Complaint Filed Against Sorenson
Three Video Relay Services [VRS] companies – Purple Communications, SnapVRS and CSDVRS has filed a complaint with the Federal Communicatons Commission [FCC], against Sorenson Communications, Inc.
They are requesting that the FCC order Sorenson to halt their alleged non-compliance with the 10 digit number mandate, and degradation of service quality. In their legal brief to the FCC, they state the following:
Sorenson has knowingly and willfully taken action to degrade its videophone [VP] equipment’s ability to fully connect with the services and equipment of other providers. Sorenson’s actions are plainly anti-competitive and, and among other things, present a serious risk to the ability of providers effectively to connect consumers to emergency services.
They accuse Sorenson of hiding the Caller ID in proprietary and non-standard data, to ensure that only Sorenson will get the Caller ID.
In addition, called parties from the Sorenson VP do not receive caller ID — even when making a VRS call through Sorenson — the lone exception being when there is a point-to-point call between two Sorenson VPs.
What does this mean? It means two things – other VP users and VRS providers will only be able to see the IP address, not the 10 digit number. By allegedly doing this, Sorenson is preventing the deaf consumers of having equivalent access to telephone features that hearing persons are able to use. Furthermore, this also means that when Caller IDs are not shown to other VRS providers (that are not Sorenson), this will cause potentially delayed and even refusal of 911 calls.
If true, this not only violates the FCC’s mandates, but also violates the American Disabilities Act and puts VRS users at risk.
The three VRS companies believe Sorenson is deliberately doing this based on two reasons:
- Sorenson is allegedly hiding the Caller ID in proprietary and non-standard data.
- Sorenson has ignored repeated requests for clarification from other companies on this matter, with the exception of responding once, pointing to a still pending proposal, ‘Relay Provider Interface’.
In the legal brief, the plantiffs state that while it is true that the proposal will resolve this matter, it is still awaiting FCC’s response. The VP consumers cannot afford delays on the Caller ID matter, especially when it comes to being able to make emergency calls.
Not only that, but ironically in response to the plantiffs’ concerns, Sorenson clearly exhibited knowledge of industry standards and protocols, which gives them no excuse for not complying.
This is going to be very interesting to watch as it unfolds. If the allegations are true – which I believe to be – their conduct is absolutely deplorable and not only does Sorenson deserve this complaint, but they also deserve a mass exodus of their consumers.
Note: I contacted Sorenson this morning asking for comments on this. So far I have not gotten any.
UPDATE: Sorenson responded to my email and said they had no comment on this matter.
A Letter To Me
My parents just gave me my childhood documents for me to decide whether I wanted to keep them or not. The majority of the files were educational in nature, but a solid percentage of the files were legal documents. As many of my regular blog readers know, as a child I was involved with a lawsuit against the public schools to provide me with a qualified American Sign Language interpreter. The story, “Mom’s Gone Fighting The Deaf Wars” is chronicled here.
As I went through the files, I found a letter addressed to me from our attorney, Kary Love. I don’t remember reading this letter when I first received it, but as I read it again as an adult sixteen years later, there are no words for me to describe how deeply powerful this letter is. Thank you Kary, for writing this letter.
Dear Jeannette:
It was very nice to see you again at the hearing. I understand from speaking with your mother that you were not too happy about having to testify again. I wanted to write to you to let you know that, no matter how the case turns out, it was important for you to take a stand. The Special Education laws come from a famous Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. This case established the legal principle, based on the Constitution, that all people are entitled to an equal opportunity for a public education. In that case, black people successfully challenged “separate but equal” schools based on race.
In your case, you are standing up for the principle that deaf students are entitled to an equal opportunity for education by being afforded interpreters who can make their time in school meaningful. Since you are bright and can excel in school, you have a special responsibility to assert your rights, not only for your own benefit, but to advance the rights of all disabled kids many of whom cannot stand up for themselves.
