microsoft censors art

Tuesday, 5. February 2008, 07:52:56

blocked, censored, helpless, nudes, non-plussed

unbeleivable that live spaces has notified me demanding that i delete the nudes on my site
http://0007artists.spaces.live.com/default.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0

but they are so confused that they also, at the same time blocked me from doing so... i spent some time trying to communicate with them.... now to hell with them. anything i ever say to microsoft comes back to me in a form letter with arcane instructions about messing with my registry... who can follow those instructions. even when you do it just messes things up worse.

i give up on them.

their email:
SRX1054323560ID - Windows Live Spaces Warning - Action Required (0007artists)
From: Microsoft Customer Support (SPACE.WNLV.WW.00.EN.SYK.MNL.AU.T02.SPT.00.EM@css.one.microsoft.com)
Sent:
Tue 1/01/08 9:36 PM
To:
i_artman@hotmail.com

Hello i_artman,
We have found images involving nudity on your Space, 0007artists.
Kindly remove this image and any other images, messages or links on your Space that violate the Windows Live Spaces Code of conduct within 48 hours.
Violations include, but are not limited to, nudity, partial nudity, pornography, harassment, and illegal or offensive behavior. For a complete description of content that is not allowed on Windows Live Spaces, please visit our Code of Conduct at: http://spaces.live.com/coc.aspx

If you remove all violating content, your space will again be in accordance with the Windows Live Spaces Code of Conduct, and will remain accessible for your use. Otherwise, we will be forced to close down your space.
You may delete photos from your Space by following these instructions:
1. Log into your Space
2. Click on the "Edit Your Space" link (upper right portion of the page)
3. Click "Options"
4. Click on the "Storage" link in the Options pane
5. Select the images to be removed
6. Click on "Delete selected items"
Thank you for helping Windows Live Spaces provide a friendly and safe experience for all of our customers.

Sincerely,
Windows Live Spaces Customer Support

my first response before i even tried to fix it to their satisfaction:

dear microsoft,

i really can't believe that you have found anything salacious among my paintings. i am a fully schooled fine artist. the world has never objected to nudity in fine art. you might as well close down the metropolitan museum of art in new york or the art institute of chicago. even the louvre in paris is chock full of nude sculptures and paintings.

please take another look and hopefully, you will revise this monumental blunder for microsoft.

http://0007artists.spaces.live.com/

take a look at my paintings at :
http://www.hungryeyegraphics.com

http://my.opera.com/I_ArtMan

poetry too....

do let me know what you decide.

sincerely,
scott cumming (I_ArtMan)

some of you have seen the harmless paintings they are censoring.

i just want to know how microsoft can host real pornography on the internet and censor me.

the burglarthe spring

Comments

Microsoft is moron.

By KYren, # 5. February 2008, 08:57:17

i don't know why i am surprised, no, flabbergasted, to be censored.

By I_ArtMan, # 5. February 2008, 10:09:13

I think Microsoft exemplifies the Purtanical nature in this country. If I may climb on the soap box for a moment...

Christians have made such a big deal out of sex that you can lie through your teeth, steal anything you want, cheat a cashier, break the law by speeding or cheating on your taxes and no one cares as long as you are not screwing someone you shouldn't. In fact, most people who do all of the above would consider themselves "Good Christians" because they aren't cheating on their spouse but in a true Biblical sense, telling a little white lie is just as serious an offense as killing another human, regardless of who you are screwing.

This form of censorship is smiply misplaced morality. If you get on the bandwagon and shut down an artist for painting a nude, then maybe God won't notice you cheated on your taxes.

So, Bill Gates, et al, are the real losers. You can still post your art here at Opera without fear of censorship.

I am a HUGE fan of the 1st Amendment and abhor censorship in any form. I may not like what someone has to say, but I will defend their right to say it.

Good job on the paintings by the way!

