In hilarious legal responses ...

I recently read an article citing one of the funniest legal responses I have ever read.

Jake Freivald of West Orange Count, New Jersey apparently started a very rudimentary site called westorange.info.  For reasons explained is this article, he got served with a cease and desist notice from the county which I have reproduced below:

Dear Mr. Freivald:

I am the Township Attorney for the Township of West Orange (“Township”). It has come to our attention that, on or about May 13, 2013, you registered and began to use the domain name “westorange.info” (the “Info Domain”). The Township interprets this action as an effort by you to confuse and conflate the Township’s official domain name and Web site with the Info Domain that you maintain.

The use of the Township’s name is unauthorized and is likely to cause confustion [sic], mistake or to deceive the public and may be a violation of the Township’s federally protected rights. The Info Domain falsely creates the impression that the Township is associated or affiliated with the Info Domain. At a minimum, this action has been taken with constructive knowledge of the Township’s name and Web site, and constitutes bad faith use of the Info Domain.

Accordingly, the Township demands that you cease and desist from use, ownership and maintenance of the Info Domain. The Township further demands that, within ten (10) days, the Info Domain be withdrawn from the current registrar, and that you cease all current and future use of the Info Domain, or anything else confusingly similar thereto.

The Township reserves all rights and remedies.

Please be guided accordingly.

Very truly yours,

Richard D. Trenk, Township Attorney

The response his lawyer, Stephen Kaplitt, gave has to be one of the most amusing responses I have ever read.

Stephen Kaplitt: Cease and Desist Response Letter

The local government overreach underlying this case reminded me of another incident in the late 1990s, where the State of Michigan reportedly threatened someone with a $10,000 fine per day because of unauthorized dam building on his property.  Unfortunately for the State of Michigan, the said dams were built not by the owner but by a pair of beavers.  The property owner's humorous reply that made the rounds on the internet was probably a bit of revisionist history, but as this story explains, the basic facts of the story are generally true.