Ed, 'THE WORST CASE OF CORPORATE HYPOCRISY ON THE WEB' AOL
AOL (Arrogant Offensive Litigious) I came across the following: The link won't paste, but from prnewswire.com
HANDS OFF THE INTERNET SAYS AMERICA ONLINE HAS 'THE WORST CASE OF CORPORATE HYPOCRISY ON THE WEB'
Source: PR Newswire
WASHINGTON, Dec 10, 1999 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The following
statement was issued by Christopher Wolf, President of Hands Off the
Internet, concerning America Online's recent moves to prohibit users of AT&T's Instant Messenger service from communicating with AOL
subscribers:
"When it comes to corporate flip-flops, AOL does more gyrations than
the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team. Earlier this year, the company
repeatedly blocked users of Yahoo!, MSN and Prodigy from sending
instant messages to its subscribers. Yet the company publicly called
for open standards of communication and stated that it wanted to open
its network.
"Now that pledge is being put to the test and once again, AOL has beat a hasty retreat. It has closed its system and denied subscribers a viable option to communicate with other Net users.
"We should hardly be surprised. Last year, the company went all out to have Congress pass a moratorium on new state and local Net taxes.
Company officials repeatedly stated that 30,000 jurisdictions shouldn't be allowed to tie down the growth of the Net.
"But then, faced with the consequences of its own bad decision not to
invest in broadband services, AOL this year has decided that a
patchwork of local regulations on cable Internet systems is just fine. Fortunately, local and federal regulators have repeatedly rejected the company's efforts.
"The company also trumpets its commitment to subscribers -- but then
makes it difficult for them to stop those annoying pop-up ads.
"It all adds up to the worst case of corporate hypocrisy on the Web. If this company really believes in openness, it can start by opening its network."
In 1998,Wolf successfully represented a U.S. Navy sailor in a Federal
suit involving AOL concerning the company's illegal dissemination of
sensitive personal information about the sailor. |
