Malicious Censorship or Mere Incompetence?

AOL recently blocked e-mails from critics of AOL's plan to begin charging extra to route e-mail around its spam filters. AOL claims that the censorship was the result of their own incompetence; critics contend that AOL is "arbitrary and capricious in the way they deliver e-mail."

In a related story, last week the Independent Press Association (a former employer and one of my current clients) banned a publisher from its member listserve, apparently for criticizing the organization's Board of Directors in a manner the Directors deemed "unprofessional." In response, 70 IPA members have joined a new listserve called "Independent Members of IPA." Magazines can request to join the list - which is discussing ways to reform the IPA as well as to set up alternative indy support structures - by sending an email to "Indie-IPA-subscribe@topica.com."

The IPA was founded in 1996 to support free speech and social justice. The new listserve is only the latest chapter in a deepening and increasingly visible conflict between the current IPA leadership and a substantial portion of the membership of the organization.