Cards Manager LaRussa Suing Twitter

Count yours truly as among those that took awhile to get on board with this whole “Twitter” thing.

For you clueless people that are still behind the times, Twitter is the newest rage in social networking, having been embraced by celebrities and lowlifes alike.  Ashton Kutcher and Shaquille O’Neal are two of the more well-known celebs on Twitter.

And just like Facebook and MySpace, the two other major social networking sites, there’s always some douchebag loser ready to create a fake account using some celebs name, for what reason I have no idea.

Can’t they just surf porn instead?

Usually people realize that the fake accounts are just that–fake.  But sometimes they get duped into believing that they’re actually following their fave athlete/celeb.

Hell, it took me two weeks to realize that the Redd Foxx I was following on Twitter wasn’t the real “Fred Sanford”–seems he’s been dead for years, or something.

Inevitably though, a celeb is going to get pissed enough by a false account under their name and do something about it.  And since this is the good ol’ U.S.A., the obvious choice for retribution is a lawsuit.

Enter Tony LaRussa.

LaRussa, the St. Louis Cardinals manager, is suing Twitter on the grounds of trademark infringement, and “dilution, cybersquatting, and misappropriation of name and likeness.”

In response, Twitter removed the offending account just hours after the lawsuit was filed.

This whole situation begs the question–why can’t Twitter do a better job policing their memberships?

Rest assured, until Twitter, Facebook, etc., improves their membership screening, expect to see more dateless losers creating fake accounts, posting inappropriate comments, and laughing about it with their imaginary friends. [MLB Fanhouse]