Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!apple!motcsd!motsj1!mcdchg!att!chinet!les
From: les@chinet.chi.il.us (Leslie Mikesell)
Newsgroups: news.misc
Subject: Re: The Rape of Usenet (an alternative view)
Keywords: The wholesale capturing of Usenet by GEnie
Message-ID: <1990Jan25.184540.13370@chinet.chi.il.us>
Date: 25 Jan 90 18:45:40 GMT
References: <946@crash.cts.com> <6576@brspyr1.BRS.Com> <1989Dec21.024040.25157@athena.mit.edu>
Reply-To: les@chinet.chi.il.us (Leslie Mikesell)
Organization: Chinet - Chicago Public Access UNIX
Lines: 32

In article <1989Dec21.024040.25157@athena.mit.edu> jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) writes:

>  It is irrelevant what the specific charges are for.  The fact is
>that if people are reading the postings that are gatewayed to GEnie,
>then GEnie is making money off of them [...]

No, it is *not* irrelevant what the charges are for.  You pay for connect
time, not the data.  This is no different than the money being made
by the phone company.  Do you expect the LD carriers to share the
profits with the authors?

>  FSF charges to cover the cost of the tape and the cost of copying
>it.  They do not charge to make a profit; that would be completely
>against what they stand for.

No, the FSF charges for the *service* not the content of the tape.  They
have never been against anyone charging for their services.

>  Yes, but as I have said in a previous posting, when you pay for the
>phone, or the modem, or the Intenet, or the disks, you GET SOMETHING
>BACK.

Yes, you obtain the (free) data that you would not otherwise have
by paying for the services that deliver it to you.  In what way would
that be different when you use GENIE instead of some other service?
Keep in mind that "free" services are never actually free - someone
has to pay the bills.  The difference with services like GENIE is that
users are willing to pay their own way. Obviously, no one is going to
be forced to use their services.

Les Mikesell
 les@chinet.chi.il.us