By doing this, you become one of many Americans who have sacrificed to make the Constitution a living, meaningful “supreme law of the land.” Those who went before you suffered embarrassment, harassment and even were jailed before the laws protecting equal rights were adopted. You have continued their fight, and made their sacrifices worthwhile, by not letting the laws they fought for be stripped of meaning. I know it was hard, but as I am sure your parents have told you, most things worth achieving are hard. Keep up the good work.
Very truly yours,
Kary Love
—
Copyright ©Jeannette Johnson of The Deaf Edge, 2009. All rights reserved.
Let me show you reality!
[ASL Version]
Barbara DiGiovanni, who’s known as Barb DiGi, left a video comment (at the bottom of this blog post) over on DVTV that literally made my jaw drop open. It takes a lot to make that happen. I have absolutely no idea what brought this on, but I am appalled at this behavior.
Barb DiGi is a teacher at the Rochester School of the Deaf, and one of the core leaders of Deaf Bilingual Coalition [DBC]. If, and really it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when, one of her students sees this video comment she made, I wonder what she’ll do if the student decides to mimic her behavior? Because hey, if the teacher can do it, then why can’t students?
Are you frigging kidding me? If a student did what Barb DiGi did, even if s/he was off campus, and not during school hours, that student would be suspended so fast, nobody would know which way is up! Why are we holding our students to a higher standard of conduct than the teachers?
Not only that, but as a leader of a national organization like DBC, Barb DiGi is a public figure. She is a role model to literally thousands of people in the United States and abroad. One of the prices you pay as a public figure, is that there’s no downtime. She may not have made this video comment as a leader of DBC, but it doesn’t alter the fact that this does reflect on DBC, just like it does with the school she teaches at.
Imagine if Nancy Bloch, the CEO of NAD did this? Bobbie Beth Scoggins, the president of NAD? Robert Davila, president of Gallaudet University? Or, hell . . . Alexander T. Graham, the CEO of AG Bell?
Would the Deaf Community stand aside, and merely watch if Alexander T. Graham or the others did what Barb DiGi did?
I am absolutely disgusted and appalled. And I am ashamed to be part of a community that tolerates this kind of conduct. I wonder if her conduct fits the The New York Teachers’ Code of Ethics or the definition of moral character?
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK!
EDIT: Barb’s video comment has been taken down, due to the intense furor.
Open Letter To ALL Deaf Organizations
Two recent incidents in the media has prompted me to write this open letter to all Deaf organizations. The first incident in the media was the “House Divided” episode on the television show, House MD. In that episode, the show turned into a science fiction instead of being the usual medical drama. A boy was secretly cochlear implanted by Dr. House, then immediately afterwards, the boy could understand everything he was hearing. No speech therapy. No training. No waiting period for the CI to be turned on.
Then the boy rips out the CI. Talk about a poorly researched script!
Now we have this article in Newsweek, which is linked on DeafRead. In this article, the journalist compares the culturally Deaf to those who are mentally ill and being proud about refusing their medication.
In other words, the journalist thinks a Deaf person has to have a cochlear implant to have a good life, to have control over their lives, to be able to participate in society on an equal basis. No mention about American Sign Language or Deaf Culture is mentioned in this article.
I am personally outraged at the irresponsibility by the media. The flawed information and perceptions presented by the media are damaging to the Deaf Community. This only perpetuates further discrimination and misinformation about us, making it harder for us to get equal communication access and respect for our language and culture.
So my question to all of the Deaf organizations out there: Why aren’t you doing something about this?
There’s only so much I can do as a v/blogger. Why aren’t we seeing action on these matters from our organizations that exist to serve us?
Public Relations War on DVTV
The ongoing saga on DeafVideo.TV is a convoluted tale, beginning with AFA’s inception in early March, prompting Barry Sewell to accuse AFA of being an extension of DBC, which has been denied by both organizations.
