Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!rodan.acs.syr.edu!ggreenbe
From: ggreenbe@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Gerald Greenberg)
Subject: Re: First CIS, then Delphi, now Genie
Message-ID: <1990Aug30.153714.4660@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Summary: They're imposing access charges 
Keywords: compuserve, delphi, genie, online services, access
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
References: <1990Aug30.152410.4097@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Distribution: usa, canada
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 90 15:37:14 GMT

    I guess our new SUN does things slightly differently from
    our old NPGOULD, so this is the third time I've sent
    this...I hope this one gets through.

    All three of these online services will be charging
    monthly access charges withing a month or two.  CIS has
    been doing it for a while, Delphi announced they will
    start, and GEnie also announced they will start.  I
    discontinued my memberships with CIS and Delphi, and wrote
    a feedback message to Genie about a week ago stating that
    I hoped they would not start charging a monthly fee as
    well...and wouldn't you know it?  A few days later they
    announce their program!  Sometimes I don't access Genie
    for months at a time...so I don't want to be subsidizing
    someone else's time.  I just don't like this kind of
    setup.  I guess I just wanted to air my opinion on this,
    and see if there are any "disinterested" parties out there
    who can make arguments to convince me it is worthwhile to
    keep my Genie membership...(it seem to me they offer the
    best deal...although I would certainly consider it "the
    lesser of three evils").
    --Gerry
    PS.  There's another aspect to this that bothers me:  a
    while back these services mobilized their members to
    opposed the imposition by Congress of a periodic(was it
    monthly?) access charge(=tax) for services like these.
    Then the bill was defeated, and the services turn around
    and impose their own access charge!