WWF Orders AOL Grandstand Folders Removed
Jeff Amdur
With the leaders of the AOL Grandstand wrestling boards obviously
subjected to a gag rule by their bosses and thus not permitted to comment,
it was left to the leader of another service's board, Bob Ryder in a
selfless gesture (and please don't read any sarcasm into that, because
none is intended; it was indeed a selfless gesture), to post to the
Grandstand that the WWF had requested America Online to remove the
WWF-related folders from the Grandstand wrestling area because there were
some postings that the WWF didn't like. It wasn't a question of
terms-of-service violation, it wasn't a question of obscenity. Ryder
indicated it may have had something to do with the largely negative
reaction of the Grandstand posters to the WWF's proposed weekly midnight
pay-per-view. In other words, it was censorship, plain and simple.
Bob Ryder suggested that we register our complaints in e-mail to Lee
Barstow, a WWF online representative, at wwfba...@aol.com.
Lee Barstow posted a response (in Georgiann Makropoulos's folder, where
Ryder had put his post) in which he denied attempts at censorship and
defended the WWF's right to insure the integrity of its product. The
message I'm getting here is that the WWF feels that people posting in
their "WWF area" have the right to express their opinions but that people
in the Grandstand area do not. Censorship, plain and simple.
I posted the following response to Lee Barstow in several Grandstand
wrestling folders. I am also e-mailing this very article here to
Barstow. The reason I am also posting it here is that I feel that this is
an important enough matter to be of concern to all of us who may in
addition to rspw also post to the wrestling boards of AOL, Prodigy and
other online services.
Here is what I posted. I would really like to see a public Barstow
response to my comments.
To Mr. Barstow, the mouthpiece of the Ayatollah Saddam McMahon....
>>>Appreciate your commentary, although inaccurate, we do care about the
on-line fans and want to give them the best WWF experience possible.<<<
If Bob Ryder's commentary is indeed inaccurate, and you *do* care about
on-line fans, and you *do* want reactions to your projects, matches,
angles, etc., then why were the folders removed? If Benito McMahonolini
in a burst of Fascism didn't order AOL to remove the folders, then who
did? If Fidel McMahonstro indeed did order the folders removed, why did
he do so?
I certainly have been effusive lately in my praise of the great work
Shawn Michaels has been doing, and I recently called the Mankind-UT match
the best-booked storyline I have ever witnessed. I guess Vince was
reading something into my praise of these matches that I wasn't even
reading into them myself.
What so-called "criticism" did he find offensive? Looking at recent
postings that I read offline on "Log 'o' Logs", I find these boards to be
fair and the criticism at least thought-provoking, whether I agree with
the critiques or not. The criticism here seems to be much more harsh when
it is attacking Hulk Hogan and certain aspects of WCW. Yet it's the WWF
that has come out against free speech.
What's next? Is McMahoammar Kadafi going to dictate to the World Wide Web
or to RSPW or order changes in the platforms of our two major political
parties?
>>>Also, we welcome feedback both positive and negative<<<
HA!
I repeat, in case you didn't hear me shout the first time...
HA!
You welcome feedback, both positive and positive. You order negative
feedback deleted.
>>>The WWF does not believe in censorship and does believe in freedom of
speech. The only thing I choose to protect is integrity of our product and
the content that we provide in terms of copyright infringment.<<<
THIS *IS* CENSORSHIP, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. DELETION OF ONE'S THOUGHTS
BECAUSE THEY MAY BE CONTRARY TO THE THOUGHTS AND DICTATES OF CHAIRMAN
VINCE-TSE-TUNG (OR VINCE ZEDONG IN MODERN CHINESE TRANSLITERATION) IS
CENSORSHIP.
WE HAVE BEEN MASSACRED IN TIEN-AN-McMAHON SQUARE!!! SHAME ON YOU, VINCE.
I have been watching wrestling and going to live shows since 1957, and
have been a regular spectator at WWWF/WWF McMahon / Zacko / Gilzenberg
promotions for over thirty years. This is a shameful act and an insult to
the memories of Vince Sr., Phil and Willie, as well as to the memory of my
late friend Georgette Krieger (1899-1982), the WW(W)F's all-time number
one fan.
>>>I welcome all commentary but will not justify articles written without
a basis in fact.<<<
Please don't make me laugh, Mr. Barstow. Are you sure you're not the guy
posting on RSPW as Jayrock?
Jeff, indignantly exercising my free speech
--
Jeff Amdur
Quality foreign language instruction since 1971 (Oy, gevalt! THAT long?!?)
Quality timekeeping for sports events since 1973
Doing all that stuff at Arundel High School in Gambrills, Md. since 1977
je...@clark.net jef...@aol.com jia...@umd5.umd.edu
Gern Blanston
Jeff Amdur wrote:
> the WWF had requested America Online to remove the
> WWF-related folders from the Grandstand wrestling area because there were
> some postings that the WWF didn't like. It wasn't a question of
> terms-of-service violation, it wasn't a question of obscenity. Ryder
> indicated it may have had something to do with the largely negative
> reaction of the Grandstand posters to the WWF's proposed weekly midnight
> pay-per-view. In other words, it was censorship, plain and simple.
Wow. What a stupid move. Nothing like pissing off tons of
potential fans all at once. This seems like the act of an
extremely desperate individual. I bet they fix this soon, I
sure thought Vince was smarter than this.
Gern
Rhymes with Censorship Sucks