Tiananmen Activist... Turned Entrepreneur... Turned User Of Trademark To Stifle Free Speech
from the free-speech-for-me,-but-not-for-thee dept
Paul Alan Levy alerts us to yet another shameful case of someone abusing trademark law to try to silence critics. In this case, it involves the software company Jenzabar, which makes software for colleges and universities, and apparently likes to play up the fact that its founder and CEO, Ling Chai, was one of the "leaders" of the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989, before fleeing to America. Apparently Chai likes to play up that connection for PR purposes, and has been able to get the press to cover Jenzabar with headlines like "From Tiananmen Leader to Netrepreneur" and "From Starting a Revolution to Starting a Company."However, when the makers of a documentary film about the uprising at Tiananmen Square included some comments and links to articles that were critical of Chai, she went legal. It started with a lawsuit claiming defamation against the film makers, which got quickly tossed out. So, instead, Chai and Jenzabar appear to be trying to use trademark law to bankrupt the filmmakers. They've filed a trademark lawsuit, claiming that the filmmakers' web page, that talks about Chia and Jenzabar, violates its trademarks, noting that the page turns up in search results on Jenzabar and the term is in the metatags.
Pretty much everyone involved recognizes that this is a ridiculous abuse of trademark law to stifle free speech. There is no violation of trademark here. Posting links to stories about Chai and Jenzabar that are critical of her is not a trademark violation in any manner. Using the term in metatags is totally meaningless. It's a shame that someone who apparently once stood as a voice for freedom is now trying to stifle free speech in others via trademark law abuse.
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Filed Under: chai ling, free speech, ling chai, tiananmen, trademark
Companies: jenzabar
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Hmm
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Re: Hmm
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Dark Helmet will be my Secretary of Punishment.
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Sure I will...also, drink this wine in celebration of m...er, your kinghood...nevermind that funny taste...
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How is keeping the public informed, whining? The more knowledge there is of issues like this, the better chance there is that the public will demand that changes be made.
So far, the only whining I see going on here is coming from you.
And, yes, I agree that the system is flawed, but only because all the rich folks in charge keep changing the rules to favor themselves.
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Because judges are clueless.
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I am not here to defend her. I am here to defend the group of so called student leaders. They were students who did not ask to become leaders; history thrusted them onto the stage.
One person I do know is Wang Dan. In June, he released the following statement to defend his friend. Please take a read before making further comment: http://www.64memo.com/d/Blog/HostsBlog/tabid/229/EntryId/10/Wang-Dan-Defense-for-Chai-Ling-a-letter- to-the-students-in-Hong-Kong-University.aspx
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I think that was pretty clear. The irony depends upon it, in fact.
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I'll make her a deal, we'll differentiate between her personal and business lives if she will. Why don't you take another gander at how she's playing up her role in the activism to the BUSINESS press.
Class dismissed.
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All that is fine, but it doesn't change the fact that (a) she used that personal story to her own advantage in business -- which certainly makes it fair game in criticizing her and (b) she's still abusing trademark law to silience critics.
I am not here to defend her. I am here to defend the group of so called student leaders.
Wait, did we criticize the "so called student leaders"? No. We did not. So what's the complaint again?
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"Pretty much everyone involved recognizes that this is a ridiculous abuse of trademark law..." If that is true and if the "involved" Americans are half as effective as Miss Chai then there isn't a big problem !.
"There is no violation of trademark here. Posting links to stories about Chai and Jenzabar that are critical of her is not a trademark violation in any manner."
But since many Americans can only blog around on the web giving absolute legal interpretations when they are not actually lawyers or even involved in the case (or any other case) and many other Americans listen.... we have a big problem,
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Huh? The complaint has nothing to do with her immigrant status. Not even sure what you are saying here. And abusing trademark law to shut up your critics is not "behaving like the quintessential American business person." Just the opposite.
"Pretty much everyone involved recognizes that this is a ridiculous abuse of trademark law..." If that is true and if the "involved" Americans are half as effective as Miss Chai then there isn't a big problem !.
No, because it's perfectly fine to bankrupt some critics by abusing the law. Is that what you are saying?
But since many Americans can only blog around on the web giving absolute legal interpretations when they are not actually lawyers or even involved in the case (or any other case) and many other Americans listen.... we have a big problem,
Yes, that's right. Here in America no one is allowed to give their opinion. If you actually read the article, you'd see quotes from lawyers saying this is a ridiculous case. It's not like I just came up with the concept.
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But it's relevant to our article as you play on the "fleeing to America" and try to suggest some kind of double cross.
"...Is that what you are saying?"
Obviously not. I'm saying if the legal situation is as clear as you pretend and if the "involved" Americans were effective they could shut down the abuse quickly. They probably won't because lawyers make more money by dragging things out - it's quite likley they will start a campaign for contributions to pay for lawyers ... how much would you give ?.
"Here in America no one is allowed to give their opinion" Wrong again ; you can have any opinion you like but it's a good idea to think about the subject before choosing an opinion.
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No, by "Fleeing to America" it suggests that she was running away from the crap she had to put up with there.
"how much would you give ?"
One, let the start a collection, then ask the question. It makes it less hypothetical and you get a more truthful answer.
Two, they shouldn't need to. This should be kicked out before it gets that far.
"you can have any opinion you like but it's a good idea to think about the subject before choosing an opinion."
Translation: You can have any opinion you want, just as long as it's OK with the person the opinion is about.
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Jenzabar Nonsense
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free-speech-for-me,-but-not-for-thee dept
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www.theYESmovie.comby Louis Lautman
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