From: Mimi Kahn
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks
Subject: AOL Is Trying to Silence Us Again
Date: 25 Aug 1995 18:12:45 GMT
Organization: Megabyte Press

AOL is trying to silence us again -- this time me rather than James Egelhof.

Not long ago, in context, I posted something about how an early beta version of the AOL Web browser had reduced my hard disk to a mass of lost file clusters, lost directory clusters, and cross-linked files. At the time, all I got from AOL's Windows beta staff was, "Well, it didn't happen to ME." It *did* happen to others; beta testers *do* talk among themselves.

(I can now admit to being an AOL beta tester because I've resigned from beta and from AOL as a whole.) (Maybe that should have been "AOL as a hole.")

Later, of course, the beta staff *did* recognize the problem, but didn't know what caused it. Ultimately, they found a buggy .DLL file that, as I understand it, didn't allow files to be properly written to the disk under certain circumstances, causing chaos.

Well, lo and behold, who should appear in my mailbox but Gene Steinberg, that self-proclaimed AOL Mac guru and author, who accused me of not knowing what I was talking about -- *many* things could have caused my problem, etc. -- and giving me the same old AOL line of bull -- *he* hadn't heard about it, therefore it hadn't happened.

I wrote back with further details of what *had* happened and asked him please not to write to me again.

He did, of course. He demanded "written documentation" for my assertions and talked down to me as though I were a little child -- or merely a female. (I *am* a female -- one who has run UNIX and Novell networks.)

I responded: "What part of 'Don't write to me again' don't you understand?" and referred him to the Windows beta team *by names* for further substantiation of what I had said. I reminded him that he was a *Mac* person, and that this was a *Windows* problem, which was perhaps why he hadn't heard of it. And I told him again to stop writing or I would be forced to write to TOS at AOL, charging him with harassment.

So good old Gene@aol.com wrote a letter to postmaster@hooked.net, charging me with lying on the Internet and insulting him by e-mail! Gene apparently wants me to lose my Internet connection.

I sent the whole thread to postmaster@aol.com, tosemail1@aol.com, and Hooked.

But doesn't this seem to be the sort of attempted intimidation AOL is so good at? Rather than improve its deficiencies, AOL tries to harass and silence its critics.

Another regular here commented to me last night about the increasing number of personal attacks leveled at me recently -- that I must be really getting to them for this to occur.

I guess we *all* are getting to them. So watch out for even more of the same as AOL tries to survive with the exodus of its dissatisfied members to the Microsoft Network and the Internet.

Good ol' boy Gene Steinberg notwithstanding, I think these are positive signs.

--
Mimi

Charter Member, The Lunatic Fringe
(the rest home for the psychologically interesting) --

From: trebor@slip.net
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks,alt.online-service.america-online
Subject: Re: America OnMafia
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 19:52:37 GMT

Kiralynne wrote:

>America Ondrugs does in fact use a very heavy hand on its critics within
>their system. I am concerned they may reach out and harm critics outside
>their system.

Employees of AOL, and under their AOL accounts, in fact have made attempts against Netizens outside the 'big house.'

This is evidenced by webmaster@aol.com's attempt to threaten someone's (ok, I forgot exactly who, Egelhof? Finley?) ISP with legal action over an anti- AOL WWW page.

This is also evidenced by gene@aol.com's numerous e-mails to different postmasters (including mine), wherein he calls newsgroup flames "libelous."

AOL has always claimed these individuals (I'm sure those two aren't the only ones) were not acting as AOL representatives when they committed those acts but I doubt that would stand up in court, if it came to that.

From: chess@widomaker.com (Haydie)
Newsgroups: alt.aol-sucks,alt.online-service.america-online
Subject: Re: America OnMafia
Date: 17 Oct 1995 11:06:12 -0400
Organization: Widomaker Public Access Unix, (804) 221-8070

In article <30834725.774@hooked.net>, Mimi Kahn wrote:
>trebor@slip.net wrote:
>> This is also evidenced by gene@aol.com's numerous e-mails to different
>> postmasters (including mine), wherein he calls newsgroup flames "libelous."
>
>MEE TOO!!!!!1!

Pleez add me to ur lizt of peeple jean hatez.

>He also accused me of insulting him (I guess by telling him not to write
>to me any more) and of lying on the Net (when I described in detail what
>an early beta of the AOL Windows Web browser did to my hard drive and the
>lack of response I had from AOL when I tried to report the bug -- which was
>acknowledged and fixed only *much* later).

---------------------Begin Included Text-----------------

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 19:26:54 -0400
From: Gene@aol.com
To: chess@widomaker.com
Cc: TOSGeneral@aol.com, postmaster@widomaker.com
                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The message you forwarded to me was sent prior to the time you said you
didn't want to respond to any questions I had with regard to your public
campaign against America Online (such as demands that the service be
boycotted that are used as part of your Internet signature) and your use of
inflammatory and threatening language against that service.

I am certain AOL's Terms of Service people are aware of your campaign against
them.

If you continue to make misstatements in public about me, how could you
expect I shall not answer to correct the record (at least in public)?

For the record: I consider your statements about me and America Online to be
harassment and of a treatening nature, and I ask that you not speak of me
publicly nor send me private e-mail any further.

If you continue to attempt to harass me or others from this service, I shall
see that the administrators of your Internet provider are notified as well.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --
                      BOYCOTT AMERICA ONLINE
Censorship * Excessive Pricing Schemes * Unfair Employment Practices
* Inadequate Features * Poor Customer Service * False Advertising *
     Net Leach Philosophy * Frivolous Legal Threats to Critics
                  http://www.cloud9.net/~jegelhof