At 7:24 PM +1000 7/4/99, Alex Satrapa wrote:
>Words can't express my shock. Some guy is suing Microsoft because a search
>on the keyword "monkey" in Microsoft Publisher 98 returns a photo of a man
>and a woman sitting on monkey bars in a playground. The keywords associated
>with the photo apparently included "monkey bars, playground equipment".
>
>http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/20536.html
You left out one important factoid: the man and woman in the photo
were Black, and apparently they, and not the monkey bars, are the
focus of the picture in question (calls to mind the recent Ansel
Adams discussion). The term "monkey" as a pejorative/derogatory term
for Blacks/Negroes -- particularly those from Africa -- has a long
and unsavory history in Western society. Basically it's the same as
if the word "spook" or "spade" had returned the same picture, or
"chink" returned a picture of a Chinese person, or "greaseball" an
Italian. That just shouldn't happen in a responsibly constructed
database (unless, I guess, one is building a database for a white
supremacist organization).
The suit is without merit because Microsoft had taken steps to
correct the oversight -- and an oversight is was, and one that they
were right to correct -- well in advance of the plaintiff's
complaint. Even if they had not, it probably wouldn't merit
litigation. Still, rather than wringing one's hands in disbelief,
take it as a reminder that we do have some measure of social
responsibility as gatherers, providers, and/or organizers of
information.
Byron C. Mayes
Prof. Byron C. Mayes
Systems Librarian/Assistant Professor
Hunter College of the City University of New York
695 Park Avenue * New York, New York 10021
[log in to unmask] * 212-772-4168 * Fax: 212-772-5113
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|