SAN DIEGO--Microsoft is being sued for
linking a photo of a black couple to the word "monkey" in its
Publisher 98 software program.
The program displays the photo of a black couple sitting on
playground equipment when the word "monkey" is typed under the
"Clip Gallery" icon. The photo is also programmed to appear
under key words such as "couples," "playground equipment,"
and "monkey bars."
Microsoft has sold several million
copies of Publisher 98,
which provides users with photos and graphics that can be used in
fliers, newsletters, and memos. Microsoft said it became aware of
the problem through its own testing, and has notified more than 1
million registered users since May on how to fix it.
"This was an unfortunate, regrettable situation,"
Microsoft spokesman Greg Shaw said. "As soon as we became aware
of it, we went to every possible length to inform all of our
customers and to prevent it from being shipped in any product
going forward...We regret any offense or inconvenience or
discomfort that this may have caused anyone."
Publisher 98, which is sold either separately or as part of
other Microsoft products, displays a variety of different images
whenever a keyword is typed. The word "sun," for instance,
produces images of a sun dial, a bear, and flowers, Shaw said. The
word "monkey" displays the photo of the black couple alongside
four photos of actual monkeys.
The suit, filed yesterday in federal court in San Diego, seeks
class-action status on behalf of all California consumers who
have, and could use, Publisher 98, said plaintiffs' attorney
Harvey R. Levine. It asks for restitution in the form of
replacement products or an improved way for removing the
offensive photo from the program.
Microsoft said it has offered to give Publisher 98 users a
free compact disc, which contains a tool that unlinks the word
"monkey" from the photo of the couple.
Yesterday's suit amends an earlier one filed last Friday on
behalf of John Elijah, a former field supervisor for a hazardous
waste disposal company in San Diego, who is seeking unspecified
damages for mental and emotional distress, among other things.
Elijah, who is black, said in an interview that the photos
left him with a "ghost-like feeling" at a time when he was
being racially harassed by a higher-up at work. The photos were
shown to him by a friend, who suspected the higher-up of
producing the photos, he said.
When Microsoft was told of Elijah's experience soon after it
happened in February, the company said it could do nothing about
existing copies of Publisher 98, though it agreed to correct the
problem in a more recent version of the program, according to
Levine, who is representing Elijah and consumers.
"I am not totally convinced this was the result of a mistake
or inadvertence," Levine said. "There is at least a series of
facts that could lead to the conclusion that this was either the
result of a sick joke within the company or something beyond a
mistake."
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