BS: A penny a minute

Subject: A penny a minute
From: Llanfair
Date: 22 Oct 99 - 05:10 AM

As from today, I can talk to you folks for a penny a minute. No more collossal 'phone bills, and no more guilt when logging in. Thank you AOL. Hwyl, Bron.

Subject: RE: BS: A penny a minute
From: MMario
Date: 22 Oct 99 - 08:02 AM

yeah!

Subject: RE: BS: A penny a minute
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Oct 99 - 08:03 AM

That's great, Bron. I understand how much that means to you who have to pay by the minute. And, I am sorry, I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but adding a bit of thread creep, I would like to make those who are interested, aware of the following information. Thanks, Bron.

There are a lot of people here who are not happy about AOL's apparent homophobia and there is talk of boycotting them. Here's something from the San Francisco paper:

America Online, the nation's leading Internet service, is censoring the way gay members describe themselves online while ignoring gay-bashing remarks from other members, three lobbying organizations alleged this week.

The American Civil Liberties Union, NationalGayLobby.Org and HateWatch criticized AOL on their Web sites for preventing a gay member from including sexually suggestive information about himself in his personal profile, while allowing other members to litter their profiles with racist comments and hate rhetoric.

AOL members typically create profiles to publicly describe themselves and their interests. An auto enthusiast, for example, can enter the words ``classic cars'' into the AOL member search engine and be connected to hundreds of other members with the same hobby.

But last week, AOL deleted the profile of a gay man because he described himself as a ``submissive bottom.'' AOL informed the member that his description violated the company's terms of service agreement. He was asked to create a new profile free of ``objectionable content'' and ``sexually oriented language.''

``It is essential that (content created by members) reflects our community standards, and we may remove it if, in our best judgment, it does not meet those standards,'' according to the agreement.

AOL hosts a handful of gay chat rooms where men can exchange ideas and even hunt for dates.

The gay man, who felt that he was within his rights, contacted the Fort Worth, Texas, chapter of free-speech watchdog ACLU, which now is championing his cause.

``We're concerned there is a double standard being applied to gay members of AOL,'' said Frank Provasek, president of the Fort Worth ACLU chapter. ``You can't say you're a submissive bottom, but then there are plenty of examples of nongays who list `killing fags' as their hobbies.''

A quick, informal investigation conducted last weekend by Wired Strategies, an Internet consulting firm in Washington, turned up hundreds of objectionable profiles, including one member who said he ``liked his beer cold and fags dead,'' and another who listed his hobby as ``fag bashing.'' AOL has 18 million subscribers.

AOL spokesman Rich D'Amato said the company does not proactively police member profiles, but instead relies on members to alert it to objectionable material. He said the company has a ``community action team'' that investigates all complaints and determines whether content is offensive and should be removed.

``Content only comes to our attention if another member reports it,'' he said. ``Certainly we would view any anti-gay sentiment as hate speech.''

This is not the first time AOL has been embroiled in controversy with the gay community. Last year, Navy officer Timothy McVeigh was outed when an AOL employee turned over McVeigh's member profile to a Navy investigator. The profile led to discharge proceedings against McVeigh for being homosexual.

Michael Romanello, executive director of NationalGayLobby.Org in Washington, said he has heard rumblings in the gay community for years about profiles for gay AOL subscribers being deleted, while derogatory remarks about gays and lesbians remain uncensored. He said his group plans to measure the extent of the problem by asking gay AOL members to visit his site and fill out an online form detailing their experiences with the company.

So far, his group has not filed any legal complaints against AOL.

Critics also point out that while AOL has software that automatically censors racial slurs, it does nothing to prevent members from using the defamatory term ``faggot.''

``I think people should be free to say whatever they want,'' said Romanello. ``But if AOL has a policy, they should apply it evenly across the board.''

Will Doherty, director of online community development for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination in San Francisco, said he does not believe that AOL has an anti-gay bias.

``(AOL Chairman) Steve Case is a friend of the gay and lesbian community,'' he said. ``But there appears to be some individuals working on behalf of AOL who at times have been overzealous in applying the terms of service policy to lesbian and gay users.''

As an aside, an AOL subscriber, had this happen, yesterday, "I tried to access your website to participate in the poll, but AOL gave me a domain security warning and refused to launch your script."

Subject: RE: BS: A penny a minute
From: kendall
Date: 22 Oct 99 - 01:16 PM

I'm proud to say I dumped aol some time ago.. sign me STRAIGHT BUT NOT NARROW

Subject: RE: BS: A penny a minute
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Oct 99 - 01:28 PM

Good for you, Kendall! I had a friend who had a bumper sticker that said, "Straight, but not narrow-minded."

Bron, again, please accept my apologies for usurping your thread; this issue is just something I can't be silent on.

Thank you for your understanding. And, please know that I would understand your decision to stay with AOL for the penny a minute thing.

Thank you,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: A penny a minute
From: Llanfair
Date: 22 Oct 99 - 06:57 PM

I do understand, Kat, I wasn't aware that there was a problem like this with AOL. I strongly support people's rights to free speech, which is why I've spent most of my working life listening to and advocating for people who have learning disabilities, so I am only too accustomed to supporting causes that have a long road to travel.
You did rather "rain on my parade", though!!!!, but no hard feelings, it is a good cause. Hwyl, Bron.