It seems that satire is under fire in the legal system, a situation that seems to recurr throughout history, and this time it is online parody that is the target.

Via Electronic Frontier Foundation:

New York – A New York City community organizer is fighting back in court after her parody website challenging redevelopment efforts in New York City’s historic Union Square was shut down with bogus claims of copyright infringement and cybersquatting.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is representing Savitri Durkee, an activist concerned with preserving the character of Union Square and Union Square Park. As one part of her education campaign, Durkee created a website parodying the official website of Union Square Partnership (USP), a group backing extensive redevelopment of the area. In response, USP sent Durkee’s Internet service provider a notice pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act improperly asserting that her parody site infringed USP’s copyright, leading to the shutdown of the site. USP then filed a copyright lawsuit against Durkee and later filed a claim with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) seeking to take control of the parody site’s domain name.

Now one thing that you have to admit about Internet culture is that it is rife with parody, a truly American thing. When George Washington became the first President broadsheets featured cartoons comparing him to an ass being led to the capital. The tradition of satire, especially in the realm of sociopolitical comentary, is one that I believe is integral to the our way of life.

The fact that this is also a assault on the freedom of speech that makes the Internet operate the way it does is especially chilling. Ramifications is today’s vocabulary word.

Details on the case and contact information for attorneys involved is on the Electronic Frontier Foundation site here.

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George “Loki” Williams is the owner of SocialGumbo, LLC