Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!Firewall!ddsw1!learn
From: learn@ddsw1.MCS.COM (William Vajk)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: I Accuse (the New Gestappo...)
Message-ID: <1991Jun21.194757.19258@ddsw1.MCS.COM>
Date: 21 Jun 91 19:47:57 GMT
References: <1991Jun16.171754.24492@athena.cs.uga.edu> <1991Jun18.023039.10671@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <43934@fmsrl7.UUCP>
Organization: Dares No Organization Like Dis Organization
Lines: 42

In article <43934@fmsrl7.UUCP> wreck@fmsrl7.UUCP (Ron Carter) writes:

>In article <1991Jun18.023039.10671@ddsw1.MCS.COM> William Vajk writes:

>~I suggest you get in touch with Mike Meyers, the former owner and system
>~administrator of M-net, a public access system in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mike's
>~solution to bad behavior was to give the individual some responsibility
>~on the system, and some support. His 100% positive results would doubtless 
>~amaze you.

>I heard that Myers sold the system due to getting fed up with problem 
>individuals.  It appears there is a price to be paid, in patience and 
>aspirin, for this approach.

You "heard" ?

Did you bother to find out ?

I was in communication with Mike at the time he owned the system, and during
the prolonged approximately two year period he was seriously considering 
divesting himself of m-net, and have had a few phone conversations since. The
man has visited my home.

If you knew anything at all about Mike Meyers you'd realize just how funny 
your comment is. Mike didn't permit "problem individuals" to run him off his 
own system and make him give it up. I assure you that the beginnings of the 
wind down for Mike were in concerns over liability and the tremendous amount 
of accounting involved. Mike lives in a small, one bedroom apartment in Ann
Arbor. The computers and modems shared his bedroom. He willingly answered the
voice line at all hours of the night for years to help individuals with the
system. I believe the myth you're broadcasting to the net does Mike a grave
disservice. Though if I sent this little thread to Mike I suspect he'd
simply shrug it off as he did so many other inconsequential comments.

You might also note that Mike received an amount several times the value of
the equipment at the time he sold m-net. Hardly the sign of "problems."

But even if we assume you are correct and eventually Mike got fed up, that 
particular could never negate the success he experienced. He has provided
an excellent role model. For this quality, if nothing else, I admire the man.

Bill Vajk