Verizon Denies DSL Because of Subscriber's Name 493
mikek2 writes "When retired Philadelphia-area doctor and Vietnam veteran Dr. Herman I. Libshitz went to upgrade his dial-up connection to Verizon DSL, he was informed they wouldn't complete the order because his last name contained an expletive. Repeated calls to several levels of management at Verizon failed to resolve the problem, with several managers suggesting he change his last name. It all worked out in the end, after the Philadelphia Enquirer intervened."
Re:Summary and Title are highly misleading (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:This has nothing to do with his name.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Jewish people here occasionally have a chuckle at the name of our Friends Of The Zoos [fotz.org.au] society.
Re:Obviously.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Summary and Title are highly misleading (Score:5, Interesting)
I grew up in Southern New Zealand, where the word "cunt" certainly wouldn't be used in "polite society", but is (or maybe was) very common amongst teenagers and people in their 20s.
Pretty much to the point where we didn't really consider it a "bad word". Someone beats you in a game on the console du jour, then acts all smug about it, you'd call them a "smarmy cunt". Or you greet a friend you haven't seen in a while with, "Good to see ya you old cunt, how's things?". Or even referring to a third person as a "good cunt" if you think they're someone very reliable and friendly. And so on ad nauseum. It's just a word...
(also, it's more common to use it for males rather than females, whereas in places where it's exclusively a "harsh insult", it tends to be used for females only)
It's because the word "shit" has become LESS taboo (Score:4, Interesting)
Petty officialdom is no different than it has ever been. There's nothing new about bureaucrats rigidly implementing regulations and claiming that there is no way to make an exception in cases where the rules are patently inapplicable. "The computer made me do it" is just a variant on "Sir, we cannot do anything about it because of our policy."
But I don't think this would have been a problem five decades ago because the word "shit" was truly taboo... because nobody would have been willing to admit that they noticed the English-language vulgarities lurking within a name like Libshitz.
It couldn't have been done by computer, because no executive would have been willing to dictate such words in a specification that an (almost-certainly female) secretary would have to listen to, no secretary would have been willing to type them up, and, very likely, coders would have been unwilling to key them in.
Sure, in those days people might change the spelling of their surname from "Fuchs" to "Fewkes" but nobody would ever dare way why!
(Come to think of it, did Bible translations start using the phrase "gopher wood" in place of "shittim wood?")
mod parent insightful (Score:3, Interesting)
This reminds me of Japan (Score:5, Interesting)
Are we REALLY that stupid? Apparently so!
In Japan, it's nearly impossible to order something from a restaurant if it isn't on the menu. (I say nearly, because I haven't been to every restaurant in Japan, so this only applies to EVERY SINGLE restaurant I've been to in Japan) IF, on the menu is a ham sandwich and a cheese sandwich, and you try to order a ham and cheese sandwich, they will look at you funny and/or tell you that it is not available to order this item. This example, of course is fictitious, but a real life example was at an "italian" restaurant I went to in Japan. (Most of them are pretty good, but this one was not!) I wanted spaghetti with italian sausage. Not on the menu. So I ordered spaghetti with sauce and the sausage as two items that WERE on the menu. I thought I had successfully solved the problem. Nope! Failure: The two orders came out SEPARATELY at COMPLETELY different times. It was considered an appetizer and came out first... people started eating from it and was gone before my spaghetti with sauce arrived. I didn't know how to say anything but "Dame!" which would have been very rude so I said nothing. I was defeated.
And every time I see human minds get trumped by a script or something in software, I get offended. Perhaps it's odd that I, as a "technology professional" would be offended by technology, but I am. But then again, I would consider this to be a clear misapplication of technology and I find that equally offensive. To this day, I prefer going through a checkout line run by humans rather than the 'self checkout' lines where you scan and pay for your stuff by yourself. Humans are still better than machines... for now... and only when humans aren't acting like machines.
Re:'Swearwords' outdated (Score:5, Interesting)
I also find it interesting how the word 'nigger' has actually become more taboo than it was 20 or so years ago (unless you actually happen to have black skin, then you can say it all you like). Watching some old episodes of The Goodies they made reference to black South African persons as 'Nig-nogs'. They'd never get away with that these days, despite the fact that the whole episode was poking fun at the whole idea of apartheid(sp?) anyway.
Also, does anyone remember reading a book called 'The Faraway Tree' by Enid Blyton? One of the characters had the name Fanny. Recent editions of the book have had her name changed to Franny.
Funny old world isn't it?
Bad summary (Score:3, Interesting)
If you actually read the article, the problem wasn't that they wouldn't let him enter his last name. The problem was that they wouldn't let him include his last name in his -login- name because it contained a four-letter word as a substring.
