Jews for Jesus sue Google

Blog kerfuffle

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 23rd December 2005 11:24 GMT

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Evangelical Christian group Jews for Jesus has filed a trademark infringment suit against Google after taking exception to jewsforjesus.blogspot.com, hosted on the search monolith's Blogspot, Reuters reports.

The blog, written by "Whistle Blower" is critical of what it calls Jews for Jesus's "confrontational style of evangelism", although it contains just five postings dating back to January 2005. In one of the later entries, Whistle Blower notes contact from Jews for Jesus asking him to give up the domain, which he declined to do.

Accordingly, Jews for Jesus filed suit on Wednesday in the US District Court in New York. The organisation's associate executive director, Susan Perlman, told Reuters: "We have a right to our own name and Google has allowed the use of our name on Blogspot without our permission. Our reputation is at stake."

Perlman denied that the action was prompted by the blog's hostility to Jews for Jesus, noting: "One of the wonderful things about the Internet is that there is freedom of expression, but there should be a protection... so that organizations like ours can represent ourselves." ®

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