Episode V - The Cos Strikes Back
Justin from Comic Sacrifice (creator of House of Cosbys) has made a post on the Channel 101 message boards asking people who have a copy of HOC ep.5 to not release it. So, even though I have a copy of the episode in question, and was going to release it in a torrent, I will hold off. I don't want to get anyone in trouble! The Channel 101 staff have also released a statement on their main page.
In compliance with a cease and desist order from Bill C**by's attorney, all episodes of House of C**bys have been deactivated at Channel101.com.I think it's a real shame that our culture has come to this point. My good friend Ed has also made a great post about the situation and why it is much more important than it seems.We are aware that any threat of a lawsuit would be an empty one, but if the show really bugs Bill C**by, then what right do we have to interfere with his pursuit of happiness...
The crux of the lawyer's letter was the unfair use of Bill C**by's name and likeness. In an attempt to undo any damage we have done, Channel 101 hereby asks everyone reading this to forget Bill C**by. Forget his name, forget his face, forget that he exists.
What's really unfortunate, like others have said, is how common this sort of thing is becoming in our culture, and, worse yet, how much we are willing to accept it as "just the ways things are." On one level, this is just a guy trying to protect his image. But it goes much deeper than that. Cosby didn't send a "please remove this thing that offends me as a courtesy" letter, he sent a legally-baseless cease and desist. This is a perfect example of the rich and powerful abusing our legal system to control the culture. I'm sure his lawyer is an Intellectual Property expert, and he knows, all other things being equal, that if he took the case to court, he could not win. But he also knows the defendants would run out of money long before Cosby would. So, if Bill Cosby decides our culture would be better without embarassing depictions of him, he can wave a wand and make it so. These wands are waved every day, and each time we sit back and let it happen, our culture suffers. And each time it happens without a fight, it becomes more acceptable. Making fun of Cosby doesn't necessarily enrich the national dialogue tremendously, but each time this happens, we get closer to the day when it seems acceptable for Newt Gingrich, or Rupert Murdock, or George W. Bush to wave the wand for themselves. Everyone can see the harm in that, but by the time we get there, the precedent has been established.
Apparently, a lawyer representing Bill Cosby contacted the folks over at 
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