Complaint Review: Yahoo Inc

While Yahoo Inc yet again seeks protection from the US Courts system to avoid paying a fine for breaking the laws in France, they continue to exhibit exactly the same type of censorship behavior they seek to avoid imposed by law upon them in France.

Yahoo Inc surely must think they are exempt from ?playing by the rules? when it comes to ?bad behavior.?

As we all know already, Yahoo lost its case in the French courts and has pending fines up to $15 million US Dollars for allowing ?n**i? memorabilia to be sold in a country where it is forbidden to sell or display such items. Yahoo Inc. then tried to seek the courts protection in the United States Courts citing ?freedom of speech? as the right that protects them from their illegal French activities. However, let's take a closer look at how Yahoo handles the same "free speech rights" of their users.

If we look at Yahoo Inc. ?Terms Of Service? agreement section 6 subsection (a) we find that Yahoo reserves the right to censor anything they find ?offensive?

?You agree to not use the Service to:

a. upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;?

Yahoo Inc. shame on you for not living up to the same standard that you impose on others.

Case in point, the website http://home.mcihispeed.net/~really_bad_people

Now as most who know me can testify I have been a Yahoo user since back in the days of ypager, more than 7 years now. I have occasionally done things that did not agree with section 6 (a) and I have had an account or two disabled by Yahoo Inc. for those actions. Those who know me also are aware that I am an avid protector of our rights to free speech and other rights as well, which is one of the reasons I started that website.

Now given that there are cases where Yahoo would need to censor someone who is being ?offensive? or ?abusive? as determined by the French Courts, and given they seek the same rights of protection in another country that they enjoy here. Rights that I myself have been shot at to protect, I think it only fair that they be held to the same accountability here that trhey hold thier users to.

Yahoo, censorship is wrong in this country, it's called ?freedom of speech.? Yet you reserve the right to be judge jury and executioner of anyone who exercises that freedom of speach on your service.

Yahoo Inc recently deactivated one of my accounts that I have had for years because there was a ?link? to the website http://home.mcihispeed.net/~really_bad_people on the Yahoo 360 page on it and the true abusive people listed on that site complained about it (not that it stops me from continuing my efforts to monitor and report bad behavior on Yahoo's servers). Is this not the same form and type of censorship that Yahoo seeks protection from? It would seem the biggest cyber bully on the internet playground is Yahoo Inc themselves and they are trying to get the courts here in the United States to protect them from the very same actions they impose on others that use their service.

Shame on you Yahoo Inc, you have been caught doing that which you seek protection from being done to you.

The really sad thing is that Yahoo doesn't even give the same courtesy that the French Government gave them when it comes to censorship. Here they deactivated this account and then they sent me an email which appeared to be a warning (you decide)?


Here is the email in its unedited entirety, along with my ?response? I sent to them via the only email address they make available to handle such cases.


Dear Yahoo! account holder:


By creating and using your Yahoo! account, you agree to abide by Yahoo!'s Terms of Service (TOS). Pursuant to the TOS, Yahoo! reserves the right to terminate your account or otherwise prohibit use of your account in the event that, among other things, Yahoo! believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOS.

It has come to our attention that you may have violated the TOS.

Please reread the TOS and cease any use of your account that may violate the TOS.

If your use of your Yahoo! account is brought to our attention again, and we believe that such use violates the TOS, then we may terminate your account without further notice.

Please do not reply to this email. Any questions concerning Yahoo!'s Services should be submitted through the on-line form in the help area ( http://help.yahoo.com ).

-Yahoo!


Now here is my response in its entirety.


How absolutely marvelous that Yahoo Inc. in all their splendid glory and righteousness decided to send me an email AFTER THE FACT that you deleted my account which was not in fact in violation of your TOS in any way shape or form.

You received allot of complaints about my activities because I picked up where you refused to go and started documenting bad behavior of your abusers for the whole world to see and then I put it on a website. Did you actually investigate my activities? No, you just turned off my account then several hours later sent this stupid email. I will publish all of it for the world to see BTW, along with my response as well.

