News & Media
I Wish I Lived in Brazil (or Singapore)
ABC News was trying to photograph lobbyists meeting with Democratic Party leaders at a hotel in Denver. For that gross affront freedom and authoritah, an entire squealing flock of blue-suited trash not only arrested the ABC producer, but made sure to add a little insult to injury in the process. (source) Remember back in 1999? We still had a pretty vibrant First Amendment. It wasn’t without its tattered edges, but at least the cops didn’t arrest mainstream media producers for daring to stand with press credentials, holding video gear, on public sidewalks, reporting on public officials. We didn’t have “free speech zones.” We had our issues, but this was still America. Over the past 8 years, we turned from land
Ernest Borgnine: The Secret to a Long and Healthy Life (I'm Gonna Live Forever!!!)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I_PeLNzxNQ] HT: Marty Klein
GoDaddy Gives Certified Appraisals for Cybersquatting Domain Names
The Domains Blog gives a report on how GoDaddy is not only selling domain names that clearly infringe on trademark rights, but selling certified appraisals of those domains. The Domains Blog, a domainer-industry source is deeply disturbed at this turn of events and proposes a domain parking code of conduct: A. Parking companies must refuse to park any domain that infringes on a trademark. If parking companies need to hire a full time person to police this, then that’s the cost of doing business. If trademark domain holders (I will not call these people domainers) can’t make money on parking trademarked domains, the incentive for registering and holding them is gone. B. Google and Yahoo have to block trademark domains
UDRP Decision Discusses Privacy Services and Bad Faith
A recent UDRP case gave one of the harshest criticisms of domain registration privacy services rendered to date. See Ustream.TV, Inc. v. Vertical Axis, Inc., WIPO Case No. D2008-0598. The majority of the Panel also finds that the use of a privacy shield in this case further supports its finding of bad faith registration. Although privacy shields might be legitimate in some cases – such as protecting the identity of a critic against reprisal – it is difficult to see why a PPC advertiser needs to protect its identity except to frustrate the purposes of the Policy or make it difficult for a brand owner to protect its trademarks against infringement, dilution and cybersquatting. In circumstances like this, the privacy
All Your America Are Belong to Us!
By: Zac Papantoniou – Weird Legal News Satyriconista Apparently, The Moorish American Science Temple (MAST), is pretty pissed off at… well, pretty much everyone in Illinois, but especially at Washington Mutual Bank, the Cook County Sherriff’s Office and the Chicago Police Dept., because the Temple’s Fiduciary Board Members filed suit against those three (3) parties yesterday, along with “all known and unknown parties acting in concert.” Why? Because the MAST members believe that they are “sheiks” who have descended from aboriginal North American (or in their words “Northwest Amexem”) “Peoples” who have been on our soil for over 50,000 years. Because of these beliefs, the MAST members claim that they own the land, which houses the “Windy City,” along with
Is the VPILF Candidate a Censorship Monkey?
It looks like she shares a few political genes with Rhonda Storms. See Here’s the story about Palin’s book-banning try as mayor. HT: Lisa
In Minor Political Race, Major Misunderstanding of IP Law
f.k.a. reports on a tiff between two bald white guys running for a family court judge-ship. At least one of the candidates doesn’t know the difference between copyright and trademark — and certainly knows nothing about either field.
Nassau County, FL Ordinance Update
The Fernandina Beach News Leader gives us some insight into an anti-porn ordinance that Nassau County, Fla. thinks it can pass. The ordinance would ban the sale of any pornographic material that depitcs “specifically described sexual conduct.” According to the ordinance, that means one of the following: (1) rape or sexual battery; non-consensual intercourse, sodomy, or oral sodomy – [rape, sexual battery, and non-consensual intercourse would already be illegal. However, banning any porn films that contained depictions of anal or oral sex?] (2) incest – [Frankly, I am a little surprised that a place like Nassau County would be up in arms about films depicting incest. A) They pretty much don’t exist, and B) if they do, I’d imagine they
Finally… a Sarah Palin Post
Satyriconista Zac can’t believe that I haven’t chimed in on the VPILF yet. Well, here goes. First of all, she would be the first VPILF in history. Second of all, she might be in favor of jury nullification. So far, so good.
Yale Law 2017
A teacher called a 14 year old student an “ugly brat.” Now she wants $75,000. Source. Anyone else want to call her an ugly brat? Get in line.
Capt. Alfred Decker – Asshat of the Week
While Tropical Storm Edouard was bearing down on Texas, a woman in a Wal-Mart in La Marque, TX had the audacity to use the word “fuck” while speaking with her mother. (Telling her that there were no more batteries). “I looked at my mom and said, ‘They’re all —-ing gone,” Fridge recalled. Suddenly, Capt. Alfred Decker, the La Marque assistant fire marshal, appeared from around the corner, dressed in a fire department uniform. “He said, ‘You need to watch your mouth,’ ” Fridge said. Perplexed by who the man was — his badge said “fire department” — Fridge offered a scant apology. “I was like, ‘Oh, OK. Sorry?’ ” she said. Fridge walked away, but said the man ordered her
Google's "Chrome" Browser? No Thanks
Quizlaw has a compelling argument why bloggers should ditch the evil one’s new browser.
