Subject: Re: [EL] Cybersquatting/Issa-Wertheimer |
From: "Torres-Spelliscy, Ciara" <TorresC@exchange.law.nyu.edu> |
Date: 5/12/2011, 11:46 AM |
To: Rick Hasen <rhasen@law.uci.edu>, "law-election@uci.edu" <law-election@uci.edu> |
The Issa hearing is starting now. http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1
From: law-election-bounces@department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces@department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Rick Hasen
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 2:38 PM
To: law-election@uci.edu
Subject: [EL] Cybersquatting/Issa-Wertheimer
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
--
Rick Hasen
Visiting Professor
UC Irvine School of Law
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William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
Loyola Law School
http://electionlawblog.org