Little-Ticket GeoCensorship (& unverified stuff)

Little-Ticket GeoCensorship (& unverified stuff) Not to be confused with the Big-Ticket GeoCensorships this site has endured, including forcible removal from third-party servers(!)...

September 19, 1998 Infosneaks I recently went to infoseek.com to see if I could find more Geo victims to add to my link list (left table)...I used the search query 'GeoCensored' in one instance, and guess what? NO results found. I had manually submitted this page (its title just happens to be 'GeoCensored') any several others of mine, a number of which contain the word... I had checked backed later to see if I was indexed, and found that my pages were among the first to come up when searching for "GeoCities censorship", "Censored by GeoCities", etc. But hmm, that's funny...seems all "GeoCensored" pages, including mine, ~~Zeman's~~, and ~~Boots'~~, have recently been stricken from the records. I noticed a clause in the Infoseek submission guidelines about abuse of the search engine, and how attempts to spam or subvert the index will result in removal of your listing and possible banning. What particularly struck me was that "URLs submitted more than once in any 24-hour period will be removed from the index." Tell me...am I just being paranoid here, or is it way too easy to waltz on over there, 'spam' the engine with someone else's URL (an enemy or competitor, perhaps), and get their site removed from the listings? My site was listed perfectly not too long ago, as were many other pages containing the word "GeoCensored"...funny how they all sort of disappeared at once, no?

I will be sending a letter to Infoseek shortly, to see if they can shed some light on the subject (see if they log IPs/domains of those that submit sites to their index, including improperly) and find out if there has been any unauthorized submission (spamming) of my URLs. In the meanwhile, I have taken the liberty of re-submitting my pages, as well as a few others'....

Saturday, January 3, 1998 Another rejection notice from GeoRewards (now the GeoGuide Banner Exchange), who knows why? Probably because we've so clearly demonstrated our dislike of the GeoPops. Watch this site for an access denied screen any day now, which will indicate a content violation suspension (in other words, the end of Snicker), because these guys really, really, really don't like us.

Sometime in August

Where's Calvin? Good question. We recently applied to have our very-cool banner added to the Geoguide rotation. Three or four re-applies later, we have not a spot on a Geoguide but rather a boxful of snarling Emails, each stating that we are unacceptable for the banner-on-a-Geoguide program.

Subject: Basic GeoRewards Program
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 15:02:29 -0700
From: rewards@geocities.com
To: bgip@ix.[NoSpamBots].netcom.com

Thank you for applying to our GeoRewards program. We're glad

that you would like to be a part of the best banner exchange

program on the Web. As you know, we review the site of every

homesteader who applies for GeoRewards to make sure they meet

the GeoCities Content Guidelines. Unfortunately, since your

site doesn't meet our content guidelines, we are unable to

admit you into the GeoRewards program at this time.

Here are some common violations of our guidelines:

1) Ad banners: GeoCities ONLY allows Internet Link Exchange
and GeoGuide banners
2) Illegal content such as information on hacking, cracking,
and/or pirated software
3) Pornography/nudity

(Please note: This does not mean that your page violated all
three of these guidelines. We're just listing these as
possible reasons you may have received this letter.)

Please review the GeoCities content guidelines at
<http://www.geocities.com/homestead/homeguide.html>.

Once you have altered the material on your site to comply with
our content guidelines, we'll be happy to admit you to
GeoRewards. Please feel free to re-apply at that time by going
to <http://www.geocities.com/cgi-bin/georewards/submit_form>.

If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to
e-mail them to <rewards@geocities.com>. We'll get back to you
as quickly as we can. We also have a list of frequently asked
questions about GeoRewards at
<http://www.geocities.com/georewards/faq.html> -- you may want
to check there first to see if your question has already been
answered.

* * *
GeoRewards
rewards@geocities.com
http://www.geocities.com/
FAQ: http://www.geocities.com/georewards/faq.html

    I could understand how the guy whizzling on an Apple logo could be considered nudity, and all incriminating portions of the animated GIF image were replaced. Then another re-apply got us the same message. An inquiry straight to the Georewards Email address quickly led us to the root of our troubles: Calvin.
    Calvin looked just like he looks on the back windows of millions of automobiles. The image depicted Calvin urinating on, not a Ford or Chevy logo, but that of Microsoft Internet Explorer. His back was toward the viewer, however, a small portion of 16-color butt-crack was visible. When I received word that Calvin's butt was making us ineligible for Georewards, a vote went out to the entire Web Crew (yes, a small crowd of Web weavers at that time) as to whether we keep the site as-is, or get into Georewards no matter what the cost, the overwhelming vote went for anything that promised more hits to the site. That decided, Calvin was cuffed and marched out of the GC servers with a firm warning to keep himself covered.
    Graphics Guy was crushed at the news. After he worked so long and hard to make and animate this image, only to have it snatched out from under him. While it wasn't evident in his Email, I'm sure he's considering suicide right now. (Major guilt trip, whoever's in charge of censorship...)

Personally, I don't care what they think at this point. For all I care, the GC execs can line up and kiss my keester. But that's just my opinion. (and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other members of the Web Crew.)

The original image is posted above. Is this pornography? You are invited to view the image yourself and make your own decision as to whether the censorship is justified. That said, the line forms to the left. ;)
-Bill

Exits...

To Save A Bun Or Two This page, while serving as a factual account of our dealings with GeoCities Corporation, is nevertheless heavily opinionated. Please see the Disclaimers page, part II. GeoCities is a trademark and/or servicemark of GeoCities Corporation. Other trademarks are the property of their respective holders. See the Disclaimers page for even more fun.