... you've probably heard about my buddy Dave making headlines all over the place.
To chronicle the debacle over edstelmach.ca would be pointless at this juncture because, among other reasons, there are more than enough people being paid for it for me to justify doing it for free.
I do, though, have some thoughts on the matter.
First, I really do have to congratulate Dave. He managed to catch the Premier's team off guard and exploited it masterfully. In politics, we occaisionally salute our opponents for a firing a salvo with such precision. This is one of those times.
Moving forward, though, I worry about the possibility of Dave fighting this for any great length of time.
I'm not worried because I think this will cause a major drop in support for the Premier or the Party. Nor am I worried that the Party can't afford a drawn out lawsuit... far from it.
I worry because, partisanship aside, I really like Dave.
Like I said, he has won the first round without question. He highlighted a glitch in PC organization and has done incredible things for his future readership.
But Round One is now over. And, looking to Round Two, all the chips are lining up in the Premier's favour.
In other jurisdictions, getting away with cybersquatting (the internet term for what Dave has done with Stelmach's domain name) can be pretty easy. In Canada, however, the laws governing the registration of domain names are considerably more strict. Dave got away with registering edstelmach.ca because no one else had it. Now that someone named Ed Stelmach DOES want it, it will be exceptionally difficult for Dave to argue his point.
Moreover, Dave describes himself as a debt-ridden university student. I would hate to see a friend suffer financial hardship because he dug his heels into a fight he is sure to lose.
Dave, you've accomplished your mission and everyone who reads a newspaper in this country now knows it. To continue fighting at this point will only waste time and money while distracting attention from the REAL issues facing the province.
I think we both agree that a debate on those issues is far more important than a battle over a $14 domain name.
This guy may be your friend (and YOU seem like a nice enough sort) but (sorry) really all he strikes me as being, is nothing more than another run-of-the-mill, attention seeking, self indulgent, wiser-than-thou, university lefty smart ass.
ReplyDeleteThey are a dime a dozen at any university in Canada; snotty little loud mouth sh&t disturbers who produce nothing of any value but love to pretend they're "SOMEBODY" by attracting attention to themselves.
Nothing more remarkable than the (name forgotten), spoiled, little 98 pound toothpick-armed dickless wonder who threw a pie at Ralph Klien.
It's nice that you are sticking up for your pal but really there's nothing deserving of any respect here.
I'm really surprised that Anon heard about this story, what with him living under a bridge and all.
ReplyDeleteWhat did he expect was going to happen when he decided to register the name?
ReplyDeleteSounds like an opportunist to me - interesting - if a conservative blogger had registered the name kevintaft.ca or brianmason.ca, they would be up in arms over the mean, nasty blogger and the press would follow suit.
This is get Eddie time here in Alberta, the guy most of the Liberal media picked to win, did not, and they do not like it.
Sorry, he may be your friend, but he knew this would end like this, and is exploiting it for political gain.
And no, I did not vote for Eddie
Shit if I did not know better, I would replace lefty with religious zealot in anonymous's first post and get a more accurate result....Praise be to Jebus, but I digress.... some people just have no "ediquate", myself included....
ReplyDeleteHe might be able to apply for legal aid there Blake, that is the angle I would pursue if I was Dave. Drag this thing out for awhile and see if you can win. If not Legal Aid, Student Legal Services in Edmonton. I am sure the Civil Division up there would love to have a case like this....that would certainly virtually eliminate the cost....