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From: acminfo@zeus.unomaha.edu (Dan Kenny)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Big Brother charging for modem use?
Message-ID: <7839.27b3f6ee@zeus.unomaha.edu>
Date: 9 Feb 91 19:19:42 GMT
References: <299.security.eff@pro-angmar> <1726@tharr.UUCP>
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Lines: 61

In article <1726@tharr.UUCP>, gtoal@tharr.UUCP (Graham Toal) writes:
> In article <299.security.eff@pro-angmar> m.tiernan@pro-angmar.UUCP (Michael Tiernan) writes:
> 
>    (the old story about tax/surchange for modem use)
> 
>>My information is old and sketchy, we need up to date info so if anyone is out
>>there who's got a finger on the pulse of this one, please let's hear about it.
> 
> Argh! Not again.  It's an URBAN LEGEND.  It is debunked every year regular
> as clockwork but people still keep trotting it out.  Next phase is a letter-
> writing campaign to Congress...
> 

It may be the old "urban legend", but I would much rather be informed of a 
potential threat to my pursuit of happiness than have it sneaked in on me by 
the phone company lobbyists and a short-term-mentality Congress. I do not 
buy the argument that just because rumors crop up each year, everyone can 
relax and there will never be another attempt to strangle the modem user.

For example, just how many people out in the net.space.time.continuum were 
aware of THIS little tidbit of legislation? 

-----------
  From The Omaha World Herald Sun Feb 3:
  Fr. The Washington Post

  "Computer Professionals to Lose Eligibilty for Overtime Payments"

  Washington - Hundreds of thousands of computer analysts, programmers and 
  software engineers no longer will be eligible to receive overtime payments
  under regulations to be issued this month by the Labor Department.
     The exemption that excludes these workers from receiving overtime was
  approved by Congress last year and represents the first time in the 52-year
  history of federal wage-hour law that anyone has become exempt from overtime
  payment simply by the level of earnings in a specific occupation.
     Under the new law, a computer systems analyst, programmer, software 
  engineer and "other similarly skilled professional workers" paid on an 
  hourly basis can be denied overtime payments if they earn 6 1/2 times the 
  federal minimum wage.
     The minimum wage will rise to $4.25 an hour on April 1. This means anyone
  earning $27.62 an hour in the covered occupations would not be eligible for 
  overtime.
     The most immediate impact will be in the computer consulting industry, 
  where hourly wages for programmers and analysts range from $25 to $100 an 
  hour, said Harvey Shulman, general consel for the National Association of
  Computer Consultant Businesses.
--------

I find it interesting to note that while Congress is quite alarmed about 
the declining interest in science and computer fields from our youth, they 
sure are trying to do their best to stifle movement into the electronic 
frontier...

The article should also serve as a reminder not to let one's guard down
for a minute. I know -I- wasn't aware of this legislation until after 
the fact. 

============================================================================
Dan Kenny, SIG Director                           acminfo@zeus.unomaha.edu
UNO-ACM Information Applications                  "Feed your brain"
============================================================================