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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!tellab1!tmq!peter
From: peter@tmq.UUCP (Life gets very Weird)
Newsgroups: net.news.stargate
Subject: Re: Re: Need for Stargate screening?
Message-ID: <133@tmq.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 29-Jan-85 19:29:37 EST
Article-I.D.: tmq.133
Posted: Tue Jan 29 19:29:37 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 31-Jan-85 02:14:09 EST
References: <494@vortex.UUCP>, <702@cbosgd.UUCP> <831@hound.UUCP>
Organization: tmq/ICOM Buffalo Grove, IL
Lines: 35
Keywords: USENET Costs

Mr. Grantages seems to imply in his article that his access to USENET is
paid for by his discretion to use his computer account to run readnews.  I
would disagree.  USENET is actually paid for by organizations who donate
their computer resources and telephone charges to forward news to other
sites.  It is the administrators and managers at these sites that make
USENET possible, and who will determine the future of USENET.

I do not forward news to other sites.  I am fortunate enough to have
USENET at my site because:

A) I had existing, sufficent resources (CPU power, disk space, phone lines,
   modems, etc.) to devote to USENET

B) There is another site (Tellabs) willing to forward news to me without
   charge (Having ihnp4 within the local call area helps)

C) Our current accounting setup does not closely budget computer time.

If I had to pay for USENET, i.e., poll all the backbone sites via long
distance, I could probably not justify to my management how having USENET
benefitted my organization (in $$$). 

I do not think that the day is far off when backbone sites will not be able
to afford to forward certain newsgroups (especially when one hears about
layoffs, cutbacks and such at AT&T, which provides most of the backbone
sites).

Stargate is a responsible and commendable effort to lower the cost
of USENET, and to distribute its' cost more fairly.

USENET started, and continues as an experiment and a do-it-yourself project.
If you want some feature/service, it's ultimately up to YOU to provide it.
Remember: There is such a thing as a free lunch, but only for a while.
-- 
	Peter Kerrigan -- ..!ihnp4!tmq!peter