Is AOL censoring mail?

[wabeewoman]

I sent a copy of a blog on bush's AWOL status and got the following returned mail message. (reason: 554 TRANSACTION FAILED: (HVU:B1) The URL contained in your email to
AOL members has generated a high volume of complaints. Per our Unsolicit)
I find it hard to believe this blog has created complaints. It's Phil Carter's site: http://philcarter.blogspot.com/2004_02_01_philcarter_archive.html#107591570333210255
So is AOL screening anything with AWOL and bush in the topic???

[Gman]

1. Roadrunner was blocking Buzzflash.com daily news updates

Roadrunner, like AOL, is a Time-Warner company.

Interesting...

[For PaisAn]

2. I'll try it and see

Have AOL also. I'll try and see if it happens to me. What was in your subject line?

[wabeewoman]

11. Thanks for the input

AOL isn't my email but I was sending something to a friend who has it. The subject line did include bush and awol. I've sent her lots of email and never had this happen.

[tom_paine]

3. My God, if true you should drop those AOL f*ckers like a hot potato

Call 'em and tell them in no unceratin terms this is the case.

I don't give a good goddamned HOW MANY Busheviks using HOW many phony e-mails to generate 10X the number of "complaints" there actually were, they have NO RIGHT to censor your private e-mail inks.

If that does turn out to be the case, there is no other provider that does this (so far as I know).

Find one and switch.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Whaaaaaa?

The URL contained in your email to AOL members has generated a high volume of complaints

So AOL is taking it upon themselves to censor its users emails based on "community complaints?"

Wow... I'd say DUMP AOL and alert the media about this!!!

<on edit - I guess you can't spell AWOL without the letters A-O-L!>

[K-W]

5. Looks like an anti spam policy that may have been abused

[Cooley Hurd]

6. But that would apply to incoming mail, not outgoing...

...wouldn't it?

<on edit - I guess outgoing mail becomes incoming mail if the email was addressed to another AOL user>

[Benhurst]

7. Iraq Front News and Information Clearing House are blocked

whenever I try to send copies to a friend on AOL who has requested them. I've even tried changing the titles of the emails; but they get blocked all the same. They give the same bullshit you got as an explanation.
I have managed to send them plain text; but then he doesn't get the links. Damn AOL!

What worries me is that this same technology might eventually be used by Bush & Company on the Internet as a whole, if Bush manages to steal his way back into office.

[truthspeaker]

8. well, you should drop AOL regardless, because they suck

but that's outrageous. Make sure to complain to them in writing.

You should also let the site owner know he's being censored.

[hlthe2b]

9. I just successfully sent it from one AOL account to another...

No problem

I'll bet you're hitting up against spam controls

[ConsAreLiars]

10. First they are reading your email, then censoring based on content

"The URL contained in your email" is what is triggering the rejection process. They have programs that scan every word you write for words or phrases or URLs that they want to keep the the folks whose net access they control from seeing. If you put a space somewhere, like in "http://phil carter.blogspot.com/..." with instructions to the recipient to remove it, it might get through the filter. In any case, your AOL friends should be told that AOL is denying them access to certain information based on political content.

They should know that these same triggers can be used to mark email for other actions, like forwarding copies to human readers. This censoring process "might" only occur if AOL users agreed to let AOL process their mail through their so-called Spam stopper service. If so, advise them to opt out and use an email program that allows them to define what is spam, rather than using AOL's definition, which is apparently lets a few people who object to specific political content deny that content to everyone.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. yes aol does censor mail..i tried mailing OSP info to UK Parlimentary

members and i got exactly the same message "transaction failed"

i still can NOT mail to UK Parliment memebers about the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans and US bad intelligence :grr: :grr:

i am leaving aol as soon as i get my new computer..aol is BAD!

[Maeve]

13. Alternative suggestion

Set up a free account on Yahoo, Hotmail, Mail.com or other e-mail provider for some of your e-mail.

Altho I am on RoadRunner, I have no idea what their policies are--the only thing that goes to that e-mail addy is spam and RR ads.

[Renew Deal]

14. Use tinyurl.com

http://tinyurl.com/2zhb4

[SaintLouisBlues]

15. I got this same message

Sent Media Whores Online link to an AOL user. I've been telling him to drop those AOL pricks.

[amandabeech]

16. I have AOL and I've had problems, too!

I was trying to send an e-mail to an alternative/leftie site and had a lot of trouble. It finally went through, but it took three minutes and I got a weird error message! The person trying to respond to my e-mail had a lot of problems, too, and got the undeliverable message. For a while, I was wondering if Homeland Security was after me, but I haven't had trouble since. Now I know that it was AOL, I'll looking around for a new ISP.

Fuming . . .

Amanda