curtsolo

In response to inquiry's post: I understand that if disciplinary action is taken due to a complaint, the person who filed the complaint will not get the specifics regarding how the matter was resolved. That's fine - I'm not looking for any "thrill" knowing that justice has been served. The reason I quit reporting to abuse@ is because I never once even received an acknowledgment that the complaint had been read or was being investigated; perhaps in these cases BBO was, in fact, investigating the complaint and simply neglected to confirm this with an email reply to me. In response to uday's post: As I mentioned in my initial article, there could not have been a complaint from another user in this particular case because there were no other users at the table aside from my partner and me. When my partner was notified of his suspension, he received a reply with the chat log included (which, as I mentioned, did include profanity used in a joking manner not directed at any person). The problem is that he was suspended based on an (apparently random) scan of chat without any consideration of the context. If BBO can go to the trouble of looking for occurrences of profanity on a random basis, should not the context be considered? If the person who conducted the scan had actually bothered to read the chat or notice that we were at a table with robots, it would be patently obvious that this was simply two long time friends playing bridge and having fun with the bizarre and sometimes inexplicable bidding and plays of the robots. The idea that there was an ounce of malice or hostility in this is absurd - yet that's exactly the accusation that the staff member who emailed my friend leveled when he said my friend was "rude and hurt other people" (exact words from the BBO representative, as my friend forwarded the message to me). Moreover, my friend responded with a detailed explanation of the circumstances and was ignored. If BBO is going to be censoring private chats between two people and banning specific words, this should probably be included in the terms of use so that users are aware that using profanity for any reason - even in a harmless dialogue with a friend - is grounds for suspension. This seems a bit over the top, but at least that way people are aware that their speech is being limited when they choose to use the service.

This message is directed to BBO staff as well as service users who have insight to contribute. First, let me say that I appreciate the BBO service and the fact that it is available for free. I should also add that I realize playing on the service is a privilege - not a right - and I have read the terms and conditions of use in detail. That said, I have some serious concerns about how BBO chooses to resolve (or ignore) disciplinary problems, and I would like to highlight an incident from a couple of days ago. Since people can use the service in mostly anonymous fashion, many are not afraid to be extremely rude and abusive to other players. I have basically gotten to the point where I will only play with and against people I know personally because (1) the abuse has gotten out of control and (2) in my experience, BBO has done absolutely nothing to discipline these people. I have given up sending email to the abuse@ address because I've never even gotten the courtesy of a response, let alone any reassurance that the abuse has been investigated. The other night, I was playing with a friend at a private table. We were playing against two GIB opponents. There were no other human players at the table, nor were there kibitzers. As the two of us were playing, we were joking around making comments about the very strange bidding by the bots, and we used profanity in our chat. Neither of us would ever use this language at a public table or with people watching. The following day, my friend was suspended from the service for "being rude and hurting other people." Unless the robots have developed feelings and learned how to send email to the staff, this is impossible. So apparently someone on the staff was privately monitoring our conversation and - in spite of there being no complaint from any other user - suspended my friend from the service. This action, while certainly within the rights of the staff according to the terms of service, is unreasonable. Have we officially arrived in the Orwellian era? Does BBO stand for Big Brother Online? I must say that I am deeply concerned that the staff is using its time and resources to randomly go after people who are having fun using the service who are NOT being hurtful to other players. This invasion of privacy is quite scary and not at all within the spirit of fostering a fun environment in which to play. It is even more bothersome when you consider the fact that people like my friend - who always treats other players with respect - are being banned while BBO refuses to discipline those who really do make playing on the service less enjoyable for the rest of us. I do not understand these priorities at all. Has anyone else run into a similar problem? I would like to hear from those who have had similar experiences, and I'd certainly like an explanation for this particular decision from someone who works for BBO - as well as seeing my friend's account reinstated. Thanks, Curt