CRUZ_A@ccl2.eng.ohio-state.edu (04/26/91)
Dear Telecom Readers:
In the {MacWeek}, April 16th, 1991, Volume 5, Number 14 issue, there
is a story about a user lockout in the GEnie on-line service:
A Toronto couple requested an explanation of the online service's
recent lockout of members who disagreed publicly with GEnie
management.
Linda Kaplan, a GEnie member for more than five years, had both her
internal account and her paid account discontinued last month in what
she described as a series of personality conflicts and escalating
misunderstandings. She said that GEnie cancelled accounts not on the
basis of rules being broken but just because someone lost their
temper.
Apparently, GEnie officials refused to comment on the matter but said
that they would clarify their policies in the future.
Ms. Kaplan had a paid account but she mainly used a systemwide free
account designed to bring in more users. She said that some account
holders were bound by the secret agreements forbidding them from
criticizing GEnie, its sysops or executives. She added that friends
who inquired about her absence from forums or who questioned
management's handling of the incident either in on-line forums or
private electronic mail found themselves drawn into the fray.
When another long time user, Peter Pawlyschyn, contacted management
and inquired about his rights on the service, he found himself
censored and harassed.
Other members have said that they were reduced to read-only status or
had their accounts cancelled after simply mentioning Kaplan's name in
postings.
Soooooo, here we go again with the issue of censoring certain
materials in large online systems. Or is it really an issue?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Alex Cruz Associate, Center for Advanced Study in Telecommunications
Consultant, American Airlines Decision TechnologiesAmanda Walker <amanda@visix.com> (05/03/91)
CRUZ_A@ccl2.eng.ohio-state.edu writes: [about GEnie vs. Linda Kaplan] > Soooooo, here we go again with the issue of censoring certain > materials in large online systems. Or is it really an issue? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Sigh. From what I understand, this is one of the more annoying recent developments on the timesharing service front. Here are the facts as I understand them: From her messages on GEnie, Linda Kaplan presents herself a quite annoying person with no sense of humor and precious little sense of how courtesy applies to public communication. A "sysop" of one GEnie round table (who is responisble for being a pseudo-moderator, keeping discussions on track, putting out flamewars, etc.) got sufficiently irritated with her behavior on his round table that he locked her out of it for a while. Linda subsequently started complaining, and roudned up support from a large group of ex-Prodigy people (who are, after all, quite reasonably sensitive to electronic censorship). Unfortunately, these people then assumed that GEnie management was just like Prodigy management, and started jumping to conclusions and making "pre-emptive" accusations to GEnie and GE management. This, needless to say, did not do much to endear them to GEnie management, especially since this "debate" (combined with Prodigy-style volumnious Email) evidently ended up causing resource problems within GEnie. I do not know if it has been resolved, but I will be quite annoyed if a bunch of disgruntled ex-Prodigy users end up instigating a self- fulfilling prophecy, and turning the best public timesharing service I have used into a hostile environment, or shut it down completely (which GEIS might well do if GEnie ends up being too much trouble). I have quite a number of people of friends who depend on GEnie (one of whom is hearing impaired and uses email as her lifeline to the outside world), and I resent people screwing things up for everyone else because one person cried wolf. Amanda Walker amanda@visix.com Visix Software Inc. ...!uunet!visix!amanda
Jim Budler <jimb@silvlis.com> (05/06/91)
In article <telecom11.330.1@eecs.nwu.edu> amanda@visix.com (Amanda Walker) writes: > Sigh. From what I understand, this is one of the more annoying recent > developments on the timesharing service front. Here are the facts as > I understand them: > From her messages on GEnie, Linda Kaplan presents herself a quite > annoying person with no sense of humor and precious little sense of > how courtesy applies to public communication. A "sysop" of one GEnie > round table (who is responisble for being a pseudo-moderator, keeping > discussions on track, putting out flamewars, etc.) got sufficiently > irritated with her behavior on his round table that he locked her out > of it for a while. Linda Kaplan has been around on Compuserve and GEnie for a long time. Long enough that she was given a free account