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Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!uunet!bfmny0!tneff
From: tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff)
Newsgroups: news.admin,news.misc,comp.mail.uucp
Subject: Re: New rules for UUPSI
Message-ID: <11583905@bfmny0.BFM.COM>
Date: 5 Mar 91 10:28:18 GMT
References: <1991Mar04.221119.5075@utoday.com> <1991Mar5.141606.1797@uu.psi.com>
Reply-To: tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff)
Followup-To: news.admin
Lines: 30

PSI still has a few things to learn.  This is the second time in a week
they have annoyed me.

In the first place, they're telemarketing off the UUCP maps again.  I
got called at my technical contact number by one of their sales reps.
Does UUNET know that their customers are being thus courted?

Secondly, no-3rd-party is a PRODIGY stunt.  When a marketing decision
(beat UUNET by offering flat rate accounts) ends up crippling the
technical service, then the cart is before the horse.  If all you are
allowed to charge is $75 once plus $225/quarter, regardless of usage,
then the overwhelming efficiency imperative becomes reducing that
average customer activity rate!  God help you if the customers get smart
and start buying joint feeds -- then your arbitrary flat-rate decision
doesn't look so good any more.

So you take the logical step and diddle the service contracts to enforce
one-site-only.  But now what you're selling isn't really a net feed
anymore!  It's just a leaf feed -- a special case.  Good enough for some
customers...  but still less functionality that the competition offers.

Full connectivity mail and news feeds built this net.  Without them PSI
would have nothing to sell.  If PSI doesn't offer people full feeds then
they're leeching off the net, not contributing to it.  Flat rate leaf
site plans are fine, but they should not be the only service offered.  

I would personally save some money by switching from UUNET to PSI, but I
WON'T do it because (a) they had the audacity to make a sales call at my
site's UUCP map technical contact number, and (b) they don't sell
full-connectivity feeds.