http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46313,00.html
Ethical Treatment of PETA Domain
By Declan McCullagh (declan_at_wired.com)
2:00 a.m. Aug. 25, 2001 PDT
WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court has ruled that a website titled
"People Eating Tasty Animals" is not only a bad joke, but also an
unlawful one.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said this week that the peta.org
domain name, registered in 1995 by a man who planned to parody the
nonprofit group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, was an
illegal trademark infringement.
Michael Doughney's peta.org parody site lampooned vegetarianism --
which the real PETA insists upon -- and applauded carnivorism, dubbing
itself a tongue-in-cheek "resource for those who enjoy eating meat,
wearing fur and leather, hunting and the fruits of scientific
research." (PETA opposes medical research on animals even in cases
where human lives could be saved.)
The site's not-so-subtle mockery was red meat to PETA officials, who
promptly sued, convinced a federal judge they were right, and then
demanded Doughney pay them over $300,000 in attorney's fees and court
costs, including photocopying, faxes, courier services, postage,
travel, mileage, tolls and parking, long distance telephone calls and
"miscellaneous" items.
[...]
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Received on Aug 25 2001
Intro