on GEnie. I don't think you can say she doesn't understand "how courtesy applies to public communication". The sysop got her free account pulled. > Linda subsequently started complaining, and roudned up support from a > large group of ex-Prodigy people (who are, after all, quite reasonably > sensitive to electronic censorship). Unfortunately, these people then > assumed that GEnie management was just like Prodigy management, and > started jumping to conclusions and making "pre-emptive" accusations to > GEnie and GE management. This, needless to say, did not do much to GEnie management said "shut up or we'll pull your account, too", undoubtedly to make the ex-Prodigy folk feel at home. > I do not know if it has been resolved, but I will be quite annoyed if > a bunch of disgruntled ex-Prodigy users end up instigating a self- > fulfilling prophecy, and turning the best public timesharing service I > have used into a hostile environment, or shut it down completely > (which GEIS might well do if GEnie ends up being too much trouble). I don't know if has been resolved either, but from the April 23 issue of {MacWeek}: "GEnie replaces general manager involved in on-line controversy". GEnie denies it is due to the controversy, of course. Although I doubt that Linda will get her free account back, the removal of the man who made the "shut up or be kicked out" statement will perhaps make people feel that GEnie is at least trying to understand that people expect freedom of speech in their network services. > I have quite a number of people of friends who depend on GEnie (one of > whom is hearing impaired and uses email as her lifeline to the outside > world), and I resent people screwing things up for everyone else > because one person cried wolf. I like GEnie, but also don't think she cried wolf. I think she had a dispute with a sysop, and neither person involved knew how to take it off-line and resolve it properly. The boss got dragged in, and then he didn't know how to handle it properly, either. This is really a case of interperson dispute. The fact that one person was a person of authority, and his boss backed him, made it a national issue. At this point GEnie's "boss" GE Information Services has stepped in and replaced Bill Louden as General Manager, while denying it is due to this. I take this to indicate that GIS (GEIS?) doesn't like censorship and am happy. Jim Budler jimb@silvlis.com | Proud Silvar-Lisco +1.408.991.6115 | MacIIsi 703 E. Evelyn Ave. Sunnyvale, Ca. 94086 | owner
Amanda Walker <amanda@visix.com> (05/07/91)
In article <telecom11.338.2@eecs.nwu.edu> jimb@silvlis.com (Jim Budler) writes: > I don't think you can say she doesn't understand "how courtesy applies > to public communication". Well, I was very ... underwhelmed with how she presented herself on GEnie during most of this brouhaha. Granted, I only became aware of it at the end of March, and went and read stuff retroactively, but to be quite honest, it left with with the desire to avoid interacting with her on any basis. Maybe this is a snap judgement on my part, but it is one based on her own actions. > GEnie management said "shut up or we'll pull your account, too", > undoubtedly to make the ex-Prodigy folk feel at home. Well, I didn't see it that way, although Bill Louden did have an outburst that was pretty unprofessional. I think he was provoked, but I agree that he acted inappropriately. > I like GEnie, but also don't think she cried wolf. I think she had a > dispute with a sysop, and neither person involved knew how to take it > off-line and resolve it properly. This I certainly agree with. > The boss got dragged in, and then he didn't know how to handle it > properly, either. This is really a case of interperson dispute. No argument here. > The fact that one person was a person of authority, and his boss backed > him, made it a national issue. I think it was aggravated by many of the people who got involved, and turned a private dispute into a public crusade. Luckily, it seems to have pretty much died down without having caused any real damage. > At this point GEnie's "boss" GE Information Services has stepped in > and replaced Bill Louden as General Manager, while denying it is due > to this. Chuckle. I guess Bill just wanted a change of scenery. I have to admit he was not an optimal choice for dealing with irate users :). Amanda Walker amanda@visix.com Visix Software Inc. ...!uunet!visix!amanda
brian@uunet.uu.net (Brian Murrey) (05/11/91)
GEnie's boss (former boss) Bill Louden is trying to stay alive after battling lung cancer for the last two years. I'd wager that had more to do with his leaving the helm than the Kaplan ordeal. Whatever. Brian Murrey - KB9BVN - QTH Indpls : Fidonet: 1:231/30 317-535-9097 : UUCP:..towers!brian : Login:Ham Radio Password:Yagi :