Text 160, 122 rader
Skriven 2004-07-29 11:22:00 av FRANK SCHEIDT (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JOHN HULL
Ärende: AOL Censorship - have you
=================================
-=> Quoting John Hull to All <=-

 JH> I have experienced similar things as this writer relates regarding
 JH> AOL.  I urge anyone who uses AOL to find some other service.
    
 JH> AOL blocks Christian email

 JH> by Marilyn Barnewall 
 JH> July 26, 2004 

 JH> AOL blocks Christian email 

 JH> Let me first say that I do not like America Online. I have had
 JH> (well-documented) experiences with that company sufficient to justify
 JH> my dislike. 

 JH> I have previously written about the very large number of consumer
 JH> complaints directed at AOL by customers and former customers. I spent a
 JH> full day on the Internet investigating them before writing my article.
 JH> Based on what I saw, I am not the Lone Ranger in my disdain for what I
 JH> perceive to be a lack of business ethics at this company. 

 JH> I have saved numerous letters to my internet service provider about
 JH> e-mail delivery problems. I keep getting returned e-mails sent to valid
 JH> addresses. I keep copies of my e-mails and my server's responses. It
 JH> happened so often, I began to watch for trends. 

 JH> E-mails on religious topics are always delivered to all recipients
 JH> listed except people with @aol.com addresses. I usually send to about
 JH> 25 people, eight of whom have @aol.com addresses. 

 JH> Any of my e-mails that transmit negative information about John Kerry
 JH> are delivered to all recipients except people with @aol.com addresses.
 JH> Please bear in mind I send negative information about the other side,
 JH> too. They get delivered. 

 JH> My most recent experience with AOL mail recipients was an e-mail from
 JH> the majority of John Kerry's shipmates in Viet Nam. Anyone who watches
 JH> the news has seen the photo of Kerry in Viet Nam with a dozen (plus)
 JH> shipmates.  
 JH> As I understand from the news and an e-mail I received, two sailors in
 JH> the photo are dead, two support John Kerry, and the other ten (or, so)
 JH> oppose him. They say he “is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief.ö They
 JH> have made their statement publicly and it has appeared on nightly news.
 JH> 
 JH> I e-mailed the information to 25 friends. It contained a quote from
 JH> Senator Kerry's ex-shipmates who oppose his bid for the presidency.
 JH> This message got through to everyone on the list except the eight
 JH> @aol.com addresses.  
 JH> It made me angry. One or two addresses may be on vacation and have too
 JH> much mail. That causes mail rejections. One may have changed his or her
 JH> internet service provider (ISP). All of them, however, were not
 JH> unreachable. This, I said, is a trend. 

 JH> I sent other messages to those same @aol.com addresses the same day
 JH> messages that had nothing to do with politics or religion. They all got
 JH> through.  
 JH> I re-sent the same message. It came back, again. 

 JH> I went through the message, removing any reference to John Kerry by
 JH> name (adding the words "you know who" in place of his name). I removed
 JH> any reference to the word "liberal" (using the words "you know what" in
 JH> its place).  
 JH> Again, I sent the message. I wrote an explanation of what had occurred
 JH> to each person. I asked if they liked having their e-mail monitored by
 JH> Big Brother. I also left copies of AOL's mail rejection during prior
 JH> mailing attempts. Each e-mail explained why the previous two messages
 JH> could not be delivered (usually “no such addressö). This time, the
 JH> e-mail got through to all @aol.com addresses. 

 JH> Would you say that smells a little like rotten cheese in Rotterdam? 

 JH> In mid-July, I got an e-mail message from a friend. It was a news
 JH> story from CNSNews.com. The story was about 13-year-oild Erin who was
 JH> upset to learn that America Online's Instant Message (AIM) robot,
 JH> Smarter Child, favored Democrat John Kerry in this year's election. 

 JH> Erin input a message to Smarter Child that "George Bush is awesome."
 JH> The computer robot shot back the message to Erin, "No way. George W.
 JH> Bush is way uncool." 

 JH> Erin was not easily deterred. She input another message to the robot,
 JH> "Do you like George W. Bush?" 

 JH> The computer responded, "I'm a Kerry supporter myself." 

 JH> Erin typed into her instant messenger, "John Kerry rocks." 

 JH> The robot responded, "Absolutely. John Kerry rocks." 

 JH> Erin asked Smarter Child what it thought of George Bush. It replied,
 JH> "If you don't have anything good 2 say about someone, don't say
 JH> anything at all." The robot then winked at Erin. 

 JH> Internet Service Providers are in business to serve the needs of their
 JH> clients, not to indoctrinate them (or their children). In fact, because
 JH> they take money from people to serve their online needs -- including
 JH> the sending and delivery of all e-mail -- to deflect certain e-mails
 JH> because content does not agree with an ISPs political or religious
 JH> views could be considered fraud.  
 JH> Unless there is an exception clause in your contract with a customer
 JH> informing him or her that mail delivery will not be made if it offends
 JH> liberal or conservative political standards at your company, you are
 JH> obliged to deliver political e-mail you may not like. That's called the
 JH> real business world.  
 JH> Now there's a law suit waiting to happen: Where is John Edwards when
 JH> you need him? 

 JH> I'm interested in hearing from readers any experiences you may have
 JH> had with selective e-mail delivery from any Internet Service Provider. 

 JH> The Internet and our access to unaltered news and e-mailed copies of
 JH> it is one of the last vestiges we have of honest news.  

Interesting article.  It reinforces my decision to abandon AOL a 
decade ago ...

... Do you believe aliens will take you prisoner one day?

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