Tech News for June 30, 1999

Microsoft Being Sued for Racism

Microsoft Publisher comes with an easy to usedatabase that lets you search for keywords for cliparts.  But it seams that searchingfor the word "monkey" give an image of a black couple sitting on a set of monkeybars.

Even though Microsoft has vowed to rectify the situation and claims that the image hasbeen removed from it's latest Publisher version, (Microsoft Publisher 2000) a San Diegoman has already filed a lawsuit seeking $75,000 in damages and alteration of the software.John Elijah, 32, filed the suit Tuesday in a San Diego, CA, federal court. Elijah, abuilding site worker who is married with two children, said he was humiliated, and thathis wife was frightened of being attacked by skinheads as a consequence. He also addedthat he was not bringing the action for money, but to get the problem fixed.

His attorney, Harvey Levine, is seeking to make the case a class action suit involving all4 million people who purchased the software. Levine believes the picture was specificallyprogrammed to appear as "some sort of sick insider joke."

Microsoft spokesman Greg Shaw stated that the company has already offered a softwareupdate to anyone who requests it. "We regret any offense or inconvenience," Shawsaid. "We are deeply committed to doing everything possible to prevent this in thefuture." He also noted that the keyword "monkey" is unintentionally linkedto the image, noting users may find the same image by typing in the keywords"bar" or "couple."