Deliberate Misspelling and Freedom of Speech

[Midano]

This is a very interesting development of the topic.

The facts:
- Jerry Falwell is a well-known anti-gay preacher;
- "jerry falwell" is an active registered trademark: USPTO
- www.fallwell.com (notice the extra "L") was registered in 1999 for a sole purpose of trashing Jerry Falwell;

Usual story - trademark violation, yada-yada, lawsuit, infringement... Boooooooring....
The verdict:

The three-judge panel reversed a lower court's ruling, which had prohibited Christopher Lamparello from "maintaining a gripe Web site critical of Jerry Falwell," the appeals court opinion said. The judge’s said the Web site, Fallwell.com, is not a confusing use of Falwell’s trademark.

Read full story here
What's your take?

 

[primacomputer]

I love Falwells comment at the end... “We expected the Clinton appointees to vote the way they did, and expect the full court to reverse them,” Right. As for me, I expect to see judges made decisions based on law, not on a political agenda. And it's good to see them doing that here. The earlier decision was a disgrace to the legal system.

 

[netzilla]

I think the fact that the domain was allowed to remain is wonderful. While the founding fathers had no clue that the internet would ever exist the right to free speech should protect our rights for the internet as well. The internet 1. Jerry 0.