K4

By KayFour, # 5. February 2008, 11:24:46

God created the human body and it's beautiful. I don't think God would have a problem with art such as this at all, I would think He would be happy to see that His beautiful creation is appreciated. This is not pornography, it's very obviously art.
My opinion is that the microsoft employees that came up with and enforced this is a bunch of bureaucrats following other bureaucrats because if they don't they won't have a paycheck and will be living under a bridge somewhere.
Artman, your art is beautiful and in extremely good taste.
Is there any way we can help? Can we complain to Microsoft?? Truthfully, I got so fed up with them, the last computer I bought was an Apple.

By cakkleberrylane, # 5. February 2008, 12:55:04

Anonymous writes:

NO a la censura en internet !!!!!!!!!!!

By anonymous user, # 5. February 2008, 12:59:35

Por un Internet libre, sin censuras y sin Microsoft!!!!!!!!!

By enlacesatspace, # 5. February 2008, 13:02:04

Por un Internet libre, sin censuras y sin Microsoft!!!!!!!!!

By arte_optico, # 5. February 2008, 13:04:34

Amazing... I really can't believe it.

It is so Microsoft...

I am glad you brought your art here.

By FoxM, # 5. February 2008, 14:53:25

I believe it. I'm not even surprised. Saddened, but not surprised.

Screw 'em, Scott.

By noah counte, # 5. February 2008, 16:06:55

Verdaderamente lamentable.

By artewebs, # 5. February 2008, 17:53:55

lamentable this moron censorship from the hypocritical bureaucratic microsoft megalamonster....

free internet! sin censuras y sin microsoft. screw 'em. the human body is beautiful.

my paintings are not designed to titilate, but to celebrate perfection.

By I_ArtMan, # 5. February 2008, 19:56:54

Ahahah ! that's typically american... they don't understand anything in Arts and will definitely never understand it...
From the very beginning, the nude plays an essential role in the artistic creation. Inherited from Greeks who saw in the representation of the naked bodies the expression of the human perfection...

Keep up the good work Scott

Liu

By Liu, # 5. February 2008, 20:08:10

thank you liu, for your support.

By I_ArtMan, # 5. February 2008, 20:38:43

natural nudes are censored yet pornography is allowed... utterly stupid if you ask me...

By wickedlizard, # 5. February 2008, 22:21:21

i agree wl...they censor scotts beautiful work, but yet they allow all these paid for sites with nothing but XXX shit on them...they need to get all of the XXX sites off the internet, and leave people like scott alone.

By SqueakeyCat, # 5. February 2008, 22:42:14

right, exactly my point. they are confused by money.

By I_ArtMan, # 5. February 2008, 23:17:52

and thats all it is too

MONEY

if they can't get urs, they don't want your good art there, they will keep the porn instead

By SqueakeyCat, # 6. February 2008, 00:59:35

Money isn't confusing - it's the only constant for them. Everything that's higgledy-piggledy makes sens if you superimpose money in the appropriate places.

By noah counte, # 6. February 2008, 01:14:46

follow the money. in the dollar we trust.

By I_ArtMan, # 6. February 2008, 01:22:21

Life is easier to understand, if a good deal less fulfilling, if you pay attention to the almighty dollar

By noah counte, # 6. February 2008, 01:37:01

Anything goes on the Net. Always has. Always will???

1) Info on how to make a bomb

2) Info on how to hack into someones personal info to obtain their credit card #'s, so they can spend all your money. (I think this is called Identity Fraud)

3) Allow autopsy photos to be viewed (of someones loved one) for others entertainment.

I may be mistaken, but isn't the rule, if you don't like what you're watching...turn the channel?

Re: posts...if you don't like what your reading and find it objectionable...there IS a button on the mouse that is easily clicked and different content can be viewed?

We DO have RIGHTS and I would not allow anyone to dictate what content is displayed on my blog or on a website.

I guess saying the word F..K is OK as long as you are not explaining how it is done????

This is totally ridiculous. And it's wrong. And they have crossed the line.
And, if allowed to continue to cross the line, most blogs will be shut down.

And then, well, I guess it's also OK to have words of ignorance spewed from these religous fanatics, sentencing you to an eternity of fire and brimstone if one does not worship as they do?
I suppose this sort of content is totally acceptable!?!?!?

But an expression of beauty and love of that beauty, condemns you to a public ousting? Belittles your intelligence, misrepresents your compassion and insults you in such a degrading way...your great talent???

