News & Media
United States v. Stevens Oral Arguments
From the sounds of the on-the-ground reports I am getting, it seems that United States v. Stevens is looking good for those of us on the side of Free Speech. Only Alito seems skeptical of the free speech arguments. Sotomayor seemed to strongly challenge the government’s position, and Scalia seemed to be reviving his prior free speech theories as articulated
Hysterical Erotophobes Freak Out Over Bikini Clad Baristas
Some people in Clearview, WA are losing their minds over a cafe whose servers wear bikinis at work. “These girls are basically stripping for tips,” pastor and organizer Shahram Hadian told a crowd of about a 100 Tuesday night at the Clearview Foursquare Church. Speakers one after the other recounted experiences with bikini espresso huts and questioned why police and
Wrentham, MA Considers Adult Entertainment Zoning Regulations
Its nice to see a reporter get the coverage right: Municipal zoning bylaws may limit such uses, but cities and towns can’t completely prohibit them. A municipality that does not provide certain locations within the community where adult uses may reasonably operate is essentially denying that form of free speech, and they could locate where non-adult businesses, such as retail
Was a Contract Formed?
Jennifer suggests a cute idea for Halloween. Natalia will go as Tinkerbell. Jennifer will be Wendy. I should be Peter Pan. This is appropriate for many reasons. I laugh and say “yes, that sounds adorable.” Then, I see Jennifer with a grin that seems just a tad over-sized. “God damn it! You are gonna make me wear green tights, aren’t
The Only Thing on Twitter Worth Reading
Twitter is stupid. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it until it goes the hell away (or at least evolves into something worthwhile). That said, Shit My Dad Says is frigging awesome. Twitter should just shut down all the other twitter accounts and sell ads on this guy’s feed.
Unethical or just plain stupid? A "thin DMCA letter"
Ralph Lauren makes its first stupid move — photoshopping a model so that she looks like something you’d get a blowjob from in Roswell, New Mexico. That’s dumb move number one. So then a few blogs pick up the picture, making fun of it, including BoingBoing. Ralph Lauren then hires an attorney to write this silly DMCA notice. (courtesy of
Sometimes Negativity is Just So Funny
Even when it is directed at me. I simply can’t stop laughing at this comment someone made about me in the Boston Herald: Randazza is well known around the North Shore as a slimy liberal incompetent moonbat home-schooled moron lawyer. Good luck to him. (source) I liked this one too: he has a face that you just want to whip
Bay State lawyer takes on FOX yakker
The Boston Herald covers Fox News commentator Glenn Beck’s challenge against Randazza Legal Group client Isaac Eiland-Hall. Beck sued Eiland-Hall for defamation after he set up the satire site GlennBeckRapedandMurderedaGirlIn1990.com. The Boston Herald offers as background: The site, didglennbeckrapeandmurderayounggirlin1990.com, is based on a joke originally aimed at comedian Bob Saget. During a TV roast of the former “Full House” star,
Glenn Beck Internet Meme Gets Ugly
National Public Radio’s “All Tech Considered” discusses Randazza Legal Group’s brief regarding Glenn Beck’s complaint to the World Intellectual Property Organization about the satire site GlennBeckRapedandMurderedaGirlIn1990.com. The column analyzes the brief’s atypical legal style, in which RLG cites to various Internet memes, including All Your Base Are Belong to Us and the “Downfall” meme. In the brief, attorney Marc J.
The North Face claims that consumers don't know their heads from their asses
by Jason Fischer Clothing producer, The North Face (TNF), recently got a lesson in how bad trademark enforcement decisions can make a company look silly. It seems a St. Louis teen thought that it would be amusing to create a clothing line parody, calling it “The South Butt,” — south being the logical opposite of north and butt being… well…
"What About the Children" FINALLY Fails!
