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HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION TRIES TO CENSOR RESIDENT'S WEB SITE
BILL HUTCHINSON, HERALD TRIBUNE - Kamel Zaki has lived in nearly a dozen
countries and found something to disagree with, he admits, in every one
of them.
But the first place he has been officially threatened for expressing an
opinion is Palmer Ranch.
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.
Zaki, a retired Chase bank executive who left his native Egypt more than
30 years ago because of "the politics," is outraged by what he sees as
an assault on his freedom of speech.
"Where are we?" he asked. "This is America, still, is it not?"
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070921/NEWS/709210366
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HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION TRIES TO CENSOR RESIDENT'S WEB SITE
BILL HUTCHINSON, HERALD TRIBUNE - Kamel Zaki has lived in nearly a dozen
countries and found something to disagree with, he admits, in every one
of them.
But the first place he has been officially threatened for expressing an
opinion is Palmer Ranch.
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.
Zaki, a retired Chase bank executive who left his native Egypt more than
30 years ago because of "the politics," is outraged by what he sees as
an assault on his freedom of speech.
"Where are we?" he asked. "This is America, still, is it not?"
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070921/NEWS/709210366
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