This led to CherylfromMA and InsaneMisha, two prominent vloggers/commenters and strong supporters of Barry, to gradually over time, question his motives when it came to AFA and DBC. Barry’s comments increasingly turned personal and it was clear to observers that he was deliberately pushing people’s buttons to incite a reaction. CherylfromMA and InsaneMisha’s break from Barry, however, was not apparent until they attended the AFA rally against AG Bell on April 3, 2009, sending shock waves through the vlogosphere.
Afterwards, the lurkers, commenters and vloggers witnessed a vicious, tragic deterioration of Barry’s friendship with the two, particularly with CherylfromMA. One of the most stark examples of this rift is Cheryl’s video comment calling Barry a controller and a destroyer.
Despite this loss of support and friendship, Barry continued his ‘questioning’ of AFA and thier supporters, ultimately leading to more of the Signing Circle supporters to withdraw from him. Not surprisingly, AFA celebrated the defection of CherylfromMA, InsaneMisha and the others, which only led to Barry being further incited against the organization.
At this point, it seemed that AFA was winning the public relations battle on DVTV, due to Barry’s rapid loss of supporters and mass defections to AFA. Things took a twist however, when Cobi, Barry’s son created a vlog mocking AFA by using the Aflac duck commercials. That vlog can be found here.
At first, people thought it was Barry who created the vlog, but when it was revealed that it was actually his son, people were outraged. They could not believe that a fourteen year old would do this, solely on his own, as Cobi and Barry claimed. Many also viewed this as a perfect example of how prejudice comes into existence.
People at first engaged Cobi in a dialogue, particularly Ella Mae Lentz. However, this turned heated, when some of the commenters began telling Cobi that his father needed to grow up, that they found his family disgusting and so on, for allowing him to do this. One commenter even stated to Cobi that controlling parents can lead bright and mature children to kill them.
This led to some other commenters to call for a halt to this, since they felt this was bullying Cobi. The comments targeting Cobi slowly reduced after that, and Barry and Cobi remained steadfast, refusing to apologize or take down the vlog. This in turn, led to Aidan Mack creating a vlog discussing brainwashing, and in that vlog, she accused Barry of brainwashing his female followers. That vlog was then removed by Tayler, and Aidan uploaded the same vlog, only with the accusation against Barry edited out.
Aidan went on to accuse Tayler of censorship, prompting him to make this vlog, pointing out that only .09% of the vlogs, have been removed. Less than a half percent.
As things stand right now, the dispute between Barry and AFA continues with both sides pressuring Tayler to keep Aidan’s brainwashing vlog up, or to remove it. Tayler made another vlog here, discussing the pressuring emails.
Not only that, but Barry’s relentless questioning of AFA and DBC has led to public acknowledgment by Ella Mae Lentz and others that they do consider cochlear implants to be audistic. There’s a private sentiment amongst observers that this has turned into a televised Roman amphitheater, and I share that sentiment. However, I would not be surprised if someday, years from now, historians or anthropologists pieced together this saga into a documentary. On the surface, it might seem merely like a sordid public display of friendships being torn apart and personal vendettas and grievances…
But upon closer examination, one does realize that the current saga provides an unique insight into Deaf culture, deaf identity politics, audism and most of all, into the human psyche.
The Power of Twitter
The online store, Amazon.com is now embroiled in an intense controversy due to its labeling GLBT books as adult, effectively censoring these books. This tactic apparently began back in Feburary, and it wasn’t until this weekend, when Twitter bloggers took up the cause with the tag of #amazonfail, that Amazon.com declared it was a glitch and they’re supposedly investigating it now.
This kind of cyber-activism is right up the alley of the Deaf Community. We are well-versed in cyber-activism, as DeafRead’s official blog post stated. Imagine if we started to do more than just letting DeafRead link to us, but also started to link to each other’s blog posts, which would lead to our blog ranks increasing in many search engines, making us even easier to find.
Then we twittered about it with the right tags.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that DeafRead doesn’t do enough for the Deaf Community. However, if we truly want to effect social change as so many of us claim, we have to reach out beyond the borders of our community, to the masses.
