It's been all over the news that Microsoft has entered the blogging business with its new offering, MSN Spaces As usual, though, there are issues. Predictably, if you don't use Microsoft products on a PC, you won't have access to many of the features like uploading photos or displaying your music lists.
Then there are reports that the user agreement requires you to sign over your soul... er, your content.
For materials you post or otherwise provide to Microsoft related to the MSN Web Sites (a "Submission"), you grant Microsoft permission to (1) use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate and reformat your Submission, each in connection with the MSN Web Sites, and (2) sublicense these rights, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. Microsoft will not pay you for your Submission."
And to top it all off, they censor your words. Poorly. Some enterprising souls experimented with different blog titles, and found that...
(1) BoingBoing's readers said the title "Corporate Whore" was censored. My attempt at "Corporate Whore Chronicles" met the same result, but "Corporate Prostitute Chronicles" worked fine. Hooray for synonyms with more syllables!(2) I figured anything in the original list of seven dirty words banned by the FCC would be off-limits: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. Most of that proved to be true, as did other potent cusswords which would likely cause license problems for a television or radio station. But a test blog titled "Tits for Tats" passed without incident. Off to a good start, with no unneccesarily broad language policing. Chalk one up for MSN Spaces!
(3) More good news. "World of Poop" is just fine. And the rather racy "Butt Sex is Awesome" made it through, as did the overtly naughty "Dick, Balls, Boobies, Goddammit." The test blog titled "My Craptacular Life" was free to do its bloggy thing, unhindered by prudish vocabulary cops. Even "Internet Explorer is Crappy" was welcomed with open arms. Now that's free speech!
(4) Uh-oh. My attempt to create an MSN Spaces blog called "Pornography and The Law" is met with rude red text advising me to can the profanity. So, if I were a law student who wanted to start a blog about the history of obscenity law in the United States, I'd be shit out of luck.
(5) Very bad news for fans of Russian literature. The blog title "Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov" is deemed inappropriate, as are any titles I try to create with the 1955 book's name.
(6) You may recall our previously-approved blog title, "Butt Sex is Awesome." That name was fine, but MSN Spaces puts the kibosh on "Anal Health for People who Think Buttsex is Awesome" ("anal" was the problem word here; "buttsex," "butt-sex," and "butt sex" all passed MS-muster.)
(7) "Smoking Crack: A How-To Guide For Teens." This wholesome little morsel, suggested by my NPR "Day to Day" producer Steve Proffitt, also made the grade.
I was thinking about this, and I realized that I quite self-consciously censor myself on my own more effectively than Microsoft ever could. I'm all too aware that anybody can read a public blog, and the results can be frightening.
I think it's the ownership thing, more than anything else. I love using LiveJournal, and TypeSpace looks very appealing. But I like the control of having my own installation of blogging software. I like being able to go in and change stuff. I like knowing that my blogging company won't suddenly decide that it's not a profitable market for them (which happened to a bunch of users of another blogging system a couple of years ago).
I'm happy to share content — I'm syndicating the full RSS feed of this blog. But it's my choice, not Microsoft's, and not TypeSpace's.
In conclusion, it's a World of Poop, but Corporate Whores Think Butt Sex is Awesome.
