Microsoft responds to RichardGaywood ban

A couple of days ago, an Xbox Live user with the gamertag "RichardGaywood" got banned. Problem is, it turned out that Richard Gaywood is the user's real, legal, given name. So what is Microsoft going to do about it? Hit the full article for the company's response.

[gamesR4fun]

"While it may be clear to some that Gaywood is a legitimate surname, it may not be obvious to other Xbox LIVE members. In this case, a complaint was filed by a member of the community, requiring the Xbox LIVE team to examine the gamertag within the context of the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use. Based on these guidelines, it was necessary for the gamertag to change."

Talk about taking gay bashing to the extreme really makes m$ look sad. Not to mention live users in general I mean really whos so homophobic that theyd have to report it sigh...

[ajeben809]

ms will want this guy to shutup quickly before this gets to the media. I reckon ms will end up giving the guy 5 free x360 exclusive games, 5 years of free xb live and one of those new wii60 remotes so that every1 can see how genuine ms are

[lessthanmarcus]

Yeah like they usually do when they mess up. I just find it hilarious that some kid can be playing GTAIV, but when he sees a tag that says "gay" he can report it because it's a "sexual theme." Oh, the irony.

[riddlesticks]

there is a teacher in my school called richard headly but he gets reffered to as d*ck by other adults etc... so his name is D*ck Headly

lol seriously no joke

[Cryos]

M$ needs to understand that the world is not black and white, there are shades of gray. Instead of going forward with this no tolerance BS, they need to do some research, and actually put some THOUGHT into their actions. Maybe then they can decide logically if a ban is JUSTIFIABLE.

But what am I talking about? This is M$. they're known for putting their head in the sand.

[King_many_layers]

I find this whole ordeal slightly offensive as a bi-sexual man

even if they was to just put gay in their name to simply show their sexuality I don't see the problem in it.

[Kakkoii]

I actually knew a person in school who's last name is "Woodcock"

I'm really not joking..

You wonder how these families came to get these last names lol.

[Alexander Roy]

I know what you mean. I know of two guys which names are - translated, since very few people here know german - mr "meanwoman" and mr "pinkslip".

[Presentist]

Woodcock is just another name for an old school glory hole.

[SL1M DADDY]

I was in a class with a girl named Keri Hunt. Yeah, it was a good time, especially since she was gorgeous and had a great sense of humor. And no, it wasn't hairy...

[bym051d]

Bad news for Mr. Heywood Jahblome.

[Presentist]

LOL BUBBLED!

[Bnet343]

What about Ben Dover and Mike Hawk?

[Boink]

that gets bubbles!

poor mike hunt will be banned too.

[iceman2929]

Dont forget Mike Hunt!

edit : damn... you beat me to it!

[v1c1ous]

i think these people are doing it for the sake of attention now...

[Rock Bottom]

So now it's wrong to use your real name online?

[tplarkin7]

First, Richard is abbreviated as a four letter word. This name seems fake. Second, it's no surprise that people would make fun of it, real or not. When he used his supposed "real name" as a gamertag, he knew it would cause trouble.

[quen_gta2]

After hearing what you said I have come to 2 conclussions. (1)It is a fake name or (2)His parents must not have attended grade school here in America.

[Fallen_Angel]

wasnt the guy from the uk ? Anyways if he's goin to file a law suit it better be against his parent cause the is just cruel to name your kid Richard/D*ck Gaywood. Your not suppose to use your real name to start with so the guy was just dumb for doing that anyways. MS has a naming policy and they are right to enforce it

[Stormflood]

He sent a scan of his UK Driving Licence that Kotaku posted. Gaywood is also a name of a few towns in the UK too. Just because homophobic idiots on Xbox Live exist, it doesn't mean ancient surnames have to cease to exist.

Richard Gaywood should be refunded the money he paid for his account. Or at least make sure there's as much publicity about this bullshit as possible.

[quen_gta2]

I smell a lawsuit coming on.

[Valin]

... Think again I read the XBL terms and conditions basically Microsoft could ban you because they felt like it and you could do absolutely nothing. They pretty much have us by the balls......... However for those of you wanting to change your Gamertag and not have to pay MS, just get a friend to report it they'll ask you to change it no matter what........

[kevin1122]

you would be surprised, i mean even gaylord is a real name. So this could be real, whats even funnier tho is the name people use for richard. So his name is D!ckGaywood lol.

[joevfx]

Microsoft banning real names now , whats next?

[Presentist]

Did you even read the article?

You sound like another MS hater that will pretty much jump on them for doing anything bad or good. In this case, I completely side with them.

[Goodfella78]

MICRO$OFT DISCRIMINATION......peace out.....

[bootsielon]

I mean he shouldn't need it, but people are morons

[n00bPwner]

d1ck gay boner? yeah right. prolly a droid with a fake name.

[PMR_21]

love some Gaywood

[n00bPwner]

glad you've finally cum around.

[pimpstation]

Sounds like the type of dude who'd be playing xbox live.

[marioporter]

Classic. Too bad M$ is a bunch of frickin' Nazis. In the event that they MAY just be wrong, they won't admit it. That's classic coporate BS.

[Dareaver1]

that was uncalled for. MS has a ToS, and if Richard read it, he wouldn't use his real name in the first place. Then to be completely oblivious to the unintentional sexual innuendos that can be used against his name is pure stupidity.

As many of you have said, Live has a lot of kids and immature people. His name would be criticized the moment he steps in a room. So this whole MS is "gay bashing" or are "nazis" needs to stop. All you people are doing is showing your ignorance (as in not knowing) to the world.

Keep your offensive immature comments to yourself. It's so funny that you criticize MS by calling them an offensive name, when you yourself are being just as offensive. They weren't wrong for what they did, again, read their ToS.....

