Walmart Not Horsing Around With Parody Domain Site
from the neigh dept
Walmart. Just saying the company's name is usually enough to evoke unbidden brain-sounds of terrifying organ music and images of pitchfork-wielding devil-imps. But, hey, it's a large business that's been around for quite a while, so I guess it's doing alright. It seems to me that somebody might want to call a meeting with the Walmart legal brain trust, because the company's campaign against a silly and simple parody website isn't achieving much of anything at all, and is in fact Streisanding the parody site into national views.
This story starts back in 2012, when ICANN saw fit to hold a firesale on domain extensions. Buying them up was all the rage for reasons unfathomable to this author. Still, that was the impetus for how we arrived at Walmart going after a site with a .horse extension.
That explains why, for the mere price of $29, you can now purchase a .horse domain name, if you want to do such a thing. "With .HORSE, there are no hurdles between equine enthusiasts on the Internet," says United Domains. "Giddy up and register .HORSE today!" It doesn't seem like too many people have been receptive to this pun-based sales pitch, but a 34-year-old named Jeph Jacques saw the opportunity for what he calls an "art project."This grand art project? Buying up the domain www.walmart.horse, slapping a picture of the front of a Walmart store with a, you guessed it, horse superimposed over the top, and declaring the whole thing a monumental artistic success. Seriously, this is the only thing at the website if you go there.
"I thought, 'Alright I'm gonna buy this and do something stupid with it and see what happens," he told me. And readers, he did just that.
Monet it might not be, but the image is suddenly competing with the likes of famous artists for attention and views thanks to Walmart freaking the hell out about it. In its infamous wisdom, Walmart and its crackerjack legal team have demanded that the whole shebang be taken down, claiming infringement of trademark. The C&D letter Walmart helpfully sent along suggested that Jacques' website would confuse customers into thinking that Walmart, who is not in either the business of horses nor in the business of having a sense of humor, might have some affiliation to walmart.horse. Interestingly, the letter targets the domain name, rather than the image on the site itself. I'm not personally aware of any infringement claim on domain name being refuted by the actual extension used, but this would seem to be a ripe candidate for that argument, given that Walmart is not in the horse business.
But this really shouldn't even get that far, given the whole purpose of the site itself and the artistic nature of the creator.
Jacques argues that his site is "an obvious parody and therefore falls under fair use." He also told Walmart in his response that he'd be happy to put a disclaimer on his site to let visitors know he is not actually affiliated with the Waltons. And although he doesn't want to bow to the company just yet, he says he's already proved his original hypothesis: that corporations spend an absurd amount of time policing their trademarks.Point proven, I suppose. Meanwhile, a tiny joke site has been Streisanded into the national conversation because Walmart just couldn't resist.
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Filed Under: domains, horse, jeph jacques, parody, streisand effect, trademark
Companies: walmart
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Antagonizing people who already have a fan base probably accelerates the Streisand Effect.
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(or you can just go there to get a feel for the size of his fan base)
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I know this is going to sound insulting as well when I don't mean it to be, but the .horse thing isn't "dumb", it's just kind of "insignificant"....
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Related video and tip for content to put in the new site: https://youtu.be/varlFj0W6UA
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Walkmart Logo
It is very similar to the international symbol for asshole.
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walmartDOTjackass
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walmart.legal
Is your name being used in a way you dislike?
Do you want to bring more attention to the problem?
Then visit Walmart.legal where our discount lawyers will file questionable lawsuits cheaper than anyone else. We guarantee or prices are lower than any competitors, if you find a cheaper price we will best it by 10%!
Listen to these testimonials:
"They helped me hide pictures of my house" -Barbra Streisand
"Walmart.legal below us hide encryption keys from those dam pirates!" -MPAA/AACS
"When videos of our most brainwashed member Tom Cruise showed up on the Internet Walmart.legal unleashed a can of whoop ass!" -Church of Scientology
Discount legal advice is selling out fast! Get it while supplies last, visit Walmart.legal now!
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neigh
Varlets! Villains! Equine quadrupeds!
Neigh, say it is not so!
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Walmart.*
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Re: Walmart.*
OMG do I even want to go there?
If those are even close to 'People of Walmart'...
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I was ready to buy a discount horse that wasn't going to be very durable, would probably end up with most of it's fair falling out in the first year, and would need custom shoes that could only be purchased at Walmart stores.
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Did you even check a dictionary?
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Re: Did you even check a dictionary?
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Talk to the Registry (not the one you're thinking of...)
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Heh
For the record, that site is hilarious.
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And thank you for saying it's hilarious. Now I can admit that I made it my homepage.
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And no one would think that this horse is a store
Except, of course, for lawyers who work for the famous Wal-Mart brand.
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Re: Mr. Ed
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I could add another comment to this story...
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Subdomains
An endless number of opportunities exist.
Too bad Walmart cannot hire Dozier, he croaked after watching his pathetic law office disintegrate. As far as I can tell he only had one client after I put up the web site mocking him in response to his bogus demand letters.
My advice to Walmart, apologize and maybe offer to make a handsome charitable donation as a gesture of good will. Public Citizen comes to mind as a good candidate.
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Re: Subdomains
John Dozier, the idiot who said the above? If it wasn't for the fact he's already dead, I'd say he needs to quit drinking the Kool-Aid!
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Streisanding and streisanded were both used in the story.
I like it.
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Art!
And I aint horsin' around!
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hi
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