What do Martin Luther King, Jr., Glenn Beck and Chris Donovan have in common? Each of them have websites using their names in a critical manner.

Recently, I read about the website entitled Glenn Beck Raped and Murdered a Young Girl in 1990 dot com. In early September, Matthew A. Kaplan and Al J. Daniels, Jr., attorneys for Mercury Radio Arts, Inc and Glenn Beck submitted Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) complaint against the domain.

The Citizen Media Law Project has an excellent article about the complaint, including a link to the response to the complaint. Not only does the response explain why Glenn Beck’s complaint is without merit, it is a good background on UDRP complaints, free speech issues and even a good explanation of Internet Memes. As a side note, Mr. Beck lives in New Canaan, CT.

Also here in Connecticut, the Connecticut GOP has set up a site criticizing the speaker of the house, Chris Donovan as well as around thirty other State Legislators. It would seem as if any argument against these websites should not include a UDRP complaint, as illustrated by the issues above. Yet there are other issues.

Not only did the CT GOP set up websites, they also set up Twitter accounts. In Twitters’ Terms of Service they reserve the right, without assuming any obligation to do so, to terminate or reclaim users that do not adhere to Twitter’s rules. These rules include: “You may not impersonate others through the Twitter service in a manner that does or is intended to mislead, confuse, or deceive others”

Some have argued that these sites are intended to be parody sites and as such are protected. Others have noted that unlike Glenn Beck Raped and Murdered a Young Girl in 1990 dot com, these fail the “Moron in a Hurry” test. Put briefly, even a moron in a hurry is unlikely to believe that a site entitled “Glenn Beck Raped and Murdered a Young Girl in 1990” is likely to be a site run by Glenn Beck, but the same moron in a hurry, might believe that “Meet Rep Donovan” is actually a site run by and supportive of Rep. Donovan. I’ve actually spoken with some savvy internet users who were initially confused about the site. It is unclear if Twitter is likely to take any action against the CT GOP.

The broader complaint is that it the site really isn’t any good. The Glenn Beck site, besides making effective use of an Internet Meme, also provides a striking criticism of his style. The CT GOP sites criticizing the Democratic Legislators really have very little to say, which reflects a broader criticism of the CT GOP as a whole.

So, where does Martin Luther King, Jr. fit into all of this? A white supremacist organization hosts Martin Luther King dot org. It is often brought up in discussions about media literacy. Whatever happens with Glenn Beck and Rep. Donovan, we need better media literacy and this should be more of a focus in our schools and beyond. Hopefully, this will have helped various readers understand a little better some of the media literacy issues we face here in Connecticut.