Marc John Randazza

“ There is no evidence that Respondent has registered and used the domain name for the purpose of selling it for profit. Respondent is not engaged in a pattern of cybersquatting. Respondent did not register the domain name to disrupt the business of a competitor, he registered it to pay homage to an existing internet meme that poked fun at Glenn Beck, to poke fun at Glenn Beck directly, and to express his political opinions. ”

“ The Rules compel the Panel to “decide a complaint on the basis of the statements and documents submitted in accordance with the Policy, these Rules and any rules and principles of law that it deems applicable.” Complainant relies upon common law rights and it was incumbent upon him to provide evidence of those rights with the complaint. He has failed to do so. ”

“ The domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the Complainant has rights; and,
(ii) The Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and,
(iii) The domain name has been registered and used in bad faith.
The Respondent has rights and legitimate interests in the domain A. The Respondent has rights and legitimate interests in the domain;
The Panel must understand the concept of Internet memes, must understand the particular internet meme in play, and should apply the First Amendment to these proceedings. ”

“ Beck misapplies tarnishment theory
Beck argues that “the domain name constitutes classic tarnishment.” Respondent is at a loss as to what “classic tarnishment” means. In the UDRP context, “tarnishment” means something different than whatever Mr. Beck is trying to imply it means (which is unclear) .
Criticism and tarnishment are not the same thing. Associating an existing mark with unwholesome products is “tarnishment.” For Example, in Hasbro, Inc. v. Internet Entertainment Group, Ltd., 40 U.S.P.Q. 2d 1479 (W.D. Wash. 1996) , there was an adult entertainment site at . ”

“ Others joined in the fun, and the internet had its newest meme. See Fark discussion board (Annex F) . Immediately thereafter, “Glennbeck” became a verb on urbandictionary.com meaning “To rape and murder someone (especially a young girl in 1990) .” See Annex G. The meme spread to Yahoo Answers. See Annex H. And the next day, Respondent registered the domain name in order to memorialize the meme and to further the meme’s criticism of Beck. Both are legitimate interests and neither constitute bad faith under the Policy. ”

“ Beck makes a desperate play to characterize the Respondent’s site as a commercial enterprise by noting that it has a link to another criticism site, , which in turn sells items to support its protest message. See Complaint at ¶ 24. The mere fact that Respondent’s site may have a link to another site that may itself sell something does not make the Respondent’s site a commercial enterprise. ”

“ D2001-0505 explained this in the context of the UDRP:
Tarnishment in [the UDRP] context refers to such unseemly conduct as linking unrelated pornographic, violent or drug-related images or information to an otherwise wholesome mark. ”

“ In this case, the facts are not so sympathetic to the Complainant – as anyone looking for Glenn Beck’s website would be very unlikely to type in the Respondent’s entire domain name in a quest for Mr. Beck’s particular shtick.
UDRP complaints involving Americans are routinely denied when the website criticizes or offers commentary about the complainant. See, e.g., Sermo, Inc. v. CatalystMD, LLC, WIPO Case No. D2008-0647 (transfer of criticism site denied even when respondent defaulted) ; Bridgestone Firestone, Inc. v. Myers, WIPO Case No. ”

“ The Parties stipulated on September 21, 2009 that unless required by technological limitations, that all communications should be transmitted electronically between the parties and the Centre.
Response to Statements and Allegations Made in Complaint
The Requested Relief Should be Denied
(Policy, ¶¶ 4 (a) , (b) , (c) ”