Why would Verizon care what you put in your username? How about the fact that when you call support, the rep will have to say what you typed in multiple times. And then a troll is going to record it and upload it to Youtube. Why should their staff be subjected to that embarrassment?
Granted in this case the call should have been passed to an engineer with the ability to edit at a level past the word filter. But that's Verizon for you: compartmentalized to hell and back.
Re:Monopoly (Score:5, Interesting)
So how did that crude obscenity filter come into place when he spoke to people at Verizon... multiple times? People in the billing department... people in different parts of the country... people who suggested he Misspell his name, change his name, etc...
It wasn't until the press got involved that someone said "Well, this needs personal attention." Which is odd because he was talking to people all along, aside from the initial online signup attempt.
However, if as Verizon says, this can be worked around because it is indeed their name... why couldn't anyone else that this doctor spoke to offer him the same appropriate treatment? So, since Verizon could have fixed this all along but did not until the press got involved... it was not *just* a crude obscenity filter on the email address he wanted when he signed up.
I've got to wonder what his email address was with AT&T, since he was using AT&T for dialup first.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Innuendo (Score:4, Interesting)
No, just the opposite. It used to be all innuendo. Now there's a lot more outright swearing instead. Chaucer and Shakespeare are packed with innuendo, though much of it modern audiences don't get.
As for poor Uranus, I think you can blame Stephen Spielburg (E.T.) for elevating that joke out of elementary school.
Re:This has nothing to do with his name.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Having worked for Verizon, and directly supported the system responsible for this bullshit, I can confirm the idiocy in the story. It is physically impossible to get anything done through customer service, the development teams run by Verizon IT are made of failure and shame, and they really do reboot every system at midnight so that it passes Sheygan Kheradpir's (the IT company's president) 1am "system check," where he logs in to everything personally to make sure it's working.
It is a culture of scapegoatism and "we made the date" development, with zero regard for code quality or robustness, or even "does it work?" Ever pay your bill online? Ever wonder why there's now only a single path through the website that will actually get it paid? This is why. Anecdote: The support team on which I worked hired a Java programmer to assist with the forensic troubleshooting of the "netservices.verizon.net" site, since development never delivered the documentation of the site's design and function (I am certain it didn't exist), and after he solved two major problems by inverting two lines and reducing a 200 line module to 11 lines, he was locked out of the CVS repository, presumably to keep him from making the IT developers look bad.
They are colossal failures inside Verizon, and the company as a whole has been working to drive out every last bit of talent since Chuck Lee sold GTE to Bell Atlantic. The executives are completely disconnected from every aspect of production. Anecdote: the group president was down for a "meet the troops" day, and had been touring the Verizon Online NOC when she had to get on a conference call. Her assistant sat down at one of the work stations (visualize a NASA Mission Control-type layout) and used one of the duty phones to dial in. She then handed the phone to the local executive (which is fine, that's her job). The exec attended the call, and when she was done, rather than simply hang up the phone (which was literally within arms reach), the executive handed the phone back to ther assistant!
The bureaucratic structure is openly worshiped by every member of management (ask me how I know) regardless of the detriment to the business.It was absolutely unreal. Manipulation of performance statistics is commonplace. There is zero management accountability in any department. Check out some of the deeper pages in the "pay my bill online" section of the web site. The "Help and Support" section pages generate 404 errors. There is no way to actually order service over the phone, so if you don't already have some kind of internet service, you can't order anything from Verizon.
The only thing keeping these guys afloat is the fact that the FiOS product genuinely slays every competing technology available, and they know it.
Re:Monopoly (Score:3, Interesting)
Heh, and someone else said SpeakEasy is a competitor in his area, and they provide better service.
I moved and tried to bring my Speakeasy service with me...and ended up NOT being able to--not from being too far from the C.O., but because Verizon had a digital loop [wikipedia.org] installed instead of copper coming into the neighborhood. Let me ask you this: Do you think they would have have taken that step if the area wasn't provisioned with FIOS? Doubtful.... So, in effect, by being a monopoly, they lowered the number of companies that can effectively compete for anyone here's Internet business to two: Verizon and Comcrap. And they both suck.
How to fix democracy. (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, ideally in a democracy/democratic republic, since the poor usually outnumber the rich, I could get elected by having the larger number of poor friends. Unfortunetly, the poor are influenced by money spent in ways that don't benefit them, such as on advertisments for other politicians. Poor people are kinda stupid that way.
