Glenn Beck Loses Dispute Over Parody Domain

CuteSteveJobs writes "Glenn Beck fought the law and the law won. Parody website DidGlennBeckRapeAndMurderAYoungGirlIn1990.com attacked Beck using the same straw man arguments Beck himself is famous for: 'We're not accusing Glenn Beck of raping and murdering a young girl in 1990 — in fact, we think he didn't! But we can't help but wonder ... Why won't he deny that he raped and killed a young girl in 1990?' Beck didn't see the humour and tried to have the site shut down. He sued the creator on the grounds the site 'violated his name as a trademark.' But in a sudden outbreak of common sense, WIPO rejected Beck's complaint finding the site 'can be said to be making a political statement,' which is a 'legitimate non-commercial use' of Beck's name. But after winning, the owner voluntarily handed Beck the domain anyway. Still, it's comforting to know that satire — the only weapon politicians and talking heads fear — is still safely in the hands of the public where it belongs."

Comments

Re:For everyone who is going WTF who is Glenn Beck

[IICV]

It's a parody of what he does when he reports "news". He makes ridiculous statements, but phrases them such that when people call him on his bullshit he can say "I'm just asking questions". He'll then badger people about neither confirming or denying his "questions" - and they won't confirm or deny them because the questions are not even wrong.

That's the point of this site - it's just asking a question, did Glenn Beck rape and murder a young girl in 1990? Obviously he didn't, but why won't he confirm or deny it? That's interesting, isn't it?

The worst part is that he actually has a TV show on Fox News. If you look on YouTube, you can find some of his spiels. They're pretty horrible, and yet somehow Americans still watch him. He sounds like that crazy homeless dude on the corner, except he's wearing a suit and he's in a television studio.

(this same sort of thing was tried with Ann Coulter, because she does the same shit. Unfortunately it didn't go anywhere because people actually believed she was a transsexual.)

Re:For everyone who is going WTF who is Glenn Beck

[ZekoMal]

Basically, Glenn Beck is on Fox News as one of the many opinion guys they have. He throws out wild accusations but gets away with it by saying "I'm not saying it's true, but isn't it odd that I'm the only one asking these questions?" He's done so many crazy things (comparing Jesus to Hitler back when he was on CNN, for example). He's so batshit crazy that he makes Bill O'Reilly appear to be a sensible man. It's absolutely terrifying, moreso when you realize how many people religiously watch his show and consider it to be 100% fact.

The controversy is just someone parodying him by making a wild accusation and then covering it with a batshit crazy question.

...He also cries loudly at random intervals on his show. I highly advise you try and find some Glenn Beck vids. http://vodpod.com/watch/1409182-colbert-mocks-crazy-eyes-beck-with-doom-bunker-segment There's one off of the Colbert Report that gives you an excellent example, in fact.

Re:Exactly

[dclydew]

Well, it really depends on what one considers a news organization. I've tried to watch Fox... I really have (and no, I'm not a liberal). However, Fox News is news in the way Jon Stewart is... they use a "news format" but they have an obvious agenda. Obvious enough that I would call them an editorial organization that occasionally reports on the news.

Note too, that the first amendment doesn't mean "The President has to talk to me because I'm on television". If Obama called for Fox to be taken off the air... then I'd agree that he's obviously not respecting the First Amendment. However, he has only stated that they have an agenda, that they're the mouthpiece of a political group and that he's not wasting his time with them.

All of that seems true.

The first amendment guarantees our right to say what we want. Fox says what they want to say. It does not however, guarantee that anyone is going to respect what you say. I have yet to hear much of anything from Fox News that I respected.

Re:icing on the cake:

[nschubach]

There are people on both sides that would like that very much. This includes people who were fighting for a more logical approach to health care by allowing the states to come up with their own systems instead of voting in one giant massive system that's untested. I happen to be one of these people... though I tend to fall more in the Libertarian side of the square as opposed to left or right (blue or red.) IMHO, the Federal government was setup as a check to the state governments where the people voted in representatives that could override decisions made by the states in intent. In practice, and thanks to the fade of States rights, it's been lost.

Or are you one of those people that think only Democrats can think of notable solutions and all other ideas will never work? That somehow "the red states" will fall and the "progressive blue wonders" will reach the utopia of mankind through social programs and abolishment of individual success?