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Wednesday, March 26, 2008 12:00 AM

Judge blesses "Wal-Qaeda," "Walocaust" anti-Wal-Mart Web sites

The sites do not infringe on the retailer's trademarks, but taste is another matter entirely.

The letters thread is now closed.

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Thursday, March 27, 2008 02:46 AM

Walocaust Denial

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/hillarys_list_of_lies.html

Does anyone else wonder where this Georgia computer store owner gets his computers?

Thursday, March 27, 2008 02:52 AM

Walocaust Denial

http://thewhitedsepulchre.blogspot.com/2008/03/walocaust-denial.html

Apologies for the previous letter. I attached the wrong link.

Thursday, March 27, 2008 07:15 AM

Free Speech Trumps Irrational Hatred of Wal-Mart

Thank goodness the judge saw sense in this suit. Free speech is a very difficult concept for many.

But even though this seems laughable in some ways, the over-defense of trademarks is a serious matter. Laws protecting trademark have their place, but statutes defending trademarking and copyrighting have gone completely overboard in recent years. This allows companies to attack people and organizations they don't like, just like this. More often, these laws encourage corporations to train their heat-seeking legal missiles on individuals and companies whose name is similar but unrelated or companies that even had the name first but didn't trademark it, all under the auspices of "defending the trademark."

I have grave concerns about the dampening effect on creativity and liberty by excessive trademark and copyright (this issue has been addressed on Salon.com) when it seems as if ever word and phrase is unreasonably protected.

Thursday, March 27, 2008 02:30 PM

I'm not a Walmart fan, but damn...

This guy sounds like a lunatic. I loathe Walmart, but to put them in the same category as the Holocaust and Al-Qaeda? I agree with the general point (at least I think that's what it is) this gentleman is trying to make, but IMO, Walmart is a symptom of what's wrong with America, not the disease.

And as for the websites? I've seen Myspace pages that have more substance. It pales in comparsion to Walmartsucks.com, a real anti-Walmart website that was taken down years ago by Walmart's legal department.

I don't know who's loonier, this guy or Walmart's legal team. You have to love the stupidity of organizations like this. You have this guy's websites, which were making no noise and no one had heard of, Walmart comes in thumping their chest and filing lawsuits, the press finds out, and all of a sudden, the general public now knows about Wal-Qaeda and Walolocaust.

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