Jerry Falwell Goes After More Domains
from the the-bible-says-so dept
A few years ago, the Rev. Jerry Falwell made some news for trying over and over again to find different ways to attack some people who ran domain names on a variation of his name. After losing at WIPO and losing in Federal Court over domain squatting, he tried a different tact, and claimed that the use of his name in a domain name was a trademark violation. Sick of going through the process, the domains were turned over to him. So, is it any surprise that when another person comes up with a variation on his name for a website critical of him, he goes after them as well. And, of course, his lawyer has to make biblical references in claiming the domain belongs to the Reverend -- though, the biblical reference (about Moses and stealing) doesn't actually seem to have anything to do with this case, since the guy isn't "stealing" anything. Still, if you're in a position to bring God down on your side, I guess you use it.
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There's no need to pick on Jerry Falwell.
Regardless, any corporate entity would and does the same thing to protect itself. For example, if there was a website out there going by the name PnG.com or P&G.com (or similar variations) and giving out anti-Procter and Gamble information, you can bet that Procter and Gamble would have its lawyers down on them in a heartbeat.
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