This is precisely why I started a campaign against Yahoo Inc. by getting others that you have wrongfully censored or quashed to notify your sponsoring advertisers about your censorship of "honest people" and your flat out refusal and under the table support of all the profane and indecent chat bots and yahoo abusers that you refuse to do anything about although it is just a simple matter of a script on your servers. Do you really think those tens of thousands of chat bot accounts increase your user base that much without your advertisers noticing? Maybe they did in the past, but not any more.

For Years I have used the Yahoo services and for years I have been documenting violations of your TOS AND your refusal to enforce it unless you decide it's necessary which is very rarely unless it affects your bottom dollar. By censoring me you have not silenced me, you have only made me stronger! You have proven to the masses that your loyalties are not to the honest users but rather to the indecent chat bots and Yahoo abusers.

We, meaning those you have offended by your actions (or lack thereof), as a group will continue to watch and monitor your activities, you cannot stop us. Its called freedom of speech, something the Yahooligans at Yahoo Inc. seem to have forgotten built the company.

Rest assured your advertising partners are watching everything you are doing and it is they who will choose whether to spend their money with you or one of the other faster growing more popular services that are now available now.

Congratulations on your un-American censorship activities, no wonder the French Government wants to censor you and the courts here won't give you the time of day!

You deserve to be held accountable for YOUR actions since you refuse to follow your own rules.

Have a great Day, I know I will

frosty_haz_big_ballz



Now honestly Yahoo, do you really think that by requesting ?protection? from your fines in France claiming ?freedom of speech? and that you are an American company, that your users are exempt from the same freedom of speech here in the USA or that your own actions are those of an American way?

Now, it would be illegal for me to suggest that everyone who uses Yahoo services send them a complaint about their censorship actions, which could indeed be harassment according to the laws.

However, it is not illegal in this country for me to voice my own opinion.

Although it may be a violation of Yahoo's terms of service agreement and Yahoo's interpretation of ?freedom of speech? they have for years proclaimed they supported, for me to say that;

?ALL ADVERTISERS ON YAHOO ARE SUPPORTING CENSORSHIP IN THE WORST WAY.?

We should ALL let the advertisers on Yahoo know about their errors!

The evidence presented above proves that Yahoo does in fact ?censor its users? simply by use of their own ?terms of service agreements? to act on or terminate the account of anyone who post or uses the service to make available anything ?objectionable.? Doesn't this mean just about everyone who uses the services of Yahoo Inc., couldn't we all object to something the other users are doing? Not that it would do any good because as I have documented many times over the years Yahoo does not censor those who others find offensive, they censor those who Yahoo Inc. finds offensive (like the site mentioned earlier because it is a threat to their bottom dollar and tells the truth about Yahoo Censorship).

Why do we continue to tolerate this un-American behavior by a company that is now claiming its right to support the sale of n**i memorabilia as well? Is there a pattern developing here?

For me or anyone else to purchase anything from someone who advertises on Yahoo Inc would be a show of support of ?censorship? by corporate America. This behavior by Yahoo Inc. is wrong (although anyone who uses the service gave up the right not to be censored when they agreed to Yahoo's terms of service which is required in order to use the service in the first place), and violates the principles of "freedom of speech" in this country that Yahoo Inc now is seeking protection from being imposed on them.


This Great country was founded upon a principle, that all men have the right to choose, their own religion, their own leaders, and their own opinion, and they would not be punished for their choices. Why do we tolerate corporate America taking those rights away from us on a regular basis?


Shame on you Yahoo Inc. and shame on your advertisers as well for supporting your Anti-American censorship behavior.

I have to wonder if there is some law on the books that prohibits the censorship of a communications device by a corporate entity since Yahoo now touts it ?free long distance calls? as part of the service.

If we accept this behavior from Yahoo Inc., who is to say that telephone companies wont soon be censoring out anyone who speaks out against their over inflated prices charged for internet access that was designed to be free in the first place?

And just for those who say that website censors its users?

No, actually that site promotes freedom of choice by the internet users. Each member has the choice to block out other offensive people that have been reported there. Membership there is by democratic vote and no censorship takes place there. Yes I have reserved the right to deny any person membership, the same right that is afforded to any user of the forum.

Ken (aka Frosty)
Mesquite, Texas
U.S.A.

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