Daniel Papasian registered this Wal-Mart Foundation parody, and now Wal-Mart is using the DMCA against him. I have great sympathy for those who want to keep corporate power in check, and Wal-Mart has plenty of it, but I find Daniel's defense of his website to be mostly over the top:
They didn't even bother to contact me to ask that anything be removed from my site. They're not worried because my page has a similar layout or design. They're worried because my ideas are a threat to them. They're threatened by my belief that big corporations like Wal-Mart have too much influence on the world.Preposterous! I generally support WM (and other big businesses), and they sent me something worse in tone and intent! Trademark attorneys do business the old fashioned way; they demand your surrender!
How would Daniel have liked for Wal-Mart to have contacted him? He used false information when registering his website, as can be seen on his WHOIS record; why should Wal-Mart's attorneys search for him and contact him in a friendly manner asking for anything?
Daniel's ideas are so damn common that Wal-Mart can't avoid them among its own employees! I find it distasteful that he is using the lawsuit as an activist front, when 1) he knew WM would come after him, and 2) he knows the real reason that Wal-Mart is going after him have nothing to do with his lefty opinion and everything to do with protecting intellectual property. If Daniel had also registered walmart--foundation.org and put on it overwheliming praise of WM's work, they would have sought to shut that down too.
Posted by Kevin on April, 25 2005 at 03:35 PM
