Slashdot Mirror
CNN Doesn't Like Being Spoofed
scrm writes "After being online for only a week, the Fake CNN News Generator, a spoof of the CNN.com website, has been shut down after CNN sent them a threatening legal letter alleging copyright and trademark infringement. (Although the real reason is more likely to be because people were actually believing that the fake stories were true.)"
Slashdot seems to be fairly united in its hatred of pop ups, so why support them by linking to sites that use them in such an aggressive manner?
Perhaps because the people at Slashdot who decided to post the story use Mozilla and turned off pop-ups? Or maybe they use IE and have a pop-up blocker?
It affects your rights, you mindless troll, because everytime a website operator pulls the plug on his site due to a C & D letter from some big corporation, it makes every other guy who might have created a similar site think twice. Repeat after me the following words "Stifling effect". Say it again until you grasp it.
If privacy had a tombstone it would read "We did it for your own good" . -- John Twelve Hawks
Oh please. The guy was using another corporations logos and trademarks without permission. Of COURSE he is going to get a C&D. This kind of thing goes on all the time. The practice predates the internet by quite some time. This is not a "stifling effect" issue.
Sure is easy to say stuff like that when you live in your mom's basement. Grown-ups have finite quantities of money... and no matter how right you are, it'll probably cost you personal bankrupcy to defend yourself in court.
Why do you think we keep seeing companies employing the same heavy-handed "scary lawyer" approach? Because it works, thats why. And why does it work? Because most people don't have the free available income to defend against a large company's attack lawyers.
I have an idea: why don't *you* step up and pay their legal defense fees? Whats the matter, are you too much of a "pussy" to put your money where your mouth is??
A parody is all in good fun. If local news outlets were decieved, they should blame themselves for being morons by not even looking at the bloody URL, to say nothing of getting confirmation from other sources. Seriously. Do they just search on google and report the first interesting thing that they find if the site looks semi-official? These are the kind of morons who would parrot an Onion article as if it were real news. There's a huge difference between parody and character assasination, and using registered trademarks or copyrighted material for parody or criticism purposes is PERFECTLY LEGAL without permission, hell, even if the "owner" of the material explicitly forbids you to use it.
Bringing the legal smackdown on this site for "libel" and "copyright infringment" is not only absurd, but simply fascist. This is an affront to free speech, which includes the right to criticize and parody anything you damn well please.
Repeal the DMCA!
*EEEEEOOOOEEEEOOOEEEEOOOEEEOOO* -- annoying siren
Godwin's Law is in effect. Return to your homes. Resist the urge to add further posts to the conversation. Repeat, do not continue this thread.
*EEEEOOEEEOOEEEEEEEE*
Sad times are these when three letters in a row are special - "cable news network." Wow. Such a novel and interesting name, kind of like Mickey Mouse. Let us rabidly protect CNN from the very public by which CNN makes all of its money. I deprecate CNN. Incredibly poor biased incomplete conjecture laden reporting with little background information on the players in the situations or the economics of the situation, and a lame fetish for Real gold pass. The Economist, The Wall Street Journal are "real" news sources.
I don't seem how this use of parody falls under this king of scrutiny, but one of the most important things about parody is that it is done in jest, not for profit, you cant sell things under the guise of another's trademark. While I don't like shitty pop-ups (I shut the filter off to see it, what crap), I seriously doubt anyone would buy into that porn crap because they think CNN sanctions or backs it.
It all comes down to a Jeffersonian thing. Can you light another's candle without vanquishing your own? Sure. Will CNN die or lose one penny because of parody? No. In fact, they spent more on the lawyers to write that stupid letter than all the damages they could have ever accrued from this "evil parody."
Lawyers are the real bottom feeding scum. Everyone's asses hurt around them. I've personally been take for a lawyer-ride (without lubrication), shareholders get raped by lawyers, Enron still has lawyers on the payroll to date while 401ks lie empty (due to foolish investment strategies and ignoring reality, but still, its a bit unfair to think lawyers take precedent here har har). In fact the inexorably complex US tax code is created, administered and massively profited off of by lawyers. Judges are lawyers. Politicians are lawyers. Anyone who isn't a scientist, a manager, a doctor, a musician, in the military, well, there is a class of people who are really ancillary to everything around them. This class finds themselves needing work because they are inherently useless. So instead of sticking to trial law, lawyers band together to form raping bands of hyenas that rove the corporate and political landscape raping everything in sight. Why cant Ted Turner just call the webmaster and say, Hey, can you cut the shit? Mano a mano? These fucking lawyers have no face, no use and no spine. BAR. What a crock. Barrister. Some crappy construct leftover from the days of King George of England.
Legalize the constitution. Think for yourself question authority.