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-California) is the latest moron to cry “what about the children?” while trying to score cheap political points while wiping her ass with the First Amendment. Sanchez took a swipe at free speech by proposing the “Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act.” Yes, another law named after a dead kid. That almost never ends well for free speech
WTF, Wisconsin?! You Disappoint Me . . .
By: Zac Papantoniou If you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple of years (or possibly living “off the grid” in the back-woods of Wisconsin), you may not know that “WTF” has become a commonplace acronym for asking, “What the Fuck?” (Source). Apparently, no one told this to the people in charge at the old “Wisconsin Tourism Federation
Bostonist, Today in Randazza's Zings: Glenn Beck, Why Do You Hate America?
The Bostonist “can’t get enough” of attorney Marc J. Randazza in its column about an e-mail exchange between Randazza and Glenn Beck’s legal counsel regarding GlennBeckRapedandMurderedaGirlIn1990.com. The column reads: “Today, we discovered an email that Randazza sent to Glenn Beck’s attorneys wondering, in lawyer talk, why Glenn Beck hates America, musing, in part ‘It would be an interesting day indeed if Mr. Beck
Jack Thompson Didn't Get the AutoAdmit Memo
Apparently Jack Thompson, asshat of the century, is suing Facebook because Facebook won’t stop its members from being mean to him. (complaint here, courtesy of Popehat). Naturally, it is 31 flavors of batshit crazy — just what you would expect from Jack. Speaking of Popehat, no sense in analyzing the complaint when Ken does an ass kicking job of it
Glenn Beck Satire Site Fights Back
Adweek outlines Fox News commentator Glenn Beck’s claim that the website GlennBeckRapedandMurderedaGirlIn1990.com infringes upon his trademark and should be shut down. The article describes the site and recounts attorney Marc J. Randazza’s legal brief on the issue. The article says: But this case also makes a political point, noting an interview Beck conducted with Congressman Keith Ellison, a Muslim, in
Glenn Beck Can't Take Glenn Beck's Heat
LA Progressive explains how the First Amendment protects satire in a piece about Glenn Beck’s complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center about the website GlennBeckRapedandMurderedaGirlIn1990.com. Attorney Marc Randazza explains: “The Web site is a legitimate criticism site, consists of political satire, and thus the Respondent has legitimate rights in the domain name … Mr. Beck’s
Gloucester Lawyer Defends Satirical Glenn Beck Website
The Bostonist urges its readers to review the legal brief of Marc J. Randazza, filed on behalf of client Isaac Eiland-Hall, creator of GlennBeckRapedandMurderedaGirlIn1990.com. The post says: The brief, which everybody should read, goes on to explain (hilariously!) the “Gottfried technique” and the idea of an internet meme, including vivid examples like “Mr. Spock Ate My Balls” and “Hitler Hates
Memes strike back: Gerbils, gay blood elves, and Glenn Beck
Ars Technica details the legal brief filed by Marc J. Randazza on behalf of Isaac Eiland-Hall, the man Fox News commentator Glenn Beck threatened with legal action after he put up the website GlennBeckRapedandMurderedaGirlIn1990.com. The post analyzes the question: “In the US, courts have long adopted a “moron in a hurry” test for dealing with issues of trademark confusion. Would
Glenn Beck Urges Parody Site Be Shut Down
Online Media Daily reports on Glenn Beck’s attempts through the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center to have the website GlennBeckRapedandMurderedaGirlIn1990.com taken down. Beck alleges trademark infringement and defamation. Attorney Marc J. Randazza argues in his legal brief: “We are here because Mr. Beck wants respondent’s Web site shut down. He wants it shut down because Respondent’s website
Jesus and His Blasphemous Nails
By Tatiana von Tauber Today is Blasphemy Day and its objective is to “open up all religious beliefs to the same level of free inquiry, discussion and criticism to which all other areas of academic interest are subjective” according to Center for Inquiry, the host of the Blasphemy Day Artist Showcase exhibition. Meet Dana Ellyn. She’s the showcase artist and
