FC: Blackplanet.com bans woman named "Babcock" for foul last name

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[I've copied Omar in case he'd like to respond. --Declan]

*********

Scunthorpe (historical note, courtesy of ocschwar () MIT EDU):
http://www.xent.com/spring96/0552.html

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http://www.dfn.org/Voices/Americas/usa/blackplanet.htm

> DIGITAL FREEDOM NETWORK
> MEDIA RELEASE: For immediate release
> Contact: Bobson Wong (201-928-4378, <mailto:bwong () dfn org>bwong () dfn org) 
or Alan Brown
> (201-928-4365, <mailto:abrown () dfn org>abrown () dfn org)
>
> 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:info () dfn org>info () dfn org
> Web: <http://dfn.org>http://dfn.org