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Iran Threatens Legal Action Against Google For Not Labeling Gulf 'Persian'
New submitter PantherSE writes with an article at CNN about the geopolitical importance of labeling, excerpting thus: "Iran has threatened legal action against Google for not labeling the Persian Gulf on its maps. 'Toying with modern technologies in political issues is among the new measures by the enemies against Iran, (and) in this regard, Google has been treated as a plaything,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Thursday, according to state-run Press TV. He added that 'omitting the name Persian Gulf is (like) playing with the feelings and realities of the Iranian nation.'"
Oh it's on ____.
- Holy crap, I've got MOD points! Who thought that was a good idea.
Back in Windows 95 you could click on your country on the world map to set the time zone. A border dispute caused complaints to Microsoft and they removed the feature (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2003/08/22/54679.aspx). This reminds me of that, only sillier.
The Attitude Adjuster, I hate me, you can too.
Is the Persian Gulf unlabeled? Is it labeled "Gulf" (sounds stupid, but no reason for a lawsuit)? Is it labeled something else?
It's labeled Israeli Freedom Pond.
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
No. Google is moving to a sponsorship system. It is now "The Persian Gulf, brought to you by Budweiser".
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Have gnu, will travel.
I was in the Navy, and after the Shah fell and Iran became a thorn in the side of the U.S., we stopped calling it the Persian Gulf and started calling it the Arabian Gulf. It's still called that by the Navy and U.S. Government to this day.
As it's bordered roughly on half by Arabian countries and half by Persian (Iran), there's a strong case for either.
I looked on Google Maps and there isn't a name now, although I don't know if that was that way prior to Iran's actions.
It should be labelled the Exxon Gulf.
We had a group of people that insisted on using the phrase "Freedom Fries", so I don't think the US is one to talk about what's silly or not.
It's unlabelled. Looks like Google is trying to avoid a controversy I didn't even know existed. Apparently some Arabs want it renamed the "Arabian Gulf."
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
It's got a big banner that says, "Getting first post is more important than adding to the discussion".
But I'm sure you knew that already.
--
Yet, a Google Maps search for the Persian Gulf takes you right to the unlabeled gulf, while searching for Arabian Gulf doesn't.
Some of the countries on the South shore of the gulf want it to be referred to as the Arabian Gulf. Which pisses off the Iranians (as intended) who prefer to call it the Persian Gulf. Google is avoiding picking sides by leaving it unlabeled.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
this is real life. You can choose not to participate.
Often wrong but never in doubt.
I am Jack9.
Everyone knows me.
Bin Maps correctly labels it.
I used to work for HP, and the Turkish government threatened to ban our Debian-based thin clients because one of the language options with Kurdish. Apparently, the Turks are so sensitive about the Kurds that even having the language option appear in the list was unacceptable within their country. They refuse to acknowledge the Kurds, so they try to wipe out any evidence within Turkey that they ever existed, past or present.
Just label it "Water". It's all connected anyway.
There's a bit of a difference between calling something by a silly name, and threatening legal action against someone. I don't recall anyone from the US State Department (equivalent to the Foreign Ministry, I assume) ever mentioning the matter, much less threatening anyone who avoided the matter by just calling them "fries."
Though I do wonder: legal action? What are they going to sue Google for? The closet thing I can think of is lack of trademark attribution, which is still light years away from being applicable.
"The Greens lynched a hacker in Chicago. Last month, but I think the body's still hanging from the old Water Tower."
Oh, the many ways to provoke a nationalist!
I used to hang out on the Google translate forum. Every week there would be some loony nationalist who was deeply offended that
* His language was not implemented (Turks, mostly)
* His language was not implemented to his satisfaction (Lithuanians in particular. "Our language is the most complex in the world!")
* An "enemy" language was implemented ("Macedonian is not a language! It is a dialect of Bulgarian!" - said by Greeks)
* Their national anthem inexplicably got the words "God Save The Queen" inserted into them (an Irishman, memorably)
* etc.
In any case, the only explanation which they would accept was a deep conspiracy at Google to taunt and slight their proud nations.
xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
In what court is Iran going so sue Google? Does Google have a presence in Iran? Or are they going to send lawyers over to the Great Satan and file in their jurisdiction? That would be hilarious -- country has feelings hurt by multinational company.
