Glenn Beck has gone to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) seeking to get them to take down a domain name. In particular, Mr. Beck wants WIPO to dispose of the domain name: glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com.
Beck is attempting to do through WIPO what he can’t do through U.S. libel law. He doesn’t like the Internet meme suggesting that he raped and murdered a young girl in 1990 — his lack of denial of this is offered as evidence. At its root, this is a critique of Beck’s style of smearing a person, notably Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison, by voicing the smear in the context of purporting to allow the person to prove their innocence.
Beck’s efforts to go after the domain name seem likely to be unsuccessful. He essentially has to make a trademark showing that he has some right to the name or that the other person’s use of the name will cause some confusion about marks owned by Beck. But, really, how likely is it that any reasonable person (not, admittedly, Beck’s target audience) would be confused into thinking a site discussing whether he raped and killed a young girl in the 1990s was associated with one of Beck’s own websites?
As the attorney representing the owner of glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com states in his brief to WIPO:
There is no indication that the Respondent has intentionally attempted to confuse anyone searching for Mr. Beck’s own website, nor that anyone was unintentionally confused – even initially. Only an abject imbecile could believe that the domain name would have any connection to the Complainant.
We are not here because the domain name could cause confusion. We do not have a declaration from the president of the international association of imbeciles that his members are blankly staring at the Respondent’s website wondering “where did all the race baiting content go?” We are here because Mr. Beck wants Respondent’s website shut down. He wants it shut down because Respondent’s website makes a poignant and accurate satirical critique of Mr. Beck by parodying Beck’s very rhetorical style. Beck’s skin is too thin to take the criticism, so he wants the site down. Beck is represented by a learned and respected legal team. Accordingly, it is beyond doubt that his counsel advised him that under the First Amendment to the United States’ Constitution, no
action in a U.S. Court would be successful.
The test is whether a sensible person, not an “imbecile in a hurry,” would be confused. The whole brief makes for some pretty good reading. It discusses Gilbert Gottfried’s amusing use of the smear technique in a roast of Bob Saget as well as Internet memes generally.
I’ve enjoyed this amusing meme. I’m always amazed how quickly well-written corroborating websites pop up and tie themselves into the whole thing.
Still waiting for his denial, of course.
I get the whole thing, except…what is a “meme”? Seriously, I don’t know and would appreciate someone telling me (without ridicule, of course).
I am not sure how some of the over the top examples in the brief will go over with the panel. My favorite opinion (yeah, I know not a brief) is Stambovsky v. Ackley. A lot of people have probably come across this case (I did in a Business Law class – IANAL, it is a primer class taught in business school).
http://kevinunderhill.typepad.com/Documents/Opinions/Stambovsky.pdf
The quick summary is that the owner of a house had publicized it as haunted, to the point of having it on a ghost hunting walking tour. When selling to an out-of-state buyer, the seller did not disclose this fact. As a matter of law, D was estopped from arguing that he house is not haunted, since they had publicized and profited from the claim. So legally speaking, the house was haunted.
The best parts are the turns of phrase in the appellate opinion. For example:
“While I agree with Supreme Court that the real
estate broker, as agent for the seller, is under no
duty to disclose to a potential buyer the phantasmal
reputation of the premises and that, in his pursuit of
a legal remedy for fraudulent misrepresentation
against the seller, plaintiff hasn’t a ghost of a
chance, I am nevertheless moved by the spirit of
equity to allow the buyer to seek rescission of the contract of sale and recovery of his down payment.
New York law fails to recognize any remedy for
damages incurred as a result of the seller’s mere silence,
applying instead the strict rule of caveat
emptor. Therefore, the theoretical basis for granting
relief, even under the extraordinary facts of this
case, is elusive if not ephemeral.”
Another great one is:
“Applying the strict
rule of caveat emptor to a contract involving a
house possessed by poltergeists conjures up visions
of a psychic or medium routinely accompanying the
structural engineer and Terminix man on an inspection
of every home subject to a contract of sale. It
portends that the prudent attorney will establish an
escrow account lest the subject of the transaction
come back to haunt him and his client–or pray that
his malpractice insurance coverage extends to supernatural
disasters. In the interest of avoiding such
untenable consequences, the notion that a haunting
is a condition which can and should be ascertained
upon reasonable inspection of the premises is a
hobgoblin which should be exorcised from the body
of legal precedent and laid quietly to rest.”
A meme is basically an idea that spreads in a viral fashion. The concept gets interesting when you look at how the replication, mutation, distribution, and other aspects of how the idea gets from place to place resembles similar processes for biological organisms.
Thanks for the info. I understand it after all, just didn’t know the term.
This the perfect medicine for Beck.He’s accused of something he didnt do and no one is insisting he did it,and he is free to prove himself innocent,but in the meantime we leave the website up for all to see so we can have a ‘fair and balanced’ debate. There’s the real possibility that a certain percentage will believe the website verbatum.Beck accused Obama of being a racist and it’s up to Obama to discuss his side in a fair and open discussion…and it’s how the ‘birthers’ accuse Obama of being an alien,and how the ‘deathers’ frighten those with Medicare and SS.
So prove the website false,Beck ! You can do what you ask of others.
verbatim
I’m not saying Glenn Beck is totally guilty of raping & murdering a young girl in 1990, or that Glenn Beck is completely guilty of murdering & then raping a young girl in 1990, but if he was going to deny raping & murdering a female of questionable age, wouldn’t you think he’d have come out and denied these vicious allegations? It really makes you wonder why Glenn Beck won’t — or can’t — deny that he raped this poor little girl and then slaughtered her in cold blood. I’m just glad someone is trying to get the facts straight. The most alarming thing is that instead of simply denying that he sodomized & killed a girl, putting all the rumors to rest, he instead sees fit to do everything in his power to silence the only people trying to get to the bottom of this. This sort of behavior really makes it seem like Glenn Beck murdered a little girl after raping her in 1990.
Is this perhaps why Glenn Beck weeps like a little girl? I think Sen. Graham is wondering. Maybe there will be Congressional hearings after all. We have to get to the bottom of this.