The (mis)use of intellectual property as pure unadulterated censorship continues unabated - this time from the Hershey's chocolate corporation. (Just like the time Bill O'Reilly and Fox News made themselves look like idiots for going after Al Franken because he put out a book with the phrase "fair and balanced" in it.)
Another example comes from Jews for Jesus. Though I have to wonder if Mr. Coleman really gets the problem with overbroad "cybersquatting" laws in general, or if he is just coveniently cherry-picking his arguments because he doesn't like the group in question. You can't selectively use intellectual property concepts to only punish those you disagree with (otherwise I would have cheered on Fox News for in their frivolous claim agianst Al Franken) - this is an either/or proposition I'm afraid.
Tyranny of Trademark Law Part 2 - here.
My Pumpkin Smoothie post last year was such a huge hit with Justene and others in the blogging community that I felt I had to revisit the issue again.
I am sorry to say that Jamba Juice has refused to make the Pumpkin Smoothie this year. It has always been a "seasonal" item, but it didn't happen this season for some reason - so I say 'a big fat lump of coal to Jamba Juice!'
Fortunately, you can still get the equally good "Pumpkin Smash" smoothie over at Jamba's main competitor - Robek's Juice.
Pumpkin on dude!
France has now officially done three good things in its entire history:
1. Gave the U.S. the Statue of Liberty.
2. Gave Israel the nuclear technology to build an A-bomb.
3. Told the crowd of copyright fascists to go stuff themsleves.
This vitory will no doubt be short-lived. The "artist" crowd that France cow-tows to regularly is already screaming bloody murder, as is the unaccountable "international community" which demands an intellectual property regime that is both anti-consumerist and anti-fair use.
But as symbolic gestures go, its pretty sweet at the moment.
Sadly, Christopher Cross has announced The End of the LegalXXX Era:
[...] I've been blogging more and more at my new (anonymous) site lately and getting into the whole not uttering "contemptuous" language about elected represenatives thing. So it's time for me to officially kill this blog.Oh, I may make a post now and then just so blogger won't delete the thing, but in reality, stick a fork in this thing, it's done.
Chris' often biting commentary will be missed.
Hopefully his "now and then" post will continue in the honored LegalXXX tradition of "uttering 'contemptuous' language about elected representatives," not to mention of unelected judges. The need for such "'contemptuous' language" shows no sign of diminishing.
Great article from Los Angeles Magazine which profiles Defamer - one of my favorite blogs.
This particular section stuck out at me [my own emphasis added near the end]:
The one figure who will go on the record with complaints about the Defamer is the entertainment lawyer Bert Fields. “My problem with the Defamer is that it has no standards,” says Fields. “It feels that it can say anything about anyone. Humor is one thing—nobody minds a spoof—but these people go substantially beyond humor. He can do enormous personal damage to people.”
Fields, whose clients include Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, and Tom Cruise, has been jousting with the Defamer since shortly after it posted its photomontage of Cruise’s bizarre performance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The lawyer took his first run at the site in early August when it published a synopsis of a Radar magazine article on Cruise’s affiliation with Scientology that quoted a former church member who alleged the actor had doubts about the religion. “Your story about Mr. Cruise is false and defamatory,” Fields wrote the Defamer. “Please correct this misrepresentation as quickly as possible.” The lawyer took aim again several weeks later after the site ran two photographs purporting to show a nine-year-old Cruise dressed up as Dorothy for a grade-school production of The Wizard of Oz. “The picture of the child dressed as a dancer is not Mr. Cruise,” declared Fields in an e-mail. “It’s his sister, Cass. At nine, he once put on a costume in the picture for a Halloween party. He did not go around dressed as a girl as your report suggests. I must ask that you cease any publication of those photographs and retract the suggestion that he dressed regularly as a girl.”
It didn’t take long for Fields to hear back from the Defamer. The site responded to the lawyer’s initial letter by reprinting it in whole, then proclaiming, “There you have it, straight from Team Cruise: The actor’s faith in L. Ron Hubbard was, is, and forever after shall be unshakable.” The second complaint prompted an even more arch retort. Beneath the headline “Defamer Clarification: Tom Cruise Only Dressed as Dorothy Once,” the site asserted, “Even though we never suggested an ongoing predilection for women’s clothing on the part of Mr. Cruise, we retract, we retract, we retract.”
For Fields, the Defamer’s mocking replies were beside the point. “I always contest,” says the lawyer. “If bloggers are entitled to the protection of the newspaper statute—and I don’t think they are—I’m required to ask for a retraction. The law demands that.” Fields was laying the foundation for a libel action, should that be the course Cruise wants to pursue.As Lisanti sees it, Fields’s decision to mix it up with the Defamer proves that the site is succeeding in its mission. “Isn’t it the height of absurdity that Tom Cruise’s lawyer writes and says he only wore the dress one time?” he asks. “These people take themselves so seriously..."
Indeed! It must suck to be Bert Fields.
[Be sure to read the whole article].
I sympathize with Patterico's efforts, but I'm afraid that my boss Bill Handel has beaten him to the punch in securing a nomination for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize (for real).
While I am privy to the identity of the Congressperson who nominated him, I am unfortunately sworn to secrecy in this matter. I am trustful that Professor Volokh and his followers will appreciate the solem secrecy that the process demands. (By the way Professor, I'm afraid its impossible to parody something like the Nobel Peace Prize when it has already surpassed itself as a form of self-parody. Yasser Arafat anyone?...Perhaps Bill Handel's nomination will serve as a form of redemption for Nobel Peace Prize itself.)
To listen to the podcast of the official announcement of Bill Handel's Nobel Peace Prize nomination, go to KFI's website, click on "Bill Handel" under "Hosts", then click underneath "Handel's Big Announcement". (You'll have to register with the site in order to access the podcasts, but it's free and won't result in spam or other e-mails if you don't want.)
Let's see...in the past year while your humble blogger has been on the producing staff for the Bill Handel Show, Mr. Handel has been nominated for:
1. The Radio & Records' Local Talk Show Host of the Year Award (which he won);
2. The Marconi Award for Broadcast Excellence (which he won);
3. The Nobel Peace Prize (we'll wait and see).
The first two nominations listed above happen to be reflections of actual hard work and accomplishment - so congrats Bill!
Of course its also nice to note that the latest Nobel Peace Prize nominee happens to advocate the death of fellow Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stanley "Tookie" Williams.
Don't feel too bad, Patterico. Keep fighting for that Nobel nomination! I'm rooting for you too! It's obvious that there are plenty of these nominations to go around anyhow...(Ain't that right, Tookie?)
