Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!watmath!xenitec!edhew
From: edhew@xenitec.on.ca (Ed Hew)
Newsgroups: news.groups
Subject: Re: Results of sci.aquaria vote
Message-ID: <1989Nov25.062626.179@xenitec.on.ca>
Date: 25 Nov 89 06:26:26 GMT
References: <10413@encore.Encore.COM>
Reply-To: edhew@xenitec.UUCP (Ed Hew)
Followup-To: news.groups
Distribution: na
Organization: XeniTec Consulting Services, Kitchener, ON, Canada
Lines: 48

In article <10413@encore.Encore.COM> cook@encore.com writes:
>[allbery@ncoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery) recently posted that: 
>|
>|Like it or not, the Usenet exists at the whim of the people who pay for it.
>|Antagonize them and you'll have to find someone else to pay for it, or the net
>|dies.  The phone company isn't going to be impressed with your arguments; they
>|expect to be paid.  (Disbelievers are invited to subscribe to alt.cosuard.)
>|-- 
>I have no problems with that.  I'd point out to you that telephone costs
>are becoming a "cost of doing business" line item these days.

In order to consider an expense to be a "cost of doing business", that
assumes that the endeavour we're talking about is being run as a business.
I suspect that if I were to look up "business" in anyone's favourite
dictionary, it'd probably have a definition similar to:  'an endeavour
or organization pursued for the express purpose of earning a profit'.

Are you running USENET news on your site to earn a profit?
If so, then you can claim your associated phone bill to be a legit
expense.  Otherwise I'd be hard pressed to accept your argument.

>I'd further
>point out that newspapers and TV stations are private businesses in it
>for a profit.  But when they start dicky-dooing with what gets covered
>and who gets broadcast they have to conform to the "rules" set up by the
>majority.

Newspapers appear to concerned with what produces their revenue:
subscribers and advertisers.  Again, are you running USENET news as
a business on your site?  If so, then you must concern yourself with
the opinions of your *paying* customers.  If not......common sense
may be a good simple guide.  I'd hope that's what most of us use anyhow.

>Obviously any site on USENET can set up any damn policy it
>can pay for.  But if enough other sites don't like those policies, you
>might find yourself an island with a lot of pretty computer hardware
>and a lot of modems and nobody to talk to or exchange news with.

"Imminent demise of USENET predicted" (death of your business).
(you'll have to go back to providing it out of the goodness of your
 heart - and pocket.)

>INTERNET:  cook@encore.com	"Millions long for immortality who don't

  Ed. A. Hew       Authorized Technical Trainer        Xeni/Con Corporation
  work:  edhew@xenicon.uucp	 -or-	 ..!{uunet!}utai!lsuc!xenicon!edhew
->home:	 edhew@xenitec.on.ca	 -or-	   ..!{uunet!}watmath!xenitec!edhew
    # Justice is only relative to what you can afford to prove in court.