Writes Declan McCullagh for Wired News:

In the last few weeks, a law firm representing Lyons Partnership -- which owns the rights to Barney -- has stepped up its efforts to yank hundreds of humor sites poking fun at the children's cartoon character that so many Internet users love to hate... A typical nastygram from Gibney, Anthony and Flaherty goes something like this: "We have reviewed your website and have concluded that it incorporates the use and threat of violence towards the children's character Barney without permission from Lyons Partnership.