Microsoft's Bing Refuses Search Term "Sex" In India 355
An anonymous reader writes "Apparently Microsoft is censoring search results for Bing in India and other countries. If you try to search for the term 'sex,' along with lots of variations, from India using Microsoft's new search engine, an error message is returned that says, 'the search sex may return sexually explicit content. To get results, change your search terms.' There's no preference setting or toggle-on-or-off choice; you simply cannot search for the term 'sex' in India if you are using Bing. While a user still can change their country and try the non-Indian version of Bing, this seems like an unnecessary step and unnecessary censorship on the part of Microsoft. Apparently Google has no problem with Indians searching for the term 'sex.'"
and then... it was banned. (Score:5, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_in_India [wikipedia.org]
Pornography is illegal in India. I assume the reason Microsoft bans the word "Sex" is ensure it is not sued as a pornography distributor.
What happens if you type "zzzz"? (Score:4, Informative)
Does "zzzz" get you sex?
Microsoft [nytimes.com] Spell Check [linuxjournal.com] Easter Eggs. [eeggs.com]
Re:In all fairness to Microsoft (Score:5, Informative)
It wasn't a government demand, but Microsoft voluntarily banned these search terms in order to comply with local laws in various countries.
An article on Ars Technica [arstechnica.com] found that 20% of regions had sexual content blocked.
The article states, "Microsoft says it determined this list of regions by looking at their local laws. The company is not taking action in response to specific government demands or regulations; it is simply playing it safe."
Re:Duh. (Score:4, Informative)
Google definitely has no problem with it... (Score:5, Informative)
From google trends [google.com] searching for Sex [google.com]:
Yeah I'd say google has absolutely no problem with people in India searching for "sex".
Re:Duh. (Score:3, Informative)
"sexual discrimination" does work though... just not "sex discrimination".
Re:My office mate from India (Score:3, Informative)
Re:and then... it was banned. (Score:4, Informative)
Google hasnt been sued yet.....
Yet. They have been in the US.
The Indian law is far more general than US law.
Publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form. - Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeal to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine...
Being simply responsible for transmitting pornography is punishable as a crime.
If I was a lawyer and I read that law I would advise my client to at least make token efforts of compliance.
Re:Duh. (Score:2, Informative)
And I don't know if snakes really have gender.
Re:Duh. (Score:1, Informative)
No, it isn't.
sechs, IPA: [zeks]
Sex, IPA: [seks]
Obviously, the difference lies in the voiced [wikipedia.org] and voiceless [wikipedia.org] alveolar fricatives, if you know what I'm talking about. Because I, in spite of being German for quite a while now, don't.
Re:My office mate from India (Score:3, Informative)
Re:My office mate from India (Score:2, Informative)
Re:My office mate from India (Score:2, Informative)
Re:My office mate from India (Score:4, Informative)
You'll need to replace the brake assembly and and possibly the blade [sawstop.com] It's mildly expensive, but it you have a spare assembly, it can be replaced in five minutes.