-Caveat Lector- ----- Original Message ----- From: Declan McCullagh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, July 01, 1999 7:14 AM Subject: FC: From the Frivolous Lawsuit Department: MS as racist For another example, let's go back to Day One of the Microsoft antitrust trial... http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/antitrust/story/15702.html On the sidewalk in front of the building, a handful of protesters held up a sign saying "Microsoft is racist." The group attacked the company for not donating money to Howard University, which is predominately black. ********* From: "Paul Spirito" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Frivilous Lawsuit Dept. Date: Wed, 30 Jun 1999 20:28:07 -0400 http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2286412,00.html | A lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses Microsoft Corp. of including | a "racially charged" message in its Publisher 98 software | linking an image of black people to the word "monkey." [Even if this were intentional, I'd support Microsoft's right to label anyone it wants a monkey, but...] | The image of a black couple posing near a set of monkey | bars in a park is one of several images of the same couple | in various park activities. Images in the gallery are | identified by keywords to allow users to search for them; | the keywords for the image in question include "man," | "woman," "person" and "equipment" as well as "monkey bars," | Microsoft said. [...] | Microsoft noted that the same image of the couple with the | monkey bars would have appeared if users searched for the | word "bar." Next Week: NOW sues AltaVista over the results to "pussy". Paul ************* Date: Wed, 30 Jun 1999 20:13:42 -0700 From: Lizard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [p] Frivilous Lawsuit Dept. At 08:28 PM 6/30/99 -0400, Paul Spirito wrote: >http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2286412,00.html > >| A lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses Microsoft Corp. of including >| a "racially charged" message in its Publisher 98 software >| linking an image of black people to the word "monkey." > >[Even if this were intentional, I'd support Microsoft's right to >label anyone it wants a monkey, but...] > >| The image of a black couple posing near a set of monkey >| bars in a park is one of several images of the same couple >| in various park activities. Images in the gallery are >| identified by keywords to allow users to search for them; >| the keywords for the image in question include "man," >| "woman," "person" and "equipment" as well as "monkey bars," >| Microsoft said. > >[...] > >| Microsoft noted that the same image of the couple with the >| monkey bars would have appeared if users searched for the >| word "bar." > >Next Week: NOW sues AltaVista over the results to "pussy". > This whole thing reeks of a scam. I remember a few years ago, someone tried to sue over the inclusion of the 'n-word' in a Microsoft dictionary (pre-Encarta, I think);he claimed his son had been 'assaulted' by the word when he mistyped 'Niger' as part of a school report on the river of that name. Turns out the parent in question had filed about a half-dozen similairly baseless suits. The thing is, companies are so terrified of being labelled racist -- however baseless the accusation -- that they refuse to fight. Microsoft, in particular, is especially hesitant to add any more lawsuits to its plate. The question is, on what basis can you sue? There is no law against publishing a racist text -- which Microsoft didn't do, anyway. Remember the recent fuss over the use of the word 'nigardly'? If someone is too uneducated to understand the origins of a word, the fault is now placed with the speaker, not the ignoramus. We live in a sick world. About late 1992, early 1993, the ever-reputable NY Post published a full front-page headline declaring there was a 'message of hate' urging the 'murder of New York Jews' embedded in a FONT PACKAGE of all things. The font in question was a 'dingbats' font, in other words, a collection of symbols. Three of the symbols happened to be a skull, a Star of David, and a 'thumbs up' -- all obviously very useful symbols for page layouts. They were attached to the 'N', 'Y', and 'C' keys. From this, the NY Post concluded someone was plotting genocide. (I'm not sure how this was to have worked...presumably, New York neo-nazis install endless font packages and type 'NYC', waiting until they see the coded message telling them it's time to attack. "Well, Hans? What is it?" "Hmmm...a fish, a stop sign, and an arrow." "OK, try THIS font.") I kid you not. Anyone wish access to microfiche archives can check this out. Front page story, occupying the same lofty space once reserved for headlines such as 'Headless Body In Topless Bar' Readers were assured this couldn't be a coincidence, since the odds of those three symbols being on those three keys was a staggering 1 in 17,000! (Hint -- what is 26*26*26?) ********** Date: Thu, 1 Jul 1999 08:40:17 +0200 (METDST) From: Peter Herngaard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [p] Frivilous Lawsuit Dept. I am quite sure that this lawsuit will be summarily dismissed. The issue is apparently a workplace issue, but since Microsoft is more the publisher than the employer the case is not quite strong. But it is just another disturbing example of how the anti-discrimination moverment works. *********** -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe: send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with this text: subscribe politech More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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