paivi@vipunen.hut.fi (Paivi Helena Hyvarinen) (05/02/91)
I think most of us missed this one due to a poor Subject line. I at least would like to hear the GEnie side of this. In article <1991Apr30.204006.6458@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> sbrack@isis.cs.du.edu (Steven S. Brack) writes: From: sbrack@isis.cs.du.edu (Steven S. Brack) Date: 30 Apr 91 20:40:06 GMT >The second regard GEnie (again) apparently terminating someone's account >because they were critical of GEnie's administrators. ===== Begin reposted article ===== From mnemosyne.cs.du.edu!uunet!lll-winken!telecom-request Mon Apr 29 03:51:41 MDT 1991 X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 311, Message 3 of 4 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 Technologies ===== End reposted article ===== -- =========================================================================== Steven S. Brack sbrack@nyx.cs.du.edu | I have yet to find a I am not speaking for the Ohio State University. | quote good enough & Now, if only I could convince them of that 8) | short enough.