This was reported in Compter Weekly on May 9th 1996.

Obscene name means Net ban for Scunthorpe

SCUNTHORPE for years the butt of jokes about backward northern industrial towns, has been handed the ultimate insult by the guardians of the information age. Service provider America Online (AOL) is denying Scunthorpe residents access to the Internet because of the town's "obscene" place name. Scunthorpe Net-surfer Derek Blackie discovered that four letters in the middle of the town's name triggered obscene language censors when he applied to join AOL. and he was told his application could not be processed. AOL's five million-plus members are now having to refer to the town as "Sconthorpe". in order to safeguard the US's politicallycorrect sensibilities.