Man Accuses HP Computers of Being Racist

A man posted a YouTube video accusing Hewlett Packard's video chat software of being racist, reports CBS station KCBS in San Francisco. The African American man, referred to as "Desi," demonstrates on the video, titled "HP computers are racist," how the tracking software won't follow his face but will follow his co-worker's.

"I think my blackness is interfering with the computer's ability to, to follow me," he says on the video. "I'm going on record and I'm saying it: Hewlett Packard computers are racist.

CBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid says the problem is with the lighting and is not racial. HP responded in a blog post saying the problem occurs when there isn't enough light in the foreground.

"I think that it could possibly be explained by the lighting, and the fact that black skin obviously is darker, and probably needs better lighting (for the program to work), that's true with any type of photography," said Magid.