AOL Declares Guns Pornographic

F

fastforty

New member
This article appears in the February issue of Guns & Ammo. Since it was written by someone else, and forwarded by a third party, I don't feel the need to "ask permission" to copy it. Credits are given.

AOL DECLARES GUNS PORNOGRAPHY

Sharp G&A readers have noticed that Jim Supica, owner of the Old Town Station Dispatch Ltd., occasionally loans us an antique firearm for our photo layouts. He is a Federal Firearms License holder, and runs an honest, above-board business.

It must have come as a complete surprise when America Online summarily removed his website from it's system and sent the following e-mail to his account address. AOL wrote: "We have become aware of a web page site that is part of your account. This web page violates Hometown AOL's Community Standards, which prohibits sexually explicit graphics, links to other sites which Hometown deems offensive, harassment, the use of vulgar or sexually oriented language, discussion of illegal activities, and/or other activities that may impair the enjoyment of our community's members."

"We have place a note of this incident on your account history and consider this a first warning. We have removed all the file(s) from your web page/ftp site. A second occurrence will result in termination of your account with no chance of reactivation."

Although AOL has a right to say yes or no to the types of web pages it permits, it seems a bit strong to call gun dealers pornographers. "I've heard from the other dealers who got the same form letter and no-warning boot from AOL," Supica said. "I mainly want to get on with my business with the least possible hassle. AOL's decision to dump gun dealer sites did not bother me as much as the manner in which they did it."

Thanks to Bill Clede of the Shotgun News for the story, and to the Hodgdon Powder Co. for forwarding the information. (And to Guns & Ammo for reprinting it)


For those of you who think that the topic of guns is "pornographic", or "impairs your enjoyment", just keep pumping those checks off to AOL :)
 
Yea, this is fro, the same company that will inundate you with porn form its members if you visit one of their chat rooms.
 
I have done bussiness with Jim Supica every since he started the Old Town Station Dispatch. I have subsribed since issue Number One. I have bought antique guns from Jim and found him to be honest and reliable. I have heard some stuoid things during my life, but AOL's action is the stuoidest!

By the way, Jim is running for the NRA board of directors. All you NRA members should vote for him!
 
Re "AOL Declares Guns Pornography", if this annoys you, and you are a subscriber to AOL's services, you can get similar service elsewhere.

Like the man said, your money spends anywhere. Cancel your AOL service,and if you feel like it, tell them why. Take your business elsewhere.

For those who might be considering subscribing to AOL, obviously, the answere is to reconsider. If and when they feel pain in their bottom line, they will change their tune.
 
Alan,

One of the few disadvantages of living in the sticks is (to the best of my knowledge) we only have ONE provider here - the phone company. Any other service would entail a long distance call.

The good news is that the phone company usually does pretty well!

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Either you believe in the Second Amendment or you don't.
Stick it to 'em! RKBA!
 
Well, this is just one more reason to hate aol (intentionally lower cased). They claim to be the best service (No wonder we're number one. Slogan), but they are the most popular service and most popular service does not equal best especially for advance users. For those who seek access to all internet sites (java sites don't run on aol) and don't want to be bothered by those unsolicited ads/promotions and pay a couple of bucks less a month another ISP would be best for you. Remember, its possible to cut out the middle man (ISP) because the annual fees that most people pay to there ISP can be used to buy a server for indiviual use. BTW, I do believe that Compuserve was acquired by aol.
 
I specifically dropped aol just for this reason. Well, that and a few others regarding their billing policies. But this was the straw that broke the camel's back. I wrote to them and told them why I wanted out and even explained to the customer service rep on the phone. Why did I get the feeling that they didn't give a damn about losing a customer? I was just a drop in the bucket for them. How many drops in the bucket do they have to lose before they revisit this archaic policy of dumping gun ownership in the same category as porn?

Gotta go now and take some pics of a nekkid rifle. ;)

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Ron

Detroit Area Chapter
Terra-Haute Torque & Recoil Society




[This message has been edited by Ron L (edited January 09, 2000).]
 
Even more disturbing was an article this morning on NPR (I know, I know, National Propaganda Radio) regarding the Detroit Auto Show.

Seems that GM and AOL have combined forces in an internet vehicle building and finding system. AOL will provide the support for potential GM customers to spec out their wanted vehicle and then arrange to have it delivered to the nearest dealer for delivery.

Funny huh? GM touts their trucks as rugged, out-doorsy, take-em anywhere and use-em for anything, "sportsman" minded vehicles. You can spec out and order a $45,000 hunting rig, you just can't find the gun to use it with. I wonder if GM's aware of this?

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Ron

Detroit Area Chapter
Terra-Haute Torque & Recoil Society
 
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