Just like the GLBT community and their allies did on Twitter to take on Amazon.com and their shameful censoring of GLBT books. So what are we waiting for? *tweets*
Voice Recognition For VRS?
It’s widely agreed in the national Deaf Community, not just in Michigan’s, that there is a major dearth of interpreters who can voice accurately and smoothly. This issue is now spilling over to the VRS industry and one likely reason for this is because of the industry’s draining the pool of community/free-lance interpreters, who are notorious for their poor voicing skills.
I was at a meeting the other day, where this issue was raised and she wanted to know what actions she could take against the operator. This naturally sparked several side conversations. One of these side conversations involved me and Janet Jurus, who is the state interpreter and legislative lead of Michigan’s Division of Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Janet proposed an idea that I think is excellent – have voice recognition software caption what the VRS operators are saying. That way, the majority of us would be able to track what the operator’s voicing, and be able to immediately correct the operator, if mistakes are made.
Since the majority of interpreters now work at least part-time for the VRS providers, it is my opinion that not only would this reduce problems, but also become an excellent component of the overall solution to ensure that interpreters make an earnest effort to keep their voicing skills up to par. It is easier to document the insufficient quality and ability of interpreters through the VRS, because you have the ability to record the calls, and with captions being part of the picture now, it would increase the validity of the Deaf Community’s complaints about the sub-par voicing skills of many interpreters.
Another Deaf Scam
There is apparently another scam targeting the Deaf Community. If you get this email (see below), be aware that this is a SCAM!
Never, ever give out your password to anyone. If a complete stranger asks you for your password to anything, that is a very strong indicator that it is a scam. And with the information this scammer is asking for, your identity can be very easily stolen!
So, if you get this email, do not respond to them. However, you can report them to the US Federal Trade Commission at: spam@uce.gov or at the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
The scam email:
We are here to let you know that President Obama is giving all deafs in Michigan $7.000 only for commission so let us know if you have receive this if know fill the form below:
Name…
Address….
City…
State….
Country….
Zipcode….
Age…
Sex…..
E-mail address…
Password…….
real password not fake one we need your password for comfirmation so you will not receive the money twice ok…..you are not paying for anything just fil the form fast and get back with us as soon as possible….look the list and see maybe your mail address is that before you fill the form ok
Thanks
Deaf Applause
[ASL Version]
[English Version]
I wake up this morning to find this post on DeafRead by Jack Barr, discussing the origins of the Deaf applause… where you wave your hands in the air instead of clapping.
At first, I was laughing at what Jack was saying, because I recognized his story as a slightly different version of a famous Deaf culture joke – the story of two deaf persons showing up at a lecture castigating American Sign Language, and they sign finish! finish! at the speaker, and the audience misunderstands it as Deaf applause.
Then I realized that there’s a possibility that he was actually being serious, and truly held AG Bell’s supporters responsible for the creation of the Deaf applause. That’s when I started to laugh harder.
You have to got be kidding me! Oralists responsible for the spread of the handwave? Why would they do that? The entire point of Oralism is to assimiliate the d/Deaf into the hearing world. They don’t want any Deaf person to stand out, because they think being Deaf is something to be ashamed of. And needless to say, waving your hands instead of clapping your hands makes you stand out!
Furthermore, for those who know Deaf history, like I do… the Deaf President Now protest is widely hailed as where the Deaf applause originated. I did some research to verify what I thought, and sure enough – I found this link on the Gallaudet University website.
To summarize, hearing people did not invent the Deaf handwave. It actually began in France, and emigrated here to the United States. A few years later, it exploded onto the scene during the Deaf President Now! protest in 1988.
So what are we going to blame AG Bell for next? The establishment of Gallaudet University? 
Hearing Men & Their Fetishes
I was surfing the Fail Blog today, and I came across this priceless picture. Quite fitting, considering today’s “holiday”…
Gotta love hearing men with fetishes, eh?
