Keeping the Internet safe for satire, the World Intellectual Property Organization ruled that the domain name glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com was not a violation of the conservative political commentator's intellectual property.
The WIPO ruling "dismissed Beck's argument that Internet users could be confused by the domain name and its accompanying Web site," noted an NPR article. "'Even a 'moron in a hurry,'" read the decision, quoting Eiland-Hall's attorney, "would not likely conclude that Complainant sponsored, endorsed or was affiliated with the website addressed by the disputed domain name.""
Indeed, in an excellent example of the Streisand Effect, Beck's September lawsuit actually brought more attention to the website, noted the site's founder, Isaac Eiland-Hall, in a letter to Beck upon the WIPO's decision.
"It bears observing that by bringing the WIPO complaint, you took what was merely one small critique meme, in a seas of internet memes, and turned it into a super-meme," Eiland-Hall said. "Then, in pressing forward (by not withdrawing the complaint and instead filing additional briefs), you turned the super-meme into an object lesson in First Amendment principles."
The point of the website -- riffing upon an August, 2008, joke that was itself a reference to a joke about comedian Bob Saget -- was to mock Beck's rhetorical style by accusing him of something that, as former president Lyndon Johnson would have said, the b*****d hadn't denied.
Upon making his point and winning the case, Eiland-Hall then gave possession of the site to Beck. It has now been taken down, though the content is still available.