Some Quotes and References Re Concerns About AOL

Pick and Choose Approach to Email Delivery
http://www.aolwatch.org/aolwatch21b.htm

This lax attitude -- and a pick-and-choose approach to e-mail delivery -- have left an underclass of on-line citizens. The New York Times reports that AOL has come to be known as the internet's lowest caste.


AOL Spam Policy on Slashdot
Read here what happens to “SPAM”
http://www.aota.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18731
“Yep... tons of encouragement.... while I sit here and paste back private inner office emails to our clients that AOL has sent to us reporting as a client spam complaint.
I have seen lots of personal "stuff" these past several days...”

A Second Look at AOL, the Refurbished Ellis Island of the Net
September 17, 1998
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/09/circuits/computing/17comp.html
and the relentless stream of advertisements that greet the masses upon logging on.

. AOL expects to start mailing millions and millions of the disks within the next month, however, just in time for my cranky friend Ron Reason to continue his annual Halloween tradition of handing them out to unsuspecting trick-or-treaters in his South Florida neighborhood. (The Macintosh version will lag by a few weeks, an AOL spokeswoman said.)

then Marketing to speedily cancel all those "valuable product and service offers" that AOL and its partners serve up via e-mail, phone solicitation, the Postal Service and pop-up on-screen windows.

“If you write to this site and do not receive an answer
please be aware of several problems associated some email domains”
http://www.stthomasirondequoit.com/id540.htm

Langa List Quote: (from above reference)
AOL is at it again. This time, it's reading *inside* its members' emails, and preemptively blocking any messages that contain links to sites that AOL doesn't want you to see.

Note: I'm *not* talking about simple mail blocks, where a mail is discarded if it originates from a “forbidden” address. No: AOL is parsing the content of its members' emails and blocking them even if they merely *mention* a site that AOL disapproves of….


Study: ISPs block some legitimate e-mails
August 12, 2003
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2003/08/11/daily14.html

Also:
AOL filters out some e-mail from ISPs
June 11, 2003
http://news.com.com/AOL+filters+out+some+e-mail+from+ISPs/2100-1032_3-1014827...


AOL Sucks Ass
http://www.afterophelia.com/aol.htm

I quickly became overwhelmed in a sea of spam. Then I unsuccessfully tried to use a "shortcut" on my desktop. Then I realized that chat rooms are really, really stupid. Then there were programs I wanted to run, but AOL seemed to be blocking it. Then when I wanted to sign off line, AOL would force me to remain on as it downloaded files the pop-up window claimed I needed. Then I grew weary of all of those ads! Then AOL called me at home to try and sell me a book that would improve my Internet experience. A week later, another AOL telemarketer tried to sell me long distance service. Then the same voice that had comforted me with my first "welcome" began to mock me with "goodbye" as I was repeatedly booted offline.

It wasn't AOL that rocked- it was the INTERNET that did. It had been my belief for that first month of computer ownership that AOL was the Internet. (A delusion that the good people at America Online like their customers to hold on to.) It quickly became apparent that there exists a great online experience, and that cannot be found surfing on AOL.


An Insider’s Look Into AOL
http://anti-aol.org/special/interview.shtml

The squeaky clean, 'family community' fascade AOL masks itself with was shown to be a sham, as corruption, apathy, and greed run rampant through all levels of the company.


AOL's Borg "You Will Be Assimilated" Mentality
http://anti-aol.org/special/insider2.shtml Impt article
We were also told during "Sherlock" training that AOL's intent is to own the Internet, and that it would in the near future. It already owns ICQ, Sprynet, and now Gateway.net.

The speeches and claims reminded me of Adolf Hitler and his desire for Lebensraum for Germany.

AOL's CAT department also does monitoring of accounts, internal and member's, to keep track of any potential problems and "catch" people doing TOS violations...this includes monitoring and saving IM' from member's to each other, and any other trick they pull.the Community Action team reports it and people's accounts are canceled...and this in direct violation of the TOS, which states that AOL will not monitor or keep track of IM's! Big brother does whatever he wants

I was getting to that near the end...so I got my stock cashed in (took three weeks) and got out...felt like I'm sure a Jew would feel leaving on the eve of Hitler's takeover in Germany in 1933.....continual tension, and threats by management, never knowing what was happening..the place made me feel dehumanized...and I finally quit hoping things would work out and I quit.



EVIDENCE OF READING PERSONAL IM:
The speeches and claims reminded me of Adolf Hitler and his desire for Lebensraum for Germany.

