Peretti" <peretti@media.mit.edu
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
nikeid_personalize@nike.com
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000

Greetings,

My order was canceled but my personal NIKE iD does not violate any
of the criteria outlined in your message. The Personal iD on my
custom ZOOM XC USA running shoes was the word "sweatshop."
Sweatshop is not:
1) another's party's trademark,
2) the name of an athlete,
3) blank, or
4) profanity.
I choose the iD because I wanted to remember the toil and labor of the children
that made my shoes. Could you please ship them to me immediately.
Thanks and Happy New Year, Jonah Peretti

From: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
nikeid_personalize@nike.com
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti@media.mit.edu
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000

Dear NIKE iD Customer,

Your NIKE iD order was cancelled because the iD you have chosen
contains, as stated in the previous e-mail correspondence,
"inappropriate slang". If you wish to reorder your NIKE iD product
with a new personalization please visit us again at nike.com
Thank you, NIKE iD

From: "Jonah H. Peretti" <peretti@media.mit.edu
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
nikeid_personalize@nike.com
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000

Dear NIKE iD,

Thank you for your quick response to my inquiry
about my custom ZOOM XC USA running shoes. Although I commend you for your prompt customer service, I disagree with the claim that my
personal iD was inappropriate slang. After consulting Webster's
Dictionary, I discovered that "sweatshop" is in fact part of standard
English, and not slang. The word means: "a shop or factory in which workers are employed for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions" and its origin dates from 1892. So my personal iD does meet the criteria detailed in your first email.
Your web site advertises that the NIKE iD program is "about freedom
to choose and freedom to express who you are." I share Nike's love of
freedom and personal expression. The site also says that "If you want it done right...build it yourself." I was thrilled to be able to build my own shoes, and my personal iD was offered as a small token of appreciation for the sweatshop workers poised to help me realize my
vision. I hope that you will value my freedom of expression and
reconsider your decision to reject my order.

Thank you, Jonah Peretti

From: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
nikeid_personalize@nike.com
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti@media.mit.edu
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000

Dear NIKE iD Customer,
Regarding the rules for personalization it also
states on the NIKE iD web site that "Nike reserves the right to cancel
any personal iD up to 24 hours after it has been submitted". In
addition, it further explains: "While we honor most personal iDs, we
cannot honor every one.
Some may be (or contain) other's trademarks, or the names of
certain professional sports teams, athletes or celebrities that Nike
does not have the right to use. Others may contain material that we
consider inappropriate or simply do not want to place on our products.
Unfortunately, at times this obliges us to decline personal iDs
that may otherwise seem unobjectionable. In any event, we will let you
know if we decline your personal iD, and we will offer you the chance to submit another." With these rules in mind, we cannot accept your order as submitted. If you wish to reorder your NIKE iD product with a
new personalization please visit us again at www.nike.com
Thank you, NIKE iD

From: "Jonah H. Peretti" <peretti@media.mit.edu
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
nikeid_personalize@nike.com
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000

Dear NIKE iD,
Thank you for the time and energy you have spent on my request. I
have decided to order the shoes with a different iD, but I would like
to make one small request. Could you please send me a
color snapshot of the ten-year-old Vietnamese girl who makes my
shoes?

Thanks,
Jonah Peretti

<no response>

As one forwarder writes:

... this will now go round the world much farther and faster than
any of the adverts they paid Michael Jordan more than the entire wage
packet of all their sweatshop workers in the world to do...

I normally avoid making a plea to pass on these things, but this time I say:
JUST DO IT