No smoke makes Andy go crazy

We typed: 'Is it legal...'
Google suggests:

1: '...for a man in Scotland to marry his widow's sister?'
2: '...to marry your cousin?'
3: '...to shoot pigeons?'
4: '...to own a monkey in the UK?'

Explanation: Scots are pigeon-hating perverts, but want to own monkeys, probably to fetch them fried food. No wonder we built a giant wall to keep them out of England.

To whom it may concern,

Would you like to comment on the derogatory comments about Scottish people made by your blogger Nate Lanxon in his article 'What does Google Suggest suggest about the state of humanity?' found at http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029471,49304156,00.htm ?

"Explanation: Scots are pigeon-hating perverts, but want to own monkeys, probably to fetch them fried food. No wonder we built a giant wall to keep them out of England."

I would like to direct you to the following Wikipedia entries for your information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech#United_Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the Public Order Act 1986 prohibits, by its Part 3, expressions of racial hatred. "Racial hatred" is defined as hatred against a group of persons by reason of the group's colour, race, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins. Section 18 of the Act says:
A person who uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, is guilty of an offence if—
(a) he intends thereby to stir up racial hatred, or
(b) having regard to all the circumstances racial hatred is likely to be stirred up thereby.
Offences under Part 3 carry a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment or a fine or both.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian's_Wall
Hadrian's Wall (Latin: Vallum Aelium, Italian: Vallo di Adriano) is a stone or turf and timber fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now northern England.

As I am sure you will agree, his article is inflammatory at least (illegal at worst) and is inaccurate, is this the standard that is to be expect of CNET? Does CNET condone this?

I await your response before deciding on the my next course of action.

AM.

Hi Andy
Thanks for your email. I’m the editorial director at CBS Interactive, which publishes CNET UK, and I’m writing to you because [the UK Editor] is away for the next two weeks. We will get back to you with a full answer and in the meantime have removed those specific lines of text within the article you refer to.
Tony

Hi Andy
We’ve been taking a close look at the blog post and we sincerely apologise if it caused you any offence.

While we strongly deny any allegations of incitement to racial hatred, the section you brought to our attention has been taken down from the Crave blog, as previously stated, and we have reiterated to the CNET UK writers the high standards that we expect of them, and reminded them of what is and isn’t appropriate, even in pieces intended to be humorous. CNET does not condone any form of racial abuse whatsoever, and we apologise if this was how Nate’s comments were construed – this was not our intention in any way. Nate himself is upset to have caused you any offence – and, for it’s worth, I can tell you he and CNET aren’t anti-Scotland.

Thanks for bringing this matter to our attention.

Tony