[tonsoffun]

I find it ironic that this man has had his user name banned, which is his real name, yet if you listen to any online game, you hear far, far worse: biggoted, racist and homophobic teens.

Now just because there was a complaint means in no way his tag should have been banned. It his is real name: it is the PC brigade gone mad.

Personally I hope it does get to the mainstream media. I think a WATCHDOG special would go down a treat .

[HrMagni]

Before you accuse others of being stupid because they didn't read the ToS you should read it yourself.
It states
"you should not use your personal information when creating them"
Not a ban a recommendation.

And when does the word gay fulfill one of theses terms, if you look it up in a dictionary it has the same meaning as cheerful.

"-Create a Gamertag or use text other profile fields that may offend other members. This includes comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate, or insinuate any of the following: profane words/phrases, sexually explicit language, sexual innuendo, hate speech (including but not limited to racial, ethnic, or religious slurs), illegal drugs/controlled substances, or illegal activities."

So basically according to the ToS, Richard Gaywood did not do anything wrong.

And i don't like your thinking that if you agree to do something, that it takes away your right to criticize it.

ps i just did a spell check to make sure it was ok, and according to that the word gay dosent exist, this is all reminding me too much of George Orwells 1984.

[Bubble and Squeek]

Microsoft really should stop cossetting racists and homophobes.

By the sounds of it, the people employed to moderate XBL come from the same stables as those who play on it.

[Jon Cage]

The horrible parents that this poor guy has. They totally screwed him at birth. Who in their right mind would name their kid Richard (d!ck) Gay (homosexual) wood (erection).

Here comes my son now D!ck Gay Boner.

I think people should be getting upset with the parents if anyone.

[Bubble and Squeek]

Because parents have precognitive abilities right?

(And you can hardly blame the parents for the surname, and Richard is hardly an uncommon first name)

[tonsoffun]

No the real issue is idiots like you.

How childish is it that you pick apart the guys name. Just shows the immaturity that some gamers have.

[riksweeney]

Are names like Randy and Fanny OK?

[Citizen Cook]

And he should be forced legally to change it to something NORMAL and ungay!!!

Like Richard Muffeater or something...

HA HA HA HA!

[DailyAddict]

Soon to come will be people's who last name is a color (Black, White) and then people will report them saying that they are being racist by displaying their race in their name.

[Ali_The_Brit]

seems like a fair choice to make.

[media73]

I got banned for my gamertag 'MassiveTurd' whats offensive about that, its funny and people always laughed when i joined a room.

[mistertwoturbo]

lol that's not really offensive, infact I just chuckled saying it out loud

[solar]

wow really? thats a bit extreme. here on the PC side of online gaming hilarious names are everywhere...and very amusing. one that stuck out a few weeks ago on TF:2 was "GET ME A WHOOPER!!" and i couldnt help but think of that mullettard screaming at some poor burger king employee. lol!

[gamekiller]

I had my gamertag banned it was homererotica which I thought was prety good, loads of people thought I was gay becasue they cant read thought it said HOMOerotica lol.

[Boink]

that gamertag rings a bell:)

gave me a chuckle then too!

[Pornlord]

That is hillarious, you can't blame MS for thinking initially that it was a slur or anything like that, they got a complaint, he broke the rules, they banned his account until it was fixed. NOW, that being said, it looks poor upon not only MS to keep his account banned, seeing as it's his real surname, but the stupid bastard who complained in the first place. I love how laxed rules have gotten and how hard it is to offend people these days, it makes my job as an online A$$hole that much harder, which I love a good challenge. Still, not giving him his account back is rather more narrow minded than I initially gave MS credit for. I see their point, it's not that, it's just from my point of view, if you don't like Gay wood (yes I intended the space) do like the rest of us and look away while it's out... Offense is entirely subjective, it doesn't offend me in the least, in fact, his name will go down in the ANALS (again inteded) of time as one of the more funny names you can have. BRAVO to him.

[DJ]

"...it would be hard for me to defend to a parent of a Young Child who saw it that the name did not contain content of a sexual nature."

First off, gender preferences are not explicit, nor are gender preferences in any manner offensive or damaging to other individuals. To suggest this is definitely poor foresight by Mr. Talouse, especially when we're talking about someone's LEGAL NAME. My friend has a frequent customer who's last name is Bonecock. God forbid anyone in their family tries to sign up for Xbox Live.

Why Microsoft refuses to reinstate his name is beyond me.

[Tempist]

So I guess the name P.Hagget. is out too? This is going to a little extremes. It would seem as if there are no controls with name reporting or you know, proper screening.

[Pornlord]

P.Hagget??? You made me laugh out loud in my office... NICE!!!!

[MJY2K]

So people are fine with seeing something get cut in two with a chainsaw on a gun. But god forbid they see the word gay.

This is ridiculus

[Spydiggity]

The only reason someone reported this guy anyway, i'm sure, is because he destroyed someone in a game they base their identity with. for example. some retard 14 year old who defines himself as being "the best COD player in school" got rocked by Mr. Gaywood. so then this retard 14 year old said "i'll get him back" and reports him for the name.

The only time anyone on live or anywhere reports someone for "fowl" language, bios, or names, is when they get OWNED! microsoft should recognize this. I thought we were a generation of 'hard-core' gamers? Not easily-hurt-feelings wimps.

[sonyjunky279]

thats a kick to the balls for microsoft and richard gaywood

[Pornlord]

D!ck Gaywood... first off... did anyone really need to point out that his god given name is a little offesive if you are a narrow minded prick??? Hillarious... I wish I had thought of that Gamertag first.. sounds like a porn name.