PETITION TIME

By JilleeBean, # 6. February 2008, 03:25:24

thank you jill. that was real good. i hereby dub you advocate par excellence. made me feel good to have you stick up for me like that.

they are still keeping me waiting for an answer to my answer to 'tania' the name on the execution of censure from microsoft. now i know why they call it micro soft. something over there is soft.

By I_ArtMan, # 6. February 2008, 04:56:28

where´s the petition for me to sign!!!

By wickedlizard, # 6. February 2008, 11:16:07

My hunch is that they have an algorythm that looks at the ratio of skin tones to other colors, and a live person never even looked at your work (at least not at the Microsoft end). Maybe that's what they are doing now.

All of which makes me wonder if you'd get in trouble for paintings where the walls have skin tones, while the people are fully dressed?

By noah counte, # 6. February 2008, 12:29:53

Your nudes are so classic, and great ones to

Microsoft are insane

By RuneSB, # 6. February 2008, 15:04:04

I see. Understanding that you´ve been censored by Microsoft for those paintings make me long for the day I am censored by that company.

I will definitely see that as the finest compliment I could ever receive,

By ricewood, # 6. February 2008, 20:15:04

matthew,
that's a wild theory but amusing.

thanks rune... i know you have good taste.

allan,
if i weren't so irritated i might be complimented. still haven't heard from them. they are laying low... i give up on microsoft. there are plenty of other places to show my work.

By I_ArtMan, # 6. February 2008, 21:56:20

It's not so wild, actually. Such algorythms exist and are used by companies like CyberNanny (I have no idea whether CyberNanny actually employs such tools). Here's something similar: check it out . In fact, they were working on such tools 8 years ago!

Heaven forbid people with taste would atually make judgment calls! I guess it's easier to to draw a brightline than to use common sense.

By noah counte, # 7. February 2008, 00:28:48

Wow!!!

Very interesting, from an Artificial Intelligence Point Of View...

By FoxM, # 7. February 2008, 00:37:03

That IS very intersting.

By cakkleberrylane, # 7. February 2008, 00:40:22

Your Big Brother is watching, and he's not even using his own eyes.

By noah counte, # 7. February 2008, 00:46:55

a biography i read about aesop, of aesop's fables fame, reported that aesop had one pervading pet peeve about people. what bothered him the most, and i agree with aesop, was what we commonly refer to as 'busybodies'.

if it is commonly accepted as for the common good that panjandrums busy themselves with minding everyone else's business, except their own, we are in big trouble.

By I_ArtMan, # 7. February 2008, 04:46:26

"Hello i_artman,
We have found images involving nudity on your Space, 0007artists."

so,
involving: definition.
4 b. american heritage dictionery:
To influence or affect: The matter is serious because it involves your reputation.

looks like a good class action pro bono lawyer might make a reputation sparring with the supreme court. and get some millions for me in damages to my reputation. you decide... is beauty in the eyes of the beholder subverted by lasciviousness?

no.
beauty is a prime force; a causal imperative. and craving is a disease.

i will be glad to help. my a+ dissertation at columbia university musters a good bibliography on pornograhy and the law. esp. cockburn... look it up... it's not a pun.

even if my visual poems to the beauty of the body were deemed illegal by law, it would still be thrown out of court. cf. d.h. lawrence... "pornography and the law" .

that fundamentalists are making a last ditch effort to take over the world, whether it be christian or moslem (the only ambitious religions). but there will always be people who think for themselves. and they will have children who are free to gather information and decide without coercion what is real and what is fantasy.

By I_ArtMan, # 7. February 2008, 08:39:38

yeah, yeah, pornography...

it's so useful, just pretend it's porn and censor it.

in Hongkong, they even censored michelangelo's David.

"to protect the children" you know.
on TV, you can kil people and show dead bodies or free violence but never EVER show a mother's breast. That's porn.

good luck Artman, keep fighting.

By pfelelep, # 7. February 2008, 12:09:31

ok Scott, I joined your cause:
http://my.opera.com/pfelelep/blog/nudity

Artists vs the World, those were the days...

