Defamation, is a tort action where one party can sue the other for damages, when they make false statements about the other, in writing (libel) and spoken words (slander) which damages that person’s reputation or causes that person distress.
The question is, can a domain name, in and of itself, be defamatory?
The question is being asked because this week, TV and radio talk show host Glenn Beck, threatened to file such an action against the person who registered the domain, glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com.
According to the domain owner the site and the domain itself (which is based on a joke) is completely satirical.
The site says in part:
“””Why won’t Glenn Beck deny these allegations?” asks the site. “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, since he has failed to deny these horrible allegations. Why won’t he deny that he raped and killed a young girl in 1990?”
At the very bottom of the page is a small text disclaimer saying that the site was satirical.”””
This week, Beck’s laywers, contacted the registrar of the domain, NameCheap, demanding that the “highly defamatory domain name” glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com be deleted, that the WhoisGuard privacy protection service be revoked, and that the owner’s contact information be turned over to his lawyers.
NameCheap refused.
Beck’s lawyers also filed a WIPO action this week on the domain.
But the bigger legal question is can a domain name be itself defamatory, leaving the owner liable to a suit for damage?
Paul Levy of Public Citizen, told the blog, Ars Technica:
“Certainly, domain names alone “can be defamatory”
“I don’t think ‘Ha ha it’s a joke’ at the end gets you off,” he says; if the parodic information is defamatory, it’s risky for the defendant in such cases. That’s complicated by the fact that the original domain name made the allegedly defamatory claim against Beck—and of course no one stumbling across the site in a search engine or elsewhere would see any disclaimer. In such cases, the domain name itself is a standalone piece of content; the disclaimer may help regarding the website content, but it won’t necessarily transfer a cone of protection to the domain name as well.””
Ars Technica also quotes Corynne McSherry of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who says:
“I’m not sure of any case where someone has claimed that a domain name was defamatory”.
I agree.
I think if this case is filed, the decision will be one of first impression serving as legal precedent for other domains.
This of course is an extreme example and there are first amendment considerations, however the 1st amendment does not give anyone the right to say anything they want about another.
Yet much of the law surrounding intellectually property is not legislated, but determined by the courts as this issue might be as well.
What a sick joke. I wish people like this did not exist.
Don’t forget about the most recent case involving a blog called Skanks in NYC where the blogger was anon but sued by some model and forced to give up his identity.In that case they forced google ( I think he was using the blogger platform) to turn over his info. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/08/blogger-unmasked/
You ever see a porno and the titles says something like “Once a whore always a whore” or “Street Sluts” and wonder if they got consent to call the porn actress a whore/slut…….even though it could be argued that she is?
I have wondered in the past if they actresses could sue the film makers?
Johnny
I’ve been to a couple of the AVN award shows and I would say most of those porn actresses would take offense if you didn’t call them a slut.
Trying to hide behind “satire” to launch these kinds of negative comments is terrible. This fool deserves what’s coming to him. Free speech is a wonderful right, but does not include crap like this.
If the person (I have no idea who this Glenn-something actually is) would leave it nobody would know. oes these morons realize that what would be a thing practicaly nobody would know about becomes a thing hundreds of millions will know about ?
D
Actually the guy is quite famous, and has his own show on every night on CNN (headline news)
Having practiced law in the defamatory claims arena, I would agree that the domain name in and of itself is defamatory. The disclaimer on the web site does not protect the defamer, nor does the fact that the defamed party is “famous” which would normally take him out of the protection afforded by the libel and slanedr laws. This domain is stated as fact and not opinion and is absolutely libelous if it not true.
Does it change the legal exposure if the the domain owner is in Canada or UK?
Not really. Most defamation laws are the same or similar, though I do not know the specific defamation laws of Canada or the UK.
“glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com” is more than just a domain name.
It’s a complete accusatory sentence.
Would anyone , famous or not, like to see their name substituted for Glenn Beck’s in the domain?
The domain can be taken down but it won’t disappear from the internet.
IMO it’s defamatory, in case it’s a lie, anyway it’s a serious acusation, if it was me i would feel ofended, and i would sue the owner of the domain name, no doubt.
I don’t know about laws, but a domain name on itself can be defamatory, and in this particular case it is.
Thanks for the info, now I know I have a good case to sue someone.
I will forward this to my attorney.
Why would someone register that is beyond my comprehension.
****************************
“Defamation, is a tort action where one party can sue the other for damages, when they make false statements about the other, in writing (libel) and spoken words (slander) which damages that person’s reputation or causes that person distress.”
Quote-
“Thanks for the info, now I know I have a good case to sue someone.
I will forward this to my attorney.”
I don’t mean to be flip-it but if he doesn’t know, you are in real trouble.
When one starts legal proceedings for libel or slander, it is not cheap and it is very time consuming.
Plus, one opens up the door for them to turn your life upside down even if you are the person originally harmed.
Domain Investor
When he receives the letter from my attorney, he will settle!!!
I already have all the documentation.
Should we pull the plug on our plans for boycottglennbeck.com?
owen – I think that is a completely different matter. I think the name mentioned in this post is libelous. The one you mention is just a call to action.
Al Franken titled a book “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot” … and as punishment for this defamatory statement, he was elected to the U.S. Senate.
LOL @ randomo. Good point. We all know this statement is not true, as Rush has lost a lot of weight recently. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=8234457&page=1 😉
Owen
Of course not that is fair use
R-
Big difference between calling someone a “Big Fat Idiot” and saying someone raped a murdered someone.
““Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot””
“We all know this statement is not true, as Rush has lost a lot of weight recently.”
Sam,
What about the “idiot” part?
Patrick – I think Sam was insinuating that he is still an idiot
“Patrick – I think Sam was insinuating that he is still an idiot”
lol
went right over my head 🙂
Legal issues aside. With all the garbage Glen Beck tries to push about others, it serves the MF’r right…
The populations at risk in Table 3 reflect the fact that, because of cli- mate change, some populations will move in and out of the water stressed category. ,