Sometimes it’s just better to shut up and let people have their fun, instead of putting the issue into the spotlight.
I bet the PR and Legal teams from Canon USA are thinking like this right now. Right after Canon sent a take down notice to the owner of the blog Fake Chuck Westfall and WordPress, they found out how such a case can backfire. Automattic responded to Canon, that they stand by Fake Chuck and will support him. So much for taking down a blog!
It’s pretty obvious that the blog is fake. It says so in the title, URL and in the about page:
Hi, I’m not actually Chuck Westfall.
After the takedown notice, and some blog posts from well known and widely followed and respected bloggers, the story got much more attention than Canon probably ever wanted. It also had the effect that more people than ever visited the blog, which resulted in the post: To Canon and Loeb & Loeb: Thanks for the traffic! Instant fame for the fake Chuck Westfall.
Biggest learning of this all, maybe you just should ignore these kind of little blogs that try to get attention if you are a big brand and offended. The issue is more likely to blow up into your face when you send a take down notice. Bloggers love this kind of fights. They will jump all over it, and the story will spread like an oil spill. The bad thing for Canon is, once the ghost is out of the bottle, you can;t get it back in.
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