http://www.dfn.org/Voices/Americas/usa/blackplanet.htm > DIGITAL FREEDOM NETWORK > MEDIA RELEASE: For immediate release > Contact: Bobson Wong (201-928-4378, <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED]) or Alan Brown > (201-928-4365, <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > WEB SITE BANS WOMAN WITH "UNACCEPTABLE" NAME > > NEWARK, N.J., August 18, 2000 - In a new twist on Internet censorship, > Los > Angeles attorney Sherril Babcock was blocked from joining the > BlackPlanet.com online service - at least until she changes her name. > > When Babcock registered for access to BlackPlanet.com, a New > York-based Web > site dealing with African-American topics, she was told that her last > name > was "unacceptable," presumably because it contained the word "cock," > and she > was not permitted to register. > > Suspecting the matter to be a simple matter of the site's overly > ambitious > censorware, she contacted BlackPlanet.com hoping to clear up the > problem. > She explained that "Babcock was my father's name as well, and I am > very fond > of him." > > Crystal Martin, BlackPlanet.com's Moderator for Member Services, > responded. > She apologized twice for the inconvenience, but said "unfortunately, > the > letters that form the word 'Cock' is [sic] unacceptable and will not > be > recognized by our system." > > Omar Wasow, BlackPlanet.com's executive director, intends to continue > using > the censorware. Though he described himself as a strong supporter of > free > speech, he defended his use of censorware as an attempt to not offend > his > site's membership, even though there would be casualties like Sherril > Babcock. When asked if he would register Babcock manually, thereby > bypassing > the censorware, Wasow explained that if the censorware made bad > decisions > even only one percent of the time, it would have meant over 8,000 > manual > entries given the current population of his online community. Babcock > would > just have to change her registration name to please the censorware. > > End of matter. Babcock is still not a member, and cyber-rights groups > are > having a good laugh over this latest episode of censorware's > shortcomings. > > "Censorware is a non-solution for a non-problem. It doesn't block what > it > intends to, most of which doesn't hurt anyone, and it blocks far too > much of > what it shouldn't. It's a failure and it's scary that some want public > libraries to adopt this junk," said Alan Brown, Internet development > director for the Digital Freedom Network. > > The episode reminded Babcock of America Online's ban of the word > "breast" in > its chat rooms. The ban was only overturned when members of a breast > cancer > survivor's group complained that the ban left them with very little to > talk > about. > > According to the cyber-rights organization Peacefire, Internet > censorware is > so flawed that various versions have blocked Web sites including Time > Magazine, the National Organization for Women, the Vatican, the > Heritage > Foundation, and even sites about dogs. > > "Would St. Francis of Assisi or Emily Dickinson also have been banned > from > BlackPlanet.com?", asked Bobson Wong, executive director of the > Digital > Freedom Network. > > The Digital Freedom Network (DFN) promotes human rights around the > world by > developing new methods of activism with Internet technology and by > providing > an online voice to those attacked simply for expressing themselves. > DFN > creates Internet applications to fight censorship, acquires technology > tools > for other activists, launches Internet-based campaigns on behalf of > human > rights, and serves as a technical resource for activists worldwide. > DFN's > Web site is <http://dfn.org>http://dfn.org. > > # # # > > Media release from: > Digital Freedom Network > 520 Broad Street > Newark, NJ 07102-3111 > U.S.A. > Phone: +1 (201) 928-4378 > Fax: +1 (201) 928-2984 > E-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Web: <http://dfn.org>http://dfn.org <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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