By pfelelep, # 7. February 2008, 17:37:44

This kind of censorship will never change. We haven't come very far from the Sistine Chapel; didn't the Vatican make Michelangelo paint draperies over the naughty bits? Later of course it was removed.

Ironic how we can watch people being blown up, beheadings and children being abused and it's called news or entertainment, yet you cannot post your beautiful paintings that show the grace and beauty of the world.

By sanshan, # 7. February 2008, 17:50:11

(I thought ANOTHER painter later add the draperies on Michelangelo sixtine nudes, and thanks to this artist, it still looks like beautiful, cause he was really talented and did not completely destroy michelangelo's masterpiece.

but the draperies are still there, aren't they?)

By pfelelep, # 7. February 2008, 17:56:14

I think they were recently removed..not sure though.

By sanshan, # 7. February 2008, 17:57:12

right san, what is obscene is violence.

nice drawings pfelelep... you know exactly why it's not pornogrphy.

By I_ArtMan, # 7. February 2008, 18:10:18

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappella_Sistina
"In coincidenza con la morte di Michelangelo, venne emessa una legge per coprite i genitali ("Pictura in Cappella Ap.ca coopriantur"). Così Daniele da Volterra, un apprendista di Michelangelo che dopo questo lavoro venne soprannominato "Braghettone", coprì i genitali delle figure con delle specie di perizomi, lasciando inalterato il complesso dei corpi. Quando l'opera venne restaurata nel 1993, i restauratori scelsero di non rimuovere i perizomi di Daniele; comunque, una copia fedele e senza censure dell'originale, di Marcello Venusti, è oggi a Napoli al Museo di Capodimonte."

Translation:
After Michelangelo's death a law was made to cover the genitalia in the affresco. Daniele da Volterra, who was an apprentice of Michelangelo's, covered the genitalia with relatively small pants saving the shape of the bodies and he was nicknamed "Braghettone" (big pants) after that. In 1993 during the conservative precedures made on the painting it was decided to leave the pants in place instead of removing them. A copy of the original, whithout the censorship, made by Marcello Venusti, is in Naples in the Museum of Capodimonte.

By LorenzoCelsi, # 7. February 2008, 18:23:40

I agree with flelelp about "porn" in singapore.

By RuneSB, # 7. February 2008, 18:33:53

interesting, lorenzo.

runesb, i guess the christian chinese are in control of hong kong.

By I_ArtMan, # 7. February 2008, 18:56:03

BTW, if you want to be free you need to pay for your own hosting service, since when you get "free" something you don't have the last word about anything.

By LorenzoCelsi, # 7. February 2008, 20:36:34

i was just spreading my work around. i have my own website with much more on it
http://www.hungryeyegraphics.com

By I_ArtMan, # 7. February 2008, 20:40:09

Good then.
As artist you probably know you can't please everybody. MS maybe is a little conservative and/or don't want to "rate" the contents in order to avoid to be sued by some religious group and such.

There are also some tactics, for example #3 picture is probably more "classical nude" that the others.

By LorenzoCelsi, # 7. February 2008, 20:54:40

i see what you mean

By I_ArtMan, # 7. February 2008, 23:28:42

I've clicked on the links from your blog and even did a search when I went to WL and still can't view your blog there.

What am I doing wrong?

When I searched with the link, I get an error message...DOES NOT EXIST???

This really has my juices flowing because I have read the so-called Code of Conduct and I see nothing that would put you in violation.

Jillee

By JilleeBean, # 8. February 2008, 03:59:19

thanks jill... that helps a lot because in the back of my mind i thought maybe it was a bug.
well, yesterday, i reported my inability to get in and delete the offending pictures as a bug. i haven't heard from them about that either. so it's kind of strange.

By I_ArtMan, # 8. February 2008, 04:09:14

Sure is, Scott! I still don't 'get it'... this whole violation business.

Jillee is still going to voice her opinion!

You're my buddy, ArtMan!!!

By JilleeBean, # 8. February 2008, 04:42:57

thanks jill. i appreciate your support. microsoft may have their rules but i don't think they have a brain.

By I_ArtMan, # 8. February 2008, 07:25:31

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