Date:  Thu, 28 Mar 1996 05:47:15 -0800

From:  SETH SKLAREY <crissiet[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IX.NETCOM.COM>

Subject: does Comm Decency Act prohibit mentioning "Dole" on the net?



 This came from some anti-censorship lists:

>

>Tehran (Reuter) - For the past few weeks, the behind the doors discussion

>at many Iranian newspaper and magazine publishing outfits seems to be

>revolving not around political, social and economic issues, but the

>spelling of Bob Dole's name instead. It turns out that the proper spelling

>of the Republican Party's likely nominee, Dole, is exactly the same as that

>of the word penis in Persian. "At first it might seem funny to some people,

>but it's creating a serious issue for us. How can we write headlines using

>that word?," said Majid Fanni, a prepress specialist at a Tehran service

>bureau.

>

>Professor Hassan Khadem, a Persian literature lecturer at New York

>University added "It's actually not a real problem. In Persian, certain

>vowels are optional. [Therefore] they could write his name a couple of

>different ways to avoid the ambiguity. But for an exact pronunciation,

>'Dowl' as opposed to 'Dol', well, they'd have to spell it that way." Fanni

>explained "It's not easy. In print, especially for headlines, we don't use

>[optional] vowel symbols. Because of that, his name can be read in that

>way."

>

>International organizations are quite familiar and cognizant of these types

>of issues. General Motors for example, spends over 300,000 dollars a year

>just researching car names to make sure they are not trade marked, as well

>as being acceptable in foreign countries.

>

>Ali Zarkoob, a grade school teacher in Western Tehran said "I'm sure kids

>will find it very funny. The humor magazines will probably go crazy over it

>too." A columnist for Tehran's Hamshahri daily who requested to remain

>anonymous stated "It's a real problem that no one wants to face. Think

>about it. What should we write if he wins? 'Clinton loses Presidency'?

>That's not right. 'Penis wins US Presidency' isn't exactly acceptable

>either."