State GOP buys ‘Bob Casey for president’ website address
He hasn’t made the decision yet, but if U.S. Sen. Bob Casey wants to run for president in 2020, he’s already too late to capture a sought-after domain name: www.bobcaseyforpresident.com.
But the owner of the domain is not some squatter who wants a big payday from an aspiring presidential candidate — nor a supporter of the Pennsylvania Democrat who wants to protect the website from internet trolls.
It’s the Pennsylvania Republican Party, and its plans for the quiet purchase are to be determined.
On Nov. 27, the website www.bobcaseyforpresident.com was purchased and registered by a man with a state GOP email address who listed his physical address as the party’s Harrisburg headquarters, according to domain registration records. Domain name investor Elliot Silver first discovered the purchase and blogged about it.
State Republican spokesman Jason Gottesman confirmed to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday that the party did, in fact, direct the purchase of the website address. The domain was registered by Jake Felker, the party’s political director, Mr. Gottesman said.
“If [Mr. Casey] seeks higher office, we will make sure people
know about his record and his background,” Mr. Gottesman said, adding that the Democratic senator’s values “are not aligned with the majority of Americans.”
Asked what exactly the party plans to do with the website and whether the GOP owns other political domain names, Mr. Gottesman said he wouldn’t divulge any strategic plans.
The website housed no content on it as of Wednesday but is registered in GOP hands until Nov. 27, 2020, three weeks after the election.
It isn’t uncommon for a critic of a politician to buy up potential domain names in order to hold them hostage, or for a regular citizen to purchase several in hopes they can strike a financial deal with the candidate when the stakes rise. But a political party registering an opponent’s domain name? That’s unprecedented, at least in the courts, said John Berryhill, a Philadelphia lawyer who specializes in copyrights, trademarks and domain name issues.
“This sort of thing could lend itself to all sorts of political dirty tricks,” Mr. Berryhill said.
That’s where the law comes in. If Mr. Casey decided to run for president and wanted www.bobcaseyforpresident.com, he would have to prove that the domain rips off his trademark, that the GOP does not have any legitimate interests in the domain name, and that the GOP is using it in bad faith.
It will all depend on what goes up on the website, or what doesn’t. If the Republican Party decides to keep the page empty and simply block Mr. Casey from having it, that could be considered using the site for “illicit purposes,” as has happened in similar cases, Mr. Berryhill said.
But if the GOP uses the website to criticize Mr. Casey’s candidacy, that would be trickier, and could be considered commentary that is protected by the First Amendment — as long as the party isn’t using it for commercial purposes, he said.
“I’d want to look to see whether or not there’s any fundraising going on or something like that,” Mr. Berryhill said.
A representative from Mr. Casey’s campaign team declined comment. The senator’s past campaigns have used the website, www.bobcasey.com, which Mr. Silver said would likely be used again for a presidential run.
But Mr. Berryhill said the purchase should at least raise concerns with the campaign off the bat — especially over whether or not the website will be used as a fundraising vehicle.
Otherwise, Mr. Berryhill called the move “entertaining.”
“I have not seen competing campaigns do it. Usually, it’s just an independent critic, or an independent fan,” Mr. Berryhill said.
Although the GOP’s purchase of the website was one of the first strikes in the war over campaign domain names in Pennsylvania ahead of 2020, it has happened elsewhere across the country already. Many domains related to former Vice President Joe Biden and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas are taken.