On Oct. 28, 2001, 7:40 pm MST Microsoft bCentral reactivated
all four banner accounts that had been deactivated as
described below. On Oct. 29, 10:27 pm
MST, they credited
2,500 points to each account to make up for lost time.
I was worried there for a minute as to what direction our country is headed, but now my hope in her
core goodness is bolstered.
Little things like this can have significant symbolic value.
From: "Microsoft bCentral Support" <bnsupport_us@bcentral.com>
To: <sterlingda@greaterthings.com>
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 10:26 PM
Subject: RE: CST46971744ID - Prod:BN:Making up for lost time.
Hello Sterling,
Thank you for writing to Microsoft bCentral about your concern.
I understand that your Banner Network accounts did not accumulate credits at the time that these accounts were banned. Earning credits for your account is important so that your banner will continue to receive exposures. This is why I have added 2,500 credits to each of your accounts that were banned. These credits are now ready to be used for your banners' exposures.
If you have any more inquiries, please feel free to write back.
PRESS RELEASE:
October 27, 2001
by Patriot Saints staff.
[The following is told from the
perspective of the site administrator, Bradley Jordan, who is not able to
access account information due to bCentral canceling four of his accounts, so
he has to rely on memory and a few log notes. Some assumptions may be
incorrect due to lack of full information. bCentral has been notified of
this report, and a response from them is pending (if they choose to provide
one).]
Microsoft bCentral has censored a website featuring prophetic
and political commentary on the events of September 11, 2001 from its
LinkExchange banner exchange network, citing
"political content" as the reason.
The site is listed at Yahoo! under "World Trade Center and Pentagon
Attack > Commentary" but at least one person running the show at
Microsoft's bCentral does not think it should be circulated on its network of
banners, lest it offend a client or customer.
When asked to point out specifically how the terms of use (TOU) were being
violated, Lela, of bCentral Policy Enforcement Management replied, "Please
be advised that the following actions: 'to express political, personal or any
other opinions; include any offensive words, symbols or graphics' are in
violation of the TOU." (email message CST45459148ID to site
administrator, October 26,
2001.)
Not everyone at bCentral who approves sites and banners agrees that the
site violates those terms. The same URL and banner were approved to
appear on four other accounts held by the site administrator, and have been
running on the network since October first.
The censorship came after the site administrator opened a new account (his
eleventh) with LinkExchange specifically for the various pages relating to the
911 index. A banner was created and submitted, with its respective
URL. The same banner and URL were also submitted to replace the existing
banners and URLs on seven of the administrator's other eleven accounts.
The new account ran for approximately a week on the network accumulating at
least 25,000 potential reciprocal exposure points. After that week, not
only did bCentral decline approved of this new account, but it removed three
other long-established accounts for which the new banner and target URL were
submitted. Meanwhile, the same banner and target URL were approved for
four other accounts, and are currently running as of this writing.
The site administrator has been using bCentral's LinkExchange service since
October 16, 1998, and has eleven accounts with upwards of 800 - 1000 unique
pages on those accounts.
He has never encountered problems in the past, even for pages far more
controversial than his index on Sept. 11 prophetic and political
ramifications. Yet now, after all this time, and all that work placing
those banners one by one on those hundreds of pages on his site, with the
recent submitting of the new banner and target URL, at least one person at
bCentral has deemed this content to be contrary to the terms of service.
Now the deactivated account banners shows up on the page as just plain
white. If someone clicks on it, they are sent to a page at bCentral
stating:
http://more.bcentral.com/inactive.html
Inactive
Account
You clicked on a
banner of an account that has been deactivated.
This means that either the owner of the account has chosen to cancel
it or that one or more pages of the site that the LinkExchange banner
appeared on has been evaluated as inappropriate for participation in
LinkExchange.
If you are a LinkExchange client and would like to lodge a complaint,
direct it to: <esc_policy_us@bcentral.com>
be sure to specify that it is regarding "CST45459148ID."
Depending on how bCentral responds, we may want to launch a boycott of their
service.
, President of American
Patriot Alliance on Oct. 27, 2001 4:10 pm mst comment: We will call on our 5300 membership base to boycott this group if they
do not reconsider this matter and reinstate this site into their program.
on Oct. 27, 10:10 pm mst comment: YES! I DO PROTEST M.S. BCENTRAL'S CENSORING
GREATERTHINGS.COM:
I may be one who does not agree with the ideas
put forth on the censored website; but, I don't
have to read them; or, I may read and reply
stating my disagreement with the views of the
GreaterThings.com website; I don't want some
arbitrary third party dictating its thought
canceling policies across the web to me; if
M.S. bCentral cannot stop meddling in the
intentions of others to express themselves
freely, then that business should find some
other field of interest to engage itself in
provoking the patience of freedom living and
loving people. I am not offended by anything I
see on the censored website. Microsoft, leave
GreaterThings.com alone to serve those who will
be served by them.
JDA
Eastsound, Washington
Comment: Free speech is to spread ideas and opinions. So, is it
"dissenting opinions not welcome here"?
Screen Grab from bCentral Stats Showing when page was
deactivated, and when it was reactivated.
Relevant Information Gleaned:
New Account set up on October 6.
Account deactivated on Oct. 16
Reactivated on Oct. 28
Site had not been approved, accumulated points not harvested
until Oct. 28.
25,816 visits; 10,094 exposures (all on Oct. 28).
Information Available from Other Three Renewed bCentral Account
Stats
Accounts X1118366, X1130344, and X1489290 were all
deactivated on Oct. 2, which was when the banner and new target URL (www.greaterthings.com/News/911/)
that had been submitted were reviewed.
Accounts X1118366, X1130344, and X1489290 were all
reactivated on Oct. 28.
Accounts X1118366, X1130344, and X1489290 were reactivated
briefly on Oct. 12, probably in the course of the dialogue between Greater
Things administrator and bCentral Staff.
Account X1118366
Account X1130344
Account X1489290
Page created on Oct. 27, 20017
Last updated on October 30, 2001
LinkExchange
contents not necessarily endorsed by GreaterThings
On Oct. 28, 2001, 7:40 pm MST Microsoft bCentral reactivated
all four banner accounts that had been deactivated as
described 
