JAMES MADISON QUOTE - 1822

"A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives."

SCOTTSBORO WEATHER - SUN & MOON RISE

Friday, May 30, 2008

Justice Holmes Comments/ "al.com" Censorship and Discrimination



“If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other it is the principle of free thought — not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.”— Dissenting in United States v. Schwimmer 279 U.S. 644, 654-655 (1929)


“Notwithstanding all modern inventions, letters still are the principal means of speech with those who are not before our face. I do not suppose that anyone would say that the freedom of written speech is less protected by the First Amendment than the freedom of spoken words.”— Dissenting in Leach v. Carlile, 258 U.S. 138, 140 (1922)


Merriam-Webster's definition of "forum: "...b: a public meeting place for open discussion c: a medium (as a newspaper or online service) of open discussion or expression of ideas..."


Standard web definition of a "discussion board": "Discussion board (known also by various other names such as discussion group , discussion forum , message board , and online forum ) is a general term for any online "bulletin board" where you can leave and expect to see responses to messages you have left. Or you can just read the board. The first discussion boards were available on bulletin boards. On the Internet, Usenet provides thousands of discussion boards.


Many will say since the al.com forums are a private media publication, "censorship" doesn't apply. That is an excuse for wrongful actions. "al.com's" discussion boards do not practice fair and equitable editorial practices. They do practice preferential treatment and favoritism, they allow hate speech toward protected groups, they allow threats to be made against me on their forums (police reports and FBI IC3 complaints have been filed). When governments officials contact the media organization and threaten legal action or when governments officials request specific individual posts to be removed that is censorship. When the media organization falsely represents a message board as a "forum" when in reality it is not, that is false advertising. When a private media institution picks out an individual to censor over hundreds of others for no apparent reason other than military status and political speech that is discrimination. (I was the only person on the "al.com Scottsboro forum" who identified themselves by name and that of a military retiree. I have been banned from posting while others are allowed. I have never made threats nor used profanity. I have expressed disagreement with local , state and federal politicians. Other posters in replying to my comments were allowed to curse and make threats toward me. These facts were witnessed by many people. )


Advance Internet has discussion boards in many states, in Alabama it is "al.com." They are advertised as "forums," they are not. They are an autocratic, moderated discussion board that practices discriminatory action and has a customer relations problem of which they do not seem concerned about.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was just banned for the 5th or 6th time. When I ask for a reason, they give me the "review the terms of membership line." With no real reason, while others have had the same name for years. I believe some who post are mods, and they abuse the terms of membership to censor others. It's a shame that the Birmingham News would associate themselves with an organizaion like advanced forums, much less the sponsors.

Garry said...

Thanks for your comment. I think you are correct concerning the moderators. Unfortunately some on the editorial staff fail to recognize the meaning of customer relations, they fail to grasp the idea that the posters and readers on thier message boards are customers. Also note, the message board is not a "forum" although the owners call it one. A forum allows responsible, open, moderated discussion following a set of rules. al.com's moderators do not follow thier own set of rules and frequently censor political postings that do not agree with thier specific political views without regards to sensible editing. Welcome to the world of corporate censorship of your thoughts and speech.

It is thier forum and they may do as they wish, just as it is the customers right to complain to the advertisers, upper level management at Advance Internet and the public at large about thier non-sensible editorial practices.