Fang
05-21-2003, 05:25 PM
MCI allowed tens of thousands of our children to be exposed to hateful racism, threats of violence, and sickening pornographic images! MCI had a contractual and ethical obligation to stop this hatred, but chose not to. They turned a blind eye to statements you would be hard pressed to find on a KKK website. MCI chose profits over the safety and best interests of our children.
The following quote and related story were taken from this short article and can be found toward the bottom of it: *
http://www.newmassmedia.com /nac.pht....f=10923 (http://www.newmassmedia.com /nac.phtml?code=wma&db=nac_fea&ref=10923)
>>Filed a formal complaint with MCI, the telecommunications provider for many, if not all, of <these websites>. If <website> refuses to enforce its user agreement fairly, <WK> is hoping MCI will take some responsibility for the content flowing through its network. Let's hope MCI is quicker to see what's really happening on <website> than I was.<<
*** Appalling True Stories ***
The most appalling examples were not included in that article, but they have been preserved in a vast paper trail. In one case, a detailed threat was posted and left online until it was actually acted on. Causing pain, suffering, and severely disrupting the lives of one unprepared family. In another case, a teenager committed suicide after suffering ridicule and harassment coupled with defaming stories about her that were left online in a school forum. Several young women fell victim to cold hearted stalkers who relentlessly harassed, threatened, and tried to blackmail them. MCI's inaction led to avoidable suffering for parents, teens, and children.
This was a unique situation because the site's alleged appropriateness was being advertised by a large and respected local newspaper owned by the very same company that owned the website. How do parents protect children when it's logically assumed the site is safe on the basis of it's affiliation with prominent newspapers? How do parents protect children when the site is accessable through computers at libraries and middle schools? All these facts were brought to MCI's attention.
*** MCI Abruptly Blocks Complaint ***
MCI refused to comment on the complaint and abruptly terminated a joint investigation that their own Acceptable Use department was involved in. No one was asking them to practice censorship. MCI was only being urged to listen to the free market and enforce the clearly stated Acceptable Use Policy they had with their client. MCI's client was promoting these hateful and heavily trafficked forums to children using full page ads in newspapers owned by their parent company. By all appearances, this became a case of one large corporation (MCI) supporting the corrupt practices of another large corporation.
Excerpt from MCI's Acceptable Use Policy:
>>This Acceptable Use Policy specifies the actions prohibited by UUNET Technologies, Inc. ("UUNET") to users of the UUNET Network Illegal use- The UUNET Network may be used only for lawful purposes..., and material that is Obscene, Defamatory, constitutes an illegal Threat, or violates export control laws.<<
Text of MCI's Acceptable Use Policy for their clients:
http://global.mci.com/legal/usepolicy/
*** MCI Tolerated Online Nightmare ***
MCI was asked to sit down and "assertively" review the Acceptable Use agreement they had with their client. MCI's failure to act delayed resolution by over a year and contributed to the above tragedies. We will never know how long the children of our online community would have been exposed to this crisis. In the end, it took a comprehensive grass roots campaign and over $25, 000 out of a concerned citizen's own pocket to finally and fairly resolve this despicable example of profits being chosen over public concerns. MCI did not "enforce" it's contract during this crucial time as was hoped, and in doing so, failed to live up to it's ethical obligations to the diverse community they represent.
*** Is Danny Glover A Hypocrite? ***
-Therefore, if Danny Glover was being paid to promote MCI, wouldn't logic dictate that he was profiting from their tolerance of hatred?- It's ironic to watch a self proclaimed civil rights advocate fight for his right to promote a company that chose to profit from, instead of confront, vile examples of racism.
If you haven't already done so, Boycott MCI because they don't deserve your business- Boycott MCI because they demonstrated they care more about profits than they care about our children.
Stay tuned. I will be updating this post with "the rest of the story". I'm giving Danny Glover's publicist and others a chance to respond. I've given up on MCI. The've already caused enough damage for one decade. Fool a person once, shame on you. Fool a person twice, shame on them.
