<p>I recently switched internet providers. I now have Optonline (a division of cablevision). I have a phone/broadband package that is very cheap, and the speed and reliability are much better than anything else available. I haven’t been able to discontinue my old service, though, because I’ve had difficulty setting up email accounts. After countless hours wrestling with their website and talking to (and holding for) tech support, I finally learned that they do not allow the word “jew” to be used in IDs, and my long Polish name includes this sequence of letters. They tried to override this and were not able to.</p>
<p>I really want to be able to use our name in email addresses. I’ve always used it before, with several other ISPs, and it is very annoying not to be able to use it now. I did test their system over the weekend, and found that other ethnic and religious identities are allowed (irish, german, hispanic, catholic, presbyterian, buddhist all worked). I’m sure this blocking was done with good intentions, but it seems strange to block only one (as far as I can tell) group name.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any ideas about how I can pressure them to change their policy?</p>
<p>I don’t think people have names that include Buddhist or Catholic or Irish, or whatever. The problem is the inclusion of “jew” in your name, not the issue of group name;if someone had name that included the word Buddhist, I expect s/he would encounter the same problem as you.
Your situation is similar to the way s.t.f.u.l is treated on CC. It is part of longer, totally innocuous words, but gets banned because it is an acronym for an objectionable phrase.</p>
<p>Why can’t they override it? That is what seems odd…these people are supposed to be in charge of their network, not the other way around…I just don’t believe thay can’t fix their own program and override something…and you shoulnd’t have to change you name to suit an ISP provider, that would be a deal breaker for me</p>
<p>“Embedded Jew” sounds like a claim Al Qaeda or the PLO would make!</p>
<p>I don’t have a clue about how much of a technical problem an override would be. But I’m sure that the word Jew has been used in so many offensive combinations, that cablevision just can’t spend the time clearing every use of Jew as an innoccuous one.</p>
<p>Marite, I was able to set up online IDs using all those other words; in other words, if I wanted my email address to be Buddhist123 it would be possible, but if I chose Jew123, it would not. The only reason I want to use “jew” is that it is part of my name. </p>
<p>I’m sure that someone used an offensive email address, there were complaints, and optonline set up a blanket block. Of course it is possible to override this; programmers control computers, not the other way around. My problem is finding a way to get them to do it, rather than saying they can’t. </p>
<p>It would be a deal-breaker for me except that they are, while not the only, by far the best game in town.</p>
<p>Not directly on point, but a further example of the impact of mindless technology:
My law firm put a strong pornography bad/language filter on our external email system. For a short period, until we figured it out, resumes we received from law students were from only mediocre students. Turns out the system was blocking anyone who graduated “cum laude” or the like.</p>
<p>register your own site with that name. Find a cheap hosting service and never have to change email addresses again. Registration is dirt cheap these days. You could have <a href=“mailto:xxxx@…jew…net”>xxxx@…jew…net</a> or .org or .com.</p>
<p>StickerShock, “mick” is allowed, as is “spic.” The n-word is not allowed. Funny, I feel guilty even typing the latter two, while “mick” doesn’t bother me. And I am of Irish descent (the long, troublesome name is my husband’s).</p>
<p>Firebad, That’s hilarious!</p>
<p>bandit_TX, tell me more. How would I go about doing this? It could solve my problem.</p>
<p>NYMoM – It’s odd how there are such different reactions to ethnic slurs. I have met people who thought “polock” (sp?) was the correct way to refer to a Polish person. They honestly didn’t know to say Pole!</p>
<p>StickerShock, my parents were both born in Poland. And truth be told, in the Polish language, “Polack” is the word for a person from Poland! It took my mother quite a while to realize that in English, “Polack” was an insult. (Of course, my parents are also Jewish, so they were used to much more offensive insults in Eastern Europe before and during the Holocaust.)</p>
<p>Jewel123 not allowed! Outrageous!
Chedva, you and I share similar backgrounds and ethnicity. My mother once was yelled at for calling someone whose name she didn’t know “Lady” (Polish - Dama, as in Dame Julie Andrews, or Lady Diana Spencer).
For what it’s worth, my ISP, Verizon, blocks all e-mails from TIAS, the internet antique site (I collect vintage costume jewelry and Fenton glass, or used to before college loomed up close).
Have you threatened to leave Optonline? In my limited experience, threatening to switch works sometimes. And be sure to talk your way up the food chain - keep asking for a supervisor, then the next supervisor, etc. Eventually you’ll get to the person who can actually do something for you.</p>
<p>As long as we’re asking these questions about what’s offensive, can someone tell me if being called a “goy” is supposed to be an insult or not? I remember being referred as one in high school and just thought of it all these years later.</p>