AOL's CAT department also does monitoring of accounts, internal and member's, to keep track of any potential problems and "catch" people doing TOS violations...this includes monitoring and saving IM' from member's to each other, and any other trick they pull.the Community Action team reports it and people's accounts are canceled...and this in direct violation of the TOS, which states that AOL will not monitor or keep track of IM's! Big brother does whatever he wants.

Interview With an ex-AOL Employee
http://anti-aol.org/special/insider4.shtml

"Sounds like you were working for the mob rather than a large corporation."

Yes, but they work people hard, and too hard. If they burn out it's easier to fire and re-hire someone now. Plus, they'd get the benefit of no having to pay stock benefits, too.

Easily, it was how much we hurt the members who called in. We were lying to and misleading them when they asked for help. We had to blame their phone lines, their computers...everything but AOL, even though we knew it was AOL that hosed things.

The last straw? I had long been hearing about AOL abusing members and other employees; plus, I had nearly chronic diarrhea from worry about the job's requirements itself, sleeping problems unless I drank at night, and my health started to suffer, so I decided to sell my stock and leave.
I knew people who had to drop percoset to make it through a shift smoke pot, let alone those who would have sex in the parking lot just to get rid of the stress. A custodian who managed the cleaning staff said he'd seen people drop their headsets and scream until they were taken out. We were being told we couldn't have a personal identity. Ugh, that really pissed me off!
One guy, they found under his desk behind the chair. It took a while to find him, though...Plus, near the end of my time there, we weren't supposed to say anything negative, especially about AOL itself.

"You know people will consider this to be quite exaggerated, right?"

Why AOL Is Not a Wise Choice
http://geocities.com/tara_d8/aolsux2.html

See for many reasons to not have AOL

Banned by AOL
12-22-03
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=5939

Wow! -- my stupid poem, my puny blog, deemed "offensive" by a colossal corporation. My first reaction was that "Banned by AOL" would look great on my homepage. Then I started to wonder, as the anonymous commenter had: Does AOL censor email? And if so how? When and why? Come to think of it, Is that even legal? What constitutes "a high volume of complaints" and who is doing the whining?

Banned by AOL
12-22-03
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=5939

See for examples of banned groups such as moveon.org

VIRTUALLY VIOLATED
August 3, 1999
http://www.wiredstrategies.com/mugged.html

Serious concerns about AOL monitoring and keeping secret records


Email Server Banned
http://quick-responder.com/bademail.html

Isn't it odd too that so many people get so violent about electronic mail? I stood in line at the post office, two days before writing this page, for a piece of junk mail that would not fit in my box - a CD from guess who - AOL! That environment polluting piece of junk went into the trash. The post office can pay to have it hauled off and we will all cover the cost by paying more for stamps. Gee, I'm sure glad it wasn't e-mail - I would have wasted 1/10 of a second hitting "delete."

Are you aware that there are a handful (relatively speaking) of anti-spam crusaders that will deliberately sign up for your lists just to accuse you of spam? It's easy for them because if they say it is spam, your webhost, email provider and/or ISP is just going to take their word for it. They will never even give you the name or email address of the person so you will have no opportunity to prove they signed up. Shoot, you can't even take them off your list!



More References

Requiem for America Online
4-04-04 Rense.com
http://www.rense.com/general51/req.htm

AOL Spam Policy on Slashdot
Read here what happens to “SPAM”
http://www.aota.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18731

AOL and Big Brother
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1082426633

AOL Censored Upgraded
http://www.skincell.org/yabbse/index.php/t6526.php

AOL Gripes
http://www.computergripes.com/Aol.html

AOL’s Spam Filter Blocks ZNet Newsletters

http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/24439

Archive of Poems Banned by AOL
http://www.motley-focus.com/archive.html

AOL Sucks
http://www.aolsucks.org/aolwatch7.htm

AOL.com bans Presents of God Ministry
http://www.remnantofgod.org/aol.htm

OFFICE OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM'S CENSORIOUS "FRIEND"
The following letter appeared in the American Library Association Journal
http://www.aolsucks.org/alalet.htm
.

AOL Leads Political Censorship in U.S.A
http://www.middleeast.org/launch/redirect.cgi?a=35&num=110

IS A.O.L ASSISTING C.I.A. NETWORK?
4-18-03
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/4-19-03/discussion.cgi.90.html

Is The Pro-Democracy Movement Under Attack From AOL?
August 19, 2005
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001737.htm