Hate Speech Websites May Not Rely on First Amendment To Deceive Readers
On March 27, 2004, the WIPO-authorized National Arbitration Forum (NAF) issued a ruling in favor of The Prem Rawat Foundation (“TPRF”) against Jeffery Leason, a hate speech website operator from Pleasanton and San Diego who wrongfully registered the Internet domain name for the purpose of confusing and misleading Internet readers looking for legitimate information about The Prem Rawat Foundation. Leason is a notorious member of a small but vocal hate group obsessively dedicated to harassing Prem Rawat, his students, and entities involved in the dissemination of Rawat’s message of peace.
On March 27, 2004, the WIPO-authorized National Arbitration Forum (NAF) issued a ruling in favor of The Prem Rawat Foundation (“TPRF”) against Jeffery Leason, a hate speech website operator from Pleasanton and San Diego who wrongfully registered the Internet domain name for the purpose of confusing and misleading Internet readers looking for legitimate information about The Prem Rawat Foundation. Leason is a notorious member of a small but vocal hate group obsessively dedicated to harassing Prem Rawat, his students, and entities involved in the dissemination of Rawat’s message of peace.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was created by the United Nations to resolve wrongful activity harming intellectual property and information interests. The WIPO oversees a network of mandatory arbitrators, such as the NAF, who hear complaints about internet domain-name abuse and issue binding decisions.
The NAF panel found that Jeffery Leason, a computer specialist who operates under several aliases, including “Roger Drek,” had wrongfully registered the domain, which automatically redirected unwitting Internet surfers to a website containing bizarre, obscene and offensive images.
Jeffery Leason asked the WIPO panel to accept a wide array of defamatory statements on similar hate speech websites to justify his actions. The panel rejected all of these false allegations about TPRF and related entities, refused to republish them in its decision, and noted that they were not relevant to Jeffery Leason’s wrongful acts.
Jeffery Leason claimed that the First Amendment allowed him to misappropriate “TPRF” into his domain name as a matter of free speech. The panel rejected this argument, saying that although the content of criticism might be protected by the First Amendment, abusing the Internet by the trickery of creating a confusingly similar domain name was not protected by free speech rights.
The panel found that TPRF was protected by common-law rights, and sent a loud and clear message to those who cross the line from fair comment into illegal behavior:
“While the free competition in ideas on the Internet should be unfettered, such competition should not be unfair…Jeffery Leason’s apparent motivation was either to confuse Internet users viewing and interacting with material and links that Jeffery Leason controlled into believing the material and links were sponsored by TPRF, and/or to divert traffic away from TPRF’s website. Registration and use of a domain name under such circumstances constitutes bad faith. Moreover, the use of a domain name in this manner is likely to tarnish TPRF’s mark and is implicitly proscribed…”
The Prem Rawat Foundation is a duly authorized charitable non-profit organization registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt entity. The purpose of TPRF is to disseminate a message of peace through the understanding of the teachings of Prem Rawat-also known as Maharaji-,a world-acknowledged teacher and public speaker on the subject of inner peace.
This is the second time in a month that the force of law has been brought to bear against illegal actions that cross the line from fair comment to wrongful acts. Last month the Supreme Court of Queensland, Australia found journalist John Macgregor, another member of the same hate group, had wrongfully stolen and disseminated computer files related to entities that share the same purpose as TPRF.
More information about the criminal acts of the hate group of which Jeffery Leason is an active member can be found in the FAQ section at www.elanvital.com.au
The National Arbitration Forum case reference is TPRF v. Jeffery Leason # FA0401000231883 (NAF),
Andrew Jones
The NAF panel found that Jeffery Leason, a computer specialist who operates under several aliases, including “Roger Drek,” had wrongfully registered the domain, which automatically redirected unwitting Internet surfers to a website containing bizarre, obscene and offensive images.
Jeffery Leason asked the WIPO panel to accept a wide array of defamatory statements on similar hate speech websites to justify his actions. The panel rejected all of these false allegations about TPRF and related entities, refused to republish them in its decision, and noted that they were not relevant to Jeffery Leason’s wrongful acts.
Jeffery Leason claimed that the First Amendment allowed him to misappropriate “TPRF” into his domain name as a matter of free speech. The panel rejected this argument, saying that although the content of criticism might be protected by the First Amendment, abusing the Internet by the trickery of creating a confusingly similar domain name was not protected by free speech rights.
The panel found that TPRF was protected by common-law rights, and sent a loud and clear message to those who cross the line from fair comment into illegal behavior:
“While the free competition in ideas on the Internet should be unfettered, such competition should not be unfair…Jeffery Leason’s apparent motivation was either to confuse Internet users viewing and interacting with material and links that Jeffery Leason controlled into believing the material and links were sponsored by TPRF, and/or to divert traffic away from TPRF’s website. Registration and use of a domain name under such circumstances constitutes bad faith. Moreover, the use of a domain name in this manner is likely to tarnish TPRF’s mark and is implicitly proscribed…”
The Prem Rawat Foundation is a duly authorized charitable non-profit organization registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt entity. The purpose of TPRF is to disseminate a message of peace through the understanding of the teachings of Prem Rawat-also known as Maharaji-,a world-acknowledged teacher and public speaker on the subject of inner peace.
This is the second time in a month that the force of law has been brought to bear against illegal actions that cross the line from fair comment to wrongful acts. Last month the Supreme Court of Queensland, Australia found journalist John Macgregor, another member of the same hate group, had wrongfully stolen and disseminated computer files related to entities that share the same purpose as TPRF.
More information about the criminal acts of the hate group of which Jeffery Leason is an active member can be found in the FAQ section at www.elanvital.com.au
The National Arbitration Forum case reference is TPRF v. Jeffery Leason # FA0401000231883 (NAF),
Andrew Jones
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