Palmer Ranch homeowner and association clash over Web site
This is the future of freedom of expression in this country.
Zaki is at odds with the homeowners association in his 254-home community called The Hamptons, which wants to prevent him from sponsoring a Web site he calls HamptonsNBC. As suggested by what those initials stand for -- Neighbors for a Better Community -- Zaki, a former president of the homeowners association, has some issues with how The Hamptons is being run these days. "Grievances and propaganda" is how the association's attorney described the Web site's content, in a certified letter Aug. 9 demanding that Zaki cease any use therein of the trademarked name The Hamptons. But because it is hard to complain about something without identifying it, and because Zaki felt there was a First Amendment principle involved, he ignored the letter. Last week, the association's property manager gave him until the end of the month to rename the Web site, dissolve it or face a $100-a-day fine, eventually resulting in a lien on his home.
1 comment:
This story illustrates the conflict between public expectations that HOAs operate like local governments replete with First Amendment rights and the reality that in Privatopia, no such rights exists. In a private government context, what would otherwise be a protected right to seek redress of grievances is instead placed in the realm of intellectual property law. And some defend local government privatization as good public policy? Hardly.
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