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From: Jack.Winslade@iugate.unomaha.edu (Jack Winslade)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: GTE and Court Agrees: BBS' a Business
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Date: 4 Jan 91 02:25:16 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 9, Message 2 of 8


 >The following cross-posted information is extracted from alt.cosuard.

I'm not gonna say that the ENTIRE article was bovine doo-doo, but ...

>area there are now at BUSINESS RATES. Which means $50 per month base
>rates, plus MUCH higher long distance charges.

The last clause of the last sentence definitely reeks, and this should
be obvious to readers of this conference.  Businesses often pay LESS
than residence users for some services, and long distance charges are
one area in which they can save, if they are large enough to negotiate
rates or if they get a few points off through an aggregator.  (Yes, I
know, most business calls are during the day.  So what. ;-)

Another area where businesses pay less than 'civilians' is cellular
services.  Corporate accounts (directly) with the carrier are often
substantially less than the extortive rates given with that <quote>
FREE <end quote> cellular phone with four new tires from Midnight Auto
Supply.

But again, back to my point.  {mounting high horse} I am getting sick
of this endless-loop 'the sky is falling' {modem tax | business rate |
BBS law} rumor that keeps playing ad nauseam.  In 1985 there was
supposed to be this New Federal Law coming Real Soon Now that would
put all kinds of clamps on BBS systems.  When the text of the bill
surfaced, it was nothing more than a well-intentioned kiddie-porn law
that included digitized video among the media with movie film,
videotape, and mimeograph on paper towels.  Since then, the same
story, altered slightly each iteration, keeps coming back regularly.

This (Indiana) affair may be a REAL concern of the BBS community, but
they (the ubiquitous 'they') have cried 'wolf' so many times that
people are thinking that all stories along the line are caca,
especially when they include a genuine road-apple like the 'higher
long-distance rates'.

{dismounting from high horse}

Any ideas ??

Good Day!        JSW