Cyber-protestor Shut Down by UDRP Panel
The Acroplex Blog reports on The shameful WIPO case of Aspis.com. Aspis is a registered trademark of a Swedish company. However, it is also refers to Aspis Pronoia, a Greek insurance company. Interestingly enough, the Swedish Aspis is the successor in interest to the Greek company. Back in 1998, Aspis Pronoia ticked off Mr. Dimitri Kukurinis, and he registered aspis.com to vent his frustration with the company. The Swedish successor corporation filed a UDRP action. See Aspis Liv Försäkrings AB v. Neon Network, LLC, Case No. D2008-0387. The panel found that: Mr. Kukurinis [the registrant] is a resident of New York and at all material times has used the Domain Name to host a criticism site. The site contains text
Penis Pumps Pwned! Uncle Sam Saves Us From Penis-Enlargement Scams – Provokes Possible Trade War With Sweden
Last week, the guy behind the Enzyte scam got 25 years in prison for selling placebo pills to guys with small penises. This week, the Food and Drug Administration issued an “Import Alert” recommending that penis enlargement hardware should not be allowed to be imported into the United States. See Import Alert #78-01 is titled “”DETENTION WITHOUT PHYSICAL EXAMINATION OF PENIS ENLARGERS AND ERECTION MAINTAINING RINGS”. In this Import Alert, the FDA gives us a comprehensive list of what it considers to be a “penis enlarger and erection maintaining ring.” 1. Mechanical stretching devices. Those employing weights, or lines tied to other parts of the body (such as the knee), to affect tension on the penis. 2. Vacuum operated devices.
Western Pennsylvania Town Clings to Guns & Religion – Sexytime, Not So Much
Stephanie Babines tried to open a womens’ pole-dancing studio in Adams Township, Pennsylvania. Her website is located here. The thought that local women would be gyrating like the Salem witches, with Ms. Babines playing the part of Tituba, was just too much for the code enforcement overlords in one of those parts of Pennsylvania where they cling to guns and religion. They denied Babines her permit to operate the business on the grounds that it was an unlawfully located “sexually oriented business.” (See pages 11-12 for the Adams Township code definition of that term) The township’s code enforcement officer, Gary Peaco, is apparently a psychic. Peaco said he did not need to interview Ms. Babines regarding her intentions for the
Wrong "Barbie": Mattel Lives up to its Doll's Airhead Image – Cybersquatter No Nobel Prize Winner Either
Mattel recently went after domainer Konstantinos Zournas in order to seize the barbitwins.com domain name. See Mattel, Inc. v. Konstantinos Zournas, NAF Claim Number 1203398 (Aug. 8, 2008). Mattel claimed that the “barbi” portion of “barbitwins.com” was confusingly similar to their registered BARBIE trademark. In their complaint, Mattel said that Mr. Zournas made no legitimate use of the domain name, and that it was merely a Pay-Per-Click page directing traffic to porn sites. Mattel also claimed that Mr. Zournas registered and used barbitwins.com “with the intent to trade on the goodwill Complainant has earned in its BARBIE products, and to enhance the commercial value of his own services. Respondent has damaged the reputation, business and goodwill of Complainant.” Unfortunately for
Stupid Flunkie Never Read Cohen v. California
On April 26, 1968, Paul Cohen walked into the Los Angeles County Courthouse wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words “Fuck the Draft.” He was arrested, Mel Nimmer took his case all the way to the Supreme Court, where the decision was reversed as Cohen’s jacket constituted First Amendment protected expression. See Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971) (“one man’s vulgarity is another’s lyric”). In 2008, Lapriss Gilbert was ejected from the Social Security office in Los Angeles for wearing a t-shirt that said “lesbian.com”. Apparently the flunkie dipshit who worked for Paragon Security Company has never read that particular Supreme Court decision. He “cited the document, The Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property, as proof of
Wisconsin Woman Files Suit Over Linking Threats
Jennifer Reisinger says the Sheboygan city attorney ordered her to remove from her Web site a link to the city’s police department, in what she believes was retaliation for her support of recalling Mayor Juan Perez, according to the suit filed last week. (source) Her reaction, file a federal lawsuit against the City of Sheboygan. Not wasting my PACER pennies on this one. The funniest part, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headline for the story: Sheboygan women files landmark case over Web links Hat Tips to Quizlaw and Trademark Blog
Equifax Loses UDRP Decision for EFX.com
Equifax uses EFX as its stock ticker symbol. On that basis, it filed a UDRP action against Future Media Architects over the domain name EFX.com. See Equifax Inc. v. Future Media Architects Inc., NAF Claim Number 1195133 (Jul. 23, 2008). Equifax was not successful, but this decision gives some guidance to parties whose “trademark” rights may be less than a traditional brand name, but are still worthy of protection. Three-letter domain decisions are hard to win. There are often a multitude of plausible explanations as to why the Respondent registered the domain name in good faith, even if the Respondent is using the domain name in bad faith. In this case, the Complainant was unsuccessful because the panelist believed that
Belly Bumpin' Don't Never Lead to No Good!
Livin’ in Flori-duh means never having to make something up when you wanna tell a funny story. Two former mayors of Oak Hill, Flori-duh got into a little altercation in the City Hall parking lot on Tuesday night. Well, one thing led t’nother, and the two started “belly bumping.” As y’all know, belly bumpin’ turns to fisticuffs and the resultin’ tomfoolery landed both of them in the hospital with high blood pressure, heart pains, and one of them with some missing teeth. The out-of-shape combatants were City Commissioner Mike Thompson and fellow former mayor/commissioner Jeff Bracy. Both are reported to have had previously-diagnosed heart conditions. (source)
