Criticism of Obama administration will not be tolerated by Yahoo
From Gawker:
Flickr user Shepherd Johnson was browsing the official White House photostream one night when he decided to post a politically-charged comment. Then another, then another. Soon, without warning, Yahoo’s photo-sharing service deleted his account, complete with 1,200 pictures.
An unrepentant Yahoo won’t say what, exactly, Johnson did wrong. His comments were about Barack Obama’s support of a bill allowing the government to suppress torture photos. They were attached to seemingly relevant images from the president’s recent trip to Cairo to ring in a new era of U.S.-Middle Eastern relations.
Flickr is a service owned by Yahoo. Gawker is HARDLY a right-wing site.
This is a screen capture, and it’s not pretty:
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
No surprise there. Thou shalt
not criticize Teh One.
I agree with Yahoos, choice.
ZERO TOLERANCE, SHOULD COVER EVERYONE FROM THE GOVERNMENT DOWN. THIS NATURALLY INCLUDES THE MILITARY. TORTURE IS WRONG PERIOD, “DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.” WHEN OUR NATION STOPS ALLOWING THE LORDS WORD TO BE THE FINAL SAY, IN ALL MATTERS WE ARE SETTING OURSEVLES UP FOR DEFEAT, THESE ARE NOT MY WORDS BUT THE WORD OF GOD. IT SAYS, “WITHOUT GOD WE ARE NOTHING.” WE ARE THE NATION WE ARE BECAUSE OF HIM NOT INSPITE OF HIM. HE SAID, ” IF YOU DENY ME I WILL DENY YOU. STAND ON THE WORD OF GOD AND BE NOT SWAYED TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT.” REMEMBER ALL THINGS WILL ONE DAY PASS AWAY. ONLY WHAT WE DO FOR GOD MATTERS. ” THE HOLY BIBLE DOES NOT COME IN IF’S, EITHER STAND FOR THE TRUTH OR WE WILL FALL FOR ALLOWING ANY BEHAVIOR OR LACK THEREOF. See the King James Bible if you are in doubt, that these words were said.
It’s pretty easy to make a case that the guy violated Flickr’s TOS on “inappropriate, disturbing, or offensive” images. The fact that the guy is morally correct doesn’t mean he didn’t violate the rules of the site he posted those pictures on… who owns to the copyright to those torture pictures anyway? Are they PD? There’s another potential violation right there. If your gonna be the squeaky wheel, you better have all your ducks in order… wait… what?
Put simply if you are relying on anyone else to host controversial content, you can’t cry when they pull it. Host it yourself, on your own machine, from your own house… or at least your own co-lo server. Should Yahoo have pulled this? Probably not. Are they within their rights, sure. Does this have anything at all to do with Obama? No.
If you’d like to seem me argue the opposite side of the issue, see Brian Cuban’s blog on Facebook and Holocaust Denial groups that flourish there.
One other thought that I tell my users who have machines that don’t get automagically backed up when they lose data…
“Your failure to backup is not my emergency.”
Poor boy lost 1200 pictures… ah… you don’t have a backup?? That’s not Yahoo’s emergency. Don’t violate their TOS. Now say you’re for abusing their TOS, and that you still think Obama is wrong on this issue (as he surely is), and maybe they’ll give you your pictures back.
/no backup? puhlease. Points and laughs, Nelson voice, “Ha ha”
One other story, or why I am mcsey921 on youtube.com
Remember Kimbo Slice? He is a street fighter that became the lynchpin star of UFC competitor called EliteXC. His first sanctioned pro fight was on Showtime, and he beat his opponent in 19 seconds. Except that he didn’t, he landed one glancing blow and a the guy tapped before his second shot hit. I was recording, so I sent it over to my video processing machine and posted a video showing it at full speed and then again in super slo-mo with titles pointing out what was going on. I uploaded it to youtube under the title “Kimbo fight fixed?”
Two days later I got a note from youtube saying EliteXC had filed a DMCA complaint against me and the video would be taken down. I went to chillingeffects.org and filled out an anti-DMCA response using the “fair use/newsworthy” template. I believed (and still believe) I had just seen a crime take place — a fixed fight. People in Vegas are betting on the outcome of this fight. It’s supposed to be real, and it seemed obviously fixed. He didn’t get hit and he tapped.
So, I send my counter to youtube, and the next day when I go to log in I get a “Your account has been deleted for violation of the Youtube TOS” message (not an exact quote, but the point was clear). After much emailing and skyping, I finally got an email listing five or six Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC clips I had posted of Bush speeches I had posted when youtube first started up as copyright violations.
They clearly were. I was a squeaky wheel without my ducks in order. To this day, I’m sure I’m right both about the fight. Even I was wrong about the fight I was asking a legitimate newsworthy question with solid evidence to back it up. That video shouldn’t have been pulled, or more realistically should’ve been restored when I sent them my sworn counter-request. Instead the attention it brought my account gave youtube an easy way to handle it — ban hammer, and that was my fault. It was a lot easier to legitimately ban me than be in the middle of a legal fight for youtube. It was a good business decision.
And that last comment right there is why we need editors;)
Yeah, YouTube is a real piece of shit these days. This is hardly the first time they’ve pulled something like this.
What, Bill, no comment on the current breaking news? If you write something about it later, do remember to include this link: http://rogerhedgecock.com/resources/HSA%20-%20Rightwing%20Extremism%20-%20Climate%20Fueling%20Radicalization%20and%20Recruitment,dated%207%20April%202009.pdf
A few of the regulars should appreciate that one. Tell ‘em reno said “I told you so.”