[EL] Cybersquatting/Issa-Wertheimer

Fri May 13 09:21:39 PDT 2011

Doug

I think it's creative but I don't think it's expensive.  Most of the code, I suspect, was just lifted directly from the existing site.  The web domain would only cost $5 or $10.  It's surprisingly easy to put something like this together.

---
Paul Gronke     Ph: 503-517-7393
Reed College and Early Voting
 Information Center

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On May 13, 2011, at 7:40, Doug Hess <douglasrhess at gmail.com> wrote:

> What strikes me about the website is that it is very agressive. I
> wouldn't expect a party or candidate to put up a site hinting that an
> opposing candidate might be a bit of a Nazi (as the site does).
> Considering that a fair amount of money went into the website, who is
> behind it?
> 
> Another thought: the creators might welcome a lawsuit to take it down
> to get attention for the website....the so-called "Streisand effect":
> http://www.thestreisandeffect.com/
> 
> Doug
> 
> On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 6:22 PM, Matthew Sanderson
> <matthew.t.sanderson at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ICANN's Uniform Dispute Resolution Process (UDRP) will likely be a better
>> forum for Corwin, if she wants to wrest the domain away from the squatter.
>> 
>> UDRP panels have been much more willing than courts to give credence to the
>> complainant-friendly idea that Internet-user confusion far outweighs any
>> nominal speech expressed through the domain name itself. And in another
>> strain of UDRP decisions, the use of the site for parody/criticism was not
>> deemed relevant. Instead, the UDRP panels ruled that the domain name itself
>> must include some parodic/critical phrase to constitute "fair use" (i.e.
>> www.MattSandersonSucks.com could not be wrested from a squatter, but
>> www.MattSanderson.com could, even if the website content says "Matt
>> Sanderson sucks" on the landing page). One panel even noted “Respondent’s
>> [non-commercial cybersquatting] is not the equivalent of exercising the
>> right of free speech outside Complainant’s business street address but of
>> impermissibly blocking traffic to that street address.” [Jenner & Block LLC
>> v. Defaultdata.com, Case No. FA0207000117310 (Nat’l Arb. F. 2002)].
>> 
>> Precedent isn't as valuable/binding in UDRP as it is in the courts, but
>> there's a stronger case to be made if she uses that route.
>> 
>> Matt Sanderson
>> Caplin & Drysdale, Chtd.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 5:03 PM, David Mason <dmason12 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> The case is ancient, but see Planned Parenthood Federation of America,
>>> Inc. v. Bucci, 42 U.S.P.Q.2d 1930 (S.D.N.Y. 1997) holding against a site
>>> with a misleading name.
>>> 
>>> On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 3:21 PM, Ben Sheffner <ben.sheffner at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Here's a link to the Koch Industries case to which Allison refers:
>>>> http://pubcit.typepad.com/files/kochindustries.pdf
>>>> On a quick glance, the facts seem very similar to the fake Corwin site.
>>>> In the Koch case, the defendants created a fake press release and web site
>>>> purportedly announcing that Koch Industries had reversed its position on
>>>> climate change. The court dismissed Koch's claims for trademark/unfair
>>>> competition (no commercial use), violation of
>>>> the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (no "bad faith intent to
>>>> profit"), and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (no violation for allegedly
>>>> accessing Koch's public web site to gain info for use in the fake site). It
>>>> does not appear that the plaintiffs brought a copyright claim. My guess is
>>>> that the court would have rejected it on fair use grounds in any event;
>>>> there's a strong current of affording vigorous protection to political
>>>> speech that runs through the opinion.
>>>> Additional info here:
>>>> 
>>>> http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog/2011/05/federal-court-dismisses-koch-brothers-trademark-suit-over-climate-change-prank.html
>>>> 
>>>> On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 11:43 AM, Allison Hayward Gmail
>>>> <allisonhayward at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Similar arguments failed in a case described here.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
>>>>> [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Rick
>>>>> Hasen
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 2:38 PM
>>>>> To: law-election at uci.edu
>>>>> Subject: [EL] Cybersquatting/Issa-Wertheimer
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Cybersquatting vs. Political Opposition/Parody
>>>>> 
>>>>> I'm not sure if this is a question for Matt Sanderson, Eugene Volokh or
>>>>> Ben Sheffner.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Check out what has got to be the funniest (and perhaps nastiest) parody
>>>>> site for a congressional campaign that I've seen, www.janecorwin.org (e.g.,
>>>>> "Together we can make delicious soup from the bones of the poor. Sign up now
>>>>> to be served by Jane Corwin."). This site appears to be more than just an
>>>>> attempt to grab traffic from voters guessing at the name of Corwin's real
>>>>> site; it mimics the look and feel of that site and appears to me to be a
>>>>> political critique of Corwin's policies.
>>>>> 
>>>>> So how do the rules on cybersquatting and copyright protection etc.
>>>>> interact with the First Amendment in this context? Would there be a First
>>>>> Amendment defense to a lawsuit brought by Corwin to move this to a
>>>>> differently-named site (or to shut down the portions that appear to steal
>>>>> some of the Corwin website's look and feel)?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Posted by Rick Hasen at 11:37 AM
>>>>> 
>>>>> Issa Gags Wertheimer
>>>>> 
>>>>> See here.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Posted by Rick Hasen at 10:42 AM
>>>>> 
>>>>> --
>>>>> Rick Hasen
>>>>> Visiting Professor
>>>>> UC Irvine School of Law
>>>>> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
>>>>> Irvine, CA 92697-8000
>>>>> 949.824.3072 - office
>>>>> 949.824.0495 - fax
>>>>> rhasen at law.uci.edu
>>>>> http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
>>>>> 
>>>>> William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
>>>>> Loyola Law School
>>>>> http://electionlawblog.org
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Law-election mailing list
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>>>> 
>>>> 
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>> 
>> 
>> --
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