Feedback and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
WK11xray@AirborneRan ger.us
Fang..
The following quote and related story were taken from this short article and can be found toward the bottom of it: *
http://www.newmassmedia.com /nac.pht....f=10923 (http://www.newmassmedia.com /nac.phtml?code=wma&db=nac_fea&ref=10923)
>>Filed a formal complaint with MCI, the telecommunications provider for many, if not all, of <these websites>. If <website> refuses to enforce its user agreement fairly, <WK> is hoping MCI will take some responsibility for the content flowing through its network. Let's hope MCI is quicker to see what's really happening on <website> than I was.<<
*** Appalling True Stories ***
The most appalling examples were not included in that article, but they have been preserved in a vast paper trail. In one case, a detailed threat was posted and left online until it was actually acted on. Causing pain, suffering, and severely disrupting the lives of one unprepared family. In another case, a teenager committed suicide after suffering ridicule and harassment coupled with defaming stories about her that were left online in a school forum. Several young women fell victim to cold hearted stalkers who relentlessly harassed, threatened, and tried to blackmail them. MCI's inaction led to avoidable suffering for parents, teens, and children.
This was a unique situation because the site's alleged appropriateness was being advertised by a large and respected local newspaper owned by the very same company that owned the website. How do parents protect children when it's logically assumed the site is safe on the basis of it's affiliation with prominent newspapers? How do parents protect children when the site is accessable through computers at libraries and middle schools? All these facts were brought to MCI's attention.
*** MCI Abruptly Blocks Complaint ***
MCI refused to comment on the complaint and abruptly terminated a joint investigation that their own Acceptable Use department was involved in. No one was asking them to practice censorship. MCI was only being urged to listen to the free market and enforce the clearly stated Acceptable Use Policy they had with their client. MCI's client was promoting these hateful and heavily trafficked forums to children using full page ads in newspapers owned by their parent company. By all appearances, this became a case of one large corporation (MCI) supporting the corrupt practices of another large corporation.
Excerpt from MCI's Acceptable Use Policy:
>>This Acceptable Use Policy specifies the actions prohibited by UUNET Technologies, Inc. ("UUNET") to users of the UUNET Network Illegal use- The UUNET Network may be used only for lawful purposes..., and material that is Obscene, Defamatory, constitutes an illegal Threat, or violates export control laws.<<
Text of MCI's Acceptable Use Policy for their clients:
http://global.mci.com/legal/usepolicy/
*** MCI Tolerated Online Nightmare ***
MCI was asked to sit down and "assertively" review the Acceptable Use agreement they had with their client. MCI's failure to act delayed resolution by over a year and contributed to the above tragedies. We will never know how long the children of our online community would have been exposed to this crisis. In the end, it took a comprehensive grass roots campaign and over $25, 000 out of a concerned citizen's own pocket to finally and fairly resolve this despicable example of profits being chosen over public concerns. MCI did not "enforce" it's contract during this crucial time as was hoped, and in doing so, failed to live up to it's ethical obligations to the diverse community they represent.
*** Is Danny Glover A Hypocrite? ***
-Therefore, if Danny Glover was being paid to promote MCI, wouldn't logic dictate that he was profiting from their tolerance of hatred?- It's ironic to watch a self proclaimed civil rights advocate fight for his right to promote a company that chose to profit from, instead of confront, vile examples of racism.
If you haven't already done so, Boycott MCI because they don't deserve your business- Boycott MCI because they demonstrated they care more about profits than they care about our children.
Stay tuned. I will be updating this post with "the rest of the story". I'm giving Danny Glover's publicist and others a chance to respond. I've given up on MCI. The've already caused enough damage for one decade. Fool a person once, shame on you. Fool a person twice, shame on them.
Feedback and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
WK11xray@AirborneRan ger.us
Fang..