One possible way to fix this is to allow to buying and selling of votes. It would be like the 'economic stimulus' checks being sent out, except on every election year. That way, in order for rich people to gain power, they give money to the people, instead of other rich people. Voters have power (votes), they should be able to trade that for another form of power (money). Not being able to do so is an undo restriction on their freedom.
Each persons vote could be a source of income for them, potentially eliminating voter apathy. You could give each voter a difficult to counterfeit slip of paper simply verifying that they did vote, and they could take it around to the party offices and get paid and stamped/hole punched (so they can't take it to both parties!). The slip would NOT record their actual vote, simply the fact that they participated; that they voted a particular way is on their honor.
To keep everyone from voting one way, then claiming money from the other party, the partys could have an offer where they only pay if they won. So that they are essentially bidding on the districts block of votes, and should have enough money (perhaps in escrow) to pay for a landslide victory.
This would solve all problems with democracy. A campaign promise you can literally take to the bank.
Re:Monopoly (Score:4, Interesting)
You didn't check either. SpeakEasy doesn't try to compete with consumer ISPs. If you want a business type VoIP package, a lot of bandwidth, symmetric DSL so you can host your own server, they'll cut you a good deal. But if you want simple home DSL, they'll charge you maybe twice as much as the phone company.
Re:Monopoly (Score:3, Interesting)
That doesn't change the fact that there's competition.
The entire system is screwed up because of how the infrastructure is set up, but you cannot claim that Verizon is a monopoly if there is a competition, even if the competition charges more. Service does not have to directly mirror another company's in order to be considered "competition", if it did, there would be no point to competition anyway.
Re:Most famous Lipshitz (Score:3, Interesting)
The most unbelievable one I've ever personally run into was this one [ucomparehealthcare.com]. Would have been much better if he'd went into urology, though.
Re:Summary and Title are highly misleading (Score:3, Interesting)
See, that is the problem: we don't. It seems to be the natural result of what appears to me to be a fundamental driving fore of humanity: make things better.
Parents refer to wanting "a better life" for their children, and generally work toward that goal. Non-parents tend to identify what they believe to be better things for society, and work toward those goals.
This process has in general served us well, but like most evolutionary changes will eventually become a detriment, if it has not done so already, to the human race. At this juncture in our societal and possibly human evolution we have attached priority to feelings. Why? Most real and physical problems are either solved or determined to be insolvable. With fewer big problems the mind turns to smaller problems, and perceived or invented problems. Offensive behaviour or talk, or even thought become problems of historical import that need to be solved.
A factor in this is that people are as general rule under less survival pressure. Take a brain wired to make things "better" and remove things to make better. It will invent new things that are bad. Slavery: bad. Once slavery is abolished there will the next step: continued violence against the former slaves and the slavers (aka both sides). When that for the most part abates ("problem solved for vast majority of cases"), those who thrive or depend on the continuing of the efforts (what today we call a "war") will then "see" new problems. Hence, offensive words, phrases, etc.. There will always be gullible people and wussies - people for whatever reason can't seem to stand on their own. So the cycle persists down further and further.
Combine this with another fundamental aspect of humanity: conflict. Looking around at this planet we see conflict. Predator and prey, for example. Vegetative growth and natural fires, for another. The dynamic of this planet is centered on conflict. it is thus no suprise that humans reflect that dynamic in our natures - it would be suprising if we did not. Time and again we see that abundance leads to stagnation when conflict is not present or is lessened.
So as we "solve" our physical priorities and move up the pyramid from food, water, shelter to emotional and intellectual "needs" (wants become needs when the needs are no longer a concern), I expect we will discover more and more "needs", more and more "problems and ills". I believe this has an effect on our literature and escapist entertainment. People in general gravitate toward stories that have conflict, hardship, and of course eventual human triumph. Being offended by the word "shit" in a name is but one small but common example of the lack of this release valve.
This is one of the many reasons mankind needs a "new frontier". Something that provides an outlet for those of us with the drive and wiring to seek that conflict. Not all conflict has to be interpersonal (war, arguments), it can be conflict of man vs. environment (man vs. the sea being a driver not that long ago). This brings in my mind the most logical choice to be space exploration and expansion. I think a solid case can be made for a biological imperative to do so. Animals search new places for food, and generally only when their food is scarce. Mankind appears to be unique on this planet in that he will search new and difficult areas out of sheer curiosity. Absent major conflicts and devastation on Earth, there is no driving source of inspirational conflict serving to unite the people behind a goal.
Day to day most of the world is falling into a corporate, governmental, or business slackery. We go to work, we do our jobs, we come home and we play or do more work, or sit around and vegetate. We are becoming tamed. Yes, we are taming ourselves. Therein lie the seeds of our downfall.