BoingBoing reports that AT&T has altered the language in its reviled TOS to say it thinks it’s okay for people to speak their mind. Really, they hard-wired that into the legalese:
censorship
After Blogs Cry "Censorship," AT&T Says It Will Change Terms Of Service
By 10.10.07
After getting roundly whiplashed for having a clause in their Terms of Service that could be interpreted as meaning they reserved the right to terminate the service of any customer who criticized them, AT&T DSL reached out to several blogs today with the following commitment to change their ToS:
We are revising the terms of service to clarify our intent. The language in question will be revised to reflect AT&T’s respect for our customers’ right to express opinions and concerns over any matter they wish. And we will make clear that we do not terminate service because a customer expresses their opinion about AT&T.
We’ll reserve judgment until the pixels dry. As of now, their ToS is still the same.
AT&T Promises To Not Terminate Your Service For Criticizing Them
By 10.2.07
Yesterday we posted about how the AT&T DSL Terms of Service contain a clause that says AT&T can cancel your service if you “damage” their “reputation.” Today, AT&T PR bots reached out to some sites to say they would only do it if you were promoting violence or peddling child porn. Unfortunately, that’s not what’s in writing. What’s in writing is the nebulous “damage” of their “reputation.” So, AT&T subscribers, feel free to criticize away, until they change their mind.
AT&T And Verizon Can Cancel Service Of Subscribers Who "Damage" Their "Reputation"
By 10.1.07
Criticizing AT&T DSL as a subscriber can result in them shutting down your service, according to their Terms of Service:
Verizon Reverses Policy On Pro-Choice Text Messages
By 9.27.07
Verizon recently rejected a request from Naral Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights group, to make Verizon’s network available for their opt-in text message program.
AT&T Censors Pearl Jam
By 8.10.07
“[The muting was] a major mistake by a webcast vendor and completely contrary to our policy. We are working closely with the vendor and the band to post the song in its entirety on this site and ensure that this does not happen again.”
Bill To Outlaw "Fleeting" Swear Words Passes Senate Committee
By 7.21.07
Ars Technica says that a bill to give the FCC power over even”fleeting” swear words has passed a Senate committee and now moves on to the full Senate.
Firms Hired To Cajole Websites Into Annihilating Their Own Content
By 6.13.07
We’re in a WSJ article today that touches upon our encounter with Reputation Defender, a company clients hire to go around sending turgid pleas to mean websites for posting factual information already reported in mainstream media publications:
ReputationDefender also sent a takedown request to Consumerist, a Gawker Media blog that had written about a man who was briefly jailed for harassment after repeatedly calling online travel agent Priceline.com Inc. for a refund. The letter asked the blog to remove or alter the archived post, saying it was “outdated and disturbing” to its client. Consumerist editor Ben Popken blasted the request with a profanely titled entry, calling it an attempt at censorship. “It’s not like we’re spreading libel,” he said. “They were trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.”
Digg Goes Ape$#@*!
By 5.2.07
A wide-scale user revolt is disrupting popular social news networking Digg. It’s a protest over Digg acquiescing to MPAA pressure and deleting a 15,000+ dugg story about a crack for the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray DRM system.
Sports Illustrated Refuses To Send Swimsuit Issue To Libraries
By 3.8.07
It should be up to the institution to decide whether or not they choose to make the issue available to patrons. The publisher should send the issues we’ve paid for. If we throw them in the trash, that’s our prerogative.
Who knew librarians were so down with the swimsuit issue? That’s very cool, somehow.
Maxim Film Critic Changes Quote for CBS and Miramax
By 2.12.07
Non-whore Arizona Daily Star film critic and friend of the blog, Phil Villarreal, points us to a Variety article exposing Maxim film critic Pete Hammond for allowing CBS to alter the content of his blurb for the Miramax film Hannibal in the name of “family” entertainment. From Philmguy:
Maxim’s Pete Hammond embarrassed himself and all other film critics by playing along with the Weinstein Company’s finagling over a TV commercial quote blurb. According to a story in the Daily Variety, the studio planned on using Hammond’s quote “the most terrifying thriller of the new year.”
Consumerist = pr0n
By 1.9.07
If anyone ever doubted that we made consumerism sexy, here’s your comeuppance.
UPDATE: Comcast Censors Critical Nightline Story
By 7.19.06
Reader Jason reports that a fishy cut of last Friday’s Nightline was also heard in their podcast of the show. Listen here. Missing on both the internet-over-tv service and the podcast was a segment containing an infamous clip mocking the cable operator.
UPDATE: Comcast Censors Critical Nightline Story
By 7.18.06
When Consumerist readers and users of Comcast’s tv-over-internet service watched our clip on Nightline, they were surprised to see that Comcast appeared to censor out a part that was critical of the cable operator. Whither the Sleepy Comcast Tech? We pointed this out to the segment’s producer. 50 minutes later, we got this email from Comcast Corporate Communications:
Comcast Censors Critical Nightline Story
By 7.18.06
The Sleepy Comcast Technician featured prominently in Nightline’s story last Friday, but you wouldn’t know that if you were watching with Comcast’s tv-over-inernet service. Watch this screen snag:
