Ever since the birth (and subsequent euthanization of) Fake Steve Jobs, there have been a plethora of other fake executive personalities online. Some have been received better by the companies they claim to represent than others. Most simply ignore the satirical alter-egos, but Canon is one company that isn't taking all the smack talking from its fake exec lying down. The company has requested that WordPress.com remove the Fake Chuck Westfall Blog, a parody supposedly authored by Canon's Technical Information Advisor Chuck Westfall.

The header of the blog, "FAKE CHUCK WESTFALL: Canon Camera Guru - Ya Better Recognize!" seems to clearly convey that this blog is, in fact, not written the real Chuck Westfall. Still, in a letter (PDF) sent by Canon's law firm last week, the company claims that the Fake Chuck Westfall blog uses the real Westfall's name and likeness as well as Canon's trademark without authorization.

Canon also notes that various blog posts seem to violate WordPress.com' Terms of Service as well as "many and federal state laws" by the unauthorized use of the Canon logo, "threats of physical violence," and "the outrageously privacy-invasive identification... of Mr. Westfall's wife, Ying, and young daughter, Anne." Finally, Canon takes issue with the overall look and feel of the blog, which it claims is "calculated to mislead recipients as to the source of the material."

As noted on the blog over the weekend, Fake Chuck Westfall has removed the Canon logo and lessened the violence in one of his posts. However, the company behind WordPress.com, Automattic, has decided to stand up to Canon on some of the other points. In a letter sent back to Canon's lawyers and published on Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection, Automattic responded to Canon's privacy complaint by pointing out that the real Chuck Westfall names his wife and daughter in his own bio elsewhere on the Web.

Automattic also rejected Canon's assertion that the blog could be confused with any official Canon site. "[T]he blog name and URL contain 'Fake', the about page starts with 'Hi, I’m not actually Chuck Westfall.', and the tone and content of the whole blog are clearly satirical," wrote Automattic.

This is, of course, not the first time someone has tried to rain on a satirical site's parade. In 2005, the White House bullied The Onion into dropping the presidential seal, and Ludlow Music raised a fit in 2004 over a satirical Flash video depicting George W. Bush and John Kerry in alternating singing roles in a rendition of "This Land is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie. And, although it wasn't exactly satire, home improvement store Lowe's has attempted to take down customer complaint site Lowes-Sucks.com with a number of trademark infringement claims.

Not only are these attempts largely futile, they have the effect of drawing attention to that which these companies are trying to hide. We'll be honest: we didn't even know Fake Chuck Westfall existed before today, but you bet we (and all of you) know about it now. And how could we not keep reading after posts like "5D Mark II Fix Coming, 50D is F***ed"? Keep on keepin' on, Fake Chuck Westfall.