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From: USERGS8C@mts.rpi.edu
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: More on BBSs and Phone Rates
Message-ID: <15869@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 7 Jan 91 20:49:34 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 14, Message 3 of 7


In my post made 1/4/91, Pat replies:
 
> If someone attaches a computer to a phone line and charges money to
> access it and gain information from it, why is he different than
> Compuserve, which attaches computers to phone lines and charges money
> to access their system and gain information from them?
 
People who run a BBS as a hobby don't charge a fee for the service.
As I stated before, some sysops ask for small donations.  These
donations are not mandatory, but you get some extra goodie if you do
[like access to the game room, or extended prime-time access].  But I
fail to see how this would indicate a business.  However, a BBS that
charges a mandatory fee for access in another creature entirely, and
should be treated as such [and I won't discuss that particular can of
worms here :) ]
 
I think that hobbyist BBSs are special.  They're a place to talk about
different subjects, participate in friendly chats, argue about contro-
versial issues, down/upload files, and meet people in an atmosphere
where what you say, not who you are, is important.  It doesn't matter
who you are, if you are handicapped, a minority, or whatever.  Most
people do not have access to the Internet/Bitnet/Usenet, and
Compu$erve and GEnie are only good for some things, therefore many
people rely on the local BBS.  To quote Mike Riddle's paper, BBSs are
now the local equivalent of the political pamphlet of the 1700s and
are just as important.
 
A BBS is not a business; it is a hobby that involves a great deal of
dedication, both financial and personal.  So why should sysops have to
take it on the chin for providing a free forum for other people to
communicate with each other and express their own opinions at the
sysop's expense?  If a BBS had to be classified as a business, who
would run one?  We'd end up with the lowest common denominator, just
like television and even more boring.
 

Aimee Tweedie      usergs8c@mts.rpi.edu
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York


[Moderator's Note: What about people who run *other kinds* of
not-for-profit phone lines, i.e. rape crisis, domestic violence,
suicide talk lines, dial-a-prayer, dial-a-conspiracy theory
(312-731-1100) and similar? These are most often one or two person
operations, run by people who enjoy what they are doing and who are
trying to serve the community out of goodwill. They pay business rates
for their service, and it comes from their own pocket and/or whatever
trivial donations people send them. What rates would you have them
pay?  Why are BBS sysops so special and so different when it comes to
trying to serve the community through a sense of charity and goodwill?
What about the TTY-to-voice translators serving deaf people?  PAT]