Satire and meme’s are an integral part of the Web. While satire has a long and rich history long before electrons started passing information among the InterTubes meme’s have been a much more recent happening but no the less funny or important. While many of the meme’s we see being spawned almost daily are harmless and give us a good chuckle when we run across them before they run out of steam there are others that take on a ling life of their own.
Of these the satire blog set up by an originally anonymous blogger to take a more than fair shot at Glen Beck has a suddenly become fodder for a case before the domain dispute center at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva.
The domain in question is glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com and since failing to get U.S. courts to take down the site due to their common “moron in a hurry” test Beck has decided that despite his dislike for world organizations this is a matter that can only be settled by the WIPO.
Since this has progressed to this point the previous anonymous blogger has revealed his identity and hired a lawyer to deal with the issue. Now to be fair one has to understand where and why the domain came into place which the now revealed blogger, Isaac Eiland-Hall, explained to Ars Technica
Eiland-Hall had discovered a Fark thread in which commenters picked up on a Gilbert Gottfried routine about Bob Saget raping and murdering a teenaged girl (it’s, er, a bit funnier in context than it sounds [NSFW]). They adapted it for Beck to highlight what they perceived as his habit of forcing people to explain away completely baseless charges—as when Beck interviewed Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) and opened with this gem: “And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview because what I feel like saying is, sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies. And I know you’re not. I’m not accusing you of being an enemy. But that’s the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.”
How better to give Beck a taste of his own medicine than by wondering publicly why he has never addressed the rumor that he raped and murdered a young girl in 1990? No one’s saying that Beck really did it… but if he has nothing to hide, why won’t he deny the tale?
Eiland-Hall’s lawyer, Marc Randazza, is quick to point out when it comes to the WIPO and domain disputes. The process is generally used to prevent cybersquatters from sitting on trademarked names and generally applies only when there is commercial intent and the real possibility of consumer confusion. It is safe to say that Eiland-Hall’s site is neither commercial in any way and neither does it cause any brand confusion with Glen Beck.
Good luck with that Glenn and as Randazza says in his response to the WIPO
“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.”
Guess it sucks when you have your own medicine shoved back in your face eh Beck.