If I look on google Maps, Tibet is labelled as Tibet ... not the "northern resource area" or whatever China calls it. I still refer to it as Burma, not Myanmar.
And therein lies the rub ... countries don't have feelings. Getting all butt-hurt because the rest of the world won't label things to match what you want them to is childish and petulant ... but I guess that's pretty much Iran's foreign policy.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman has a tiny penis, and a brain to match.
I'd kind of like to see Sasha Baron Cohen as the Dictator simply reading the public statements which have come out of Iran over the last several years -- that would be bloody hilarious. Or, totally indistinguishable from the real thing.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
What sort of legal action, exactly, can you take against somebody for making a map that hurts your feelings?
I've never heard of any legal success in the US on those grounds(though PR concerns certainly motivate companies to tread lightly) and under the present US sanctions, Google is unlikely to be officially operating within Iran at all(given the SSL MiTM incident a while back, there are obviously Iranians using Google services; but the sanctions make it rather unlikely that Google would choose to site any official branch offices there), so it hardly matters whether Iran has a rule against hurting their feelings in the process of mapping.
They should change their name from IRAN to IRAA. Then we would be scared of their threats. Next thing North KORAA will be taking legal action against the New York Times for referring to them as a "Stalinist dictatorship " [1.]
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/02/international/asia/02CND-KORE.html?ex=1380513600&en=a29d7f1e49aabee0&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
Aren't they blocking Google anyway?
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
My suggestion for Google,
Searches for "Persian Gulf" on Google.ir are going to return:
"Did you mean: 'How to violently overthrow an idiotic, oppressive regime'?"
Don't just game, Dungeoneer
Sea water is less watery and tastier, even with bilge flushings of millions of dwts of crude old carriers.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Who defined correct?
http://soylentnews.org/~tibman
The White House, Department of Defense, the State department and the CIA beg to differ.
The Department of Defense says "Navy Looks to Bolster Capabilities in Persian Gulf" (2012):
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=67586
The State Department notes in a briefing by Secretary of State Clinton on her visit to India in May 2012 that peace in the Persian Gulf is important:
http://translations.state.gov/st/english/texttrans/2012/05/201205085219.html#axzz1vAEAsbH0
The White House's press briefing includes references to carriers in the Persian Gulf (2012):
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/09/press-briefing-press-secretary-jay-carney-4912/
This is the CIA's World Fact Book entry for Iran. Look at the map saying "Persian Gulf".
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html
The State Department shows the same map for Iran ("Persian Gulf"):
http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/ir/
The CIA's Persian Gulf War Task Force was last reviewed and updated in January 2012.
https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/gulfwar/index.htm
Among the others, the CIA ( https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html ), the UN, the International Hydrographic Organization, and Google ( http://maps.google.com/?q=persian+gulf ). And a lot of other people.
Did you check out the change log? Trademark issues, spam, blah, blah.
If it wasn't locked, I'd change it to "Not Iran". :)
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
The Koreans dispute the name, mainly the South Koreans. Like all naming disputes, it doesn't matter the lands that border them, it's mostly a political and pride issue. Koreans dislike the name because the name for the body of water arose when Korea was under Japaneese rule, so it is kind of a reminder to them of that period. Not all things in this world are based on sound reasoning. Just a hint of research on your part would have clued you in on this, however, I have the fortune to actually remember this point from high school days. Ah, memories!
hehe. Someone labeled it again. :) Well, I'll explain how to do it without the marker. It'll still work this way.
Go to http://maps.google.com/
Search "Persian Gulf"
In the middle of the gulf, right click, and select "Directions To Here"
You'll now have a green marker in the middle of the water. Click on it. It'll say something like
Click on "More" and then click "Edit History"
Someone made the gulf a polygon back in 2009. You'll see it in the history. :) You can do this almost anywhere in the gulf, I'd think. I just aimed for the middle.
The Arabian Gulf also has a marker, but it's just off of Kuwait. It's been there since 2009, and there is some discussion on the fact it should be the entire gulf, not just a coastal area.
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.