Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!ut-sally!utastro!osi3b2!james
From: james@osi3b2.UUCP (James R. Van Artsdalen)
Newsgroups: net.mail,net.news.config,net.news.newsite,net.net-people
Subject: Re: Looking for Chicago Usenet Access
Message-ID: <192@osi3b2.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 12-Sep-86 03:48:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: osi3b2.192
Posted: Fri Sep 12 03:48:38 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 15-Sep-86 20:49:56 EDT
References: <964@hou2g.UUCP> <5082@cbrma.UUCP>
Organization: Origin Systems Inc.
Lines: 46
Summary: Charging a fee is OK.
Xref: mnetor net.mail:1176 net.news.config:466 net.news.newsite:403 net.net-people:789

In article <5082@cbrma.UUCP>, ask@cbrma.UUCP (A.S.Kamlet) writes:
> :
> :
> Is that right?  Does chinet charge a subscription fee to let people
> join the net?  And is ihnp4 its link?   I sort of got the idea that
> this was a non-commercial net.
> -- 
> Art Kamlet   AT&T Bell Laboratories  Columbus  {cbosgd | ihnp4}!cbrma!ask

The fee is $50/year.  usenet is not a non-commercial net in the sense that
there is a prohibition against charging fees.  There can't be: SOMEONE has
to pay the bills.  AT&T is paying yours according to the Organization line in
your message.  Remember, in real life There Ain't No Free Lunch.  Never.
Somebody somewhere always pays the bills.  A good analogy would be roads.
Just because you don't stick a quarter in a toll both on every road doesn't
mean someone isn't spending a lot of money on the roads you drive on.

Here's a quick estimate of what Randy pays to run chinet.  His fixed one time
costs for his system are ~$12,000 for the computer, $2000 for extra RAM,
$1500 for serial ports, $3500 for a tape backup, $2400 for modems and $4000
for hard disk drives.  Phone installation was probably another couple hundred
for the half dozen lines or so he has.  And I'm sure there are other fixed
expenses I missed.  Ongoing expenses would include a couple hundred a month
in phones line charges, service contracts and insurance.  I'm sure there are
expenses I'm missing here, and you can bet his boss doesn't give him paid
time off to keep the thing running.  I'm confident that he got the package
for less than this, but you get the idea.  Balance those costs against revenues
of less than $5000.  His /etc/passwd for contributors (non-contributors are
chroot'd into a separate area) is 113 lines long, and that figure includes
many uucico and administrative logins that don't count as income.  chinet is
run in the basement of his home.  There is no big company paying for it.  Try
writing that check for the $25,000 up front expenses and you'll see why he
charges a fee.  At least it's a flat fee and not a line-time charge or some
such nonsense.

chinet doesn't have a link with ihnp4 by accident: I understand that chinet
indirectly feeds news to much or most of the Chicago area and thereby takes a
fair load off of ihnp4, which needs no more loading down.  The chinet!ihnp4
link is very much to the advantage of ihnp4.

For comparison, try walking into the UT computation center and asking for an
account on ut-sally.  They'll tell you that state law prohibits them from
giving you an account.  So you'd have to buy a professor a chair for
$1 million or so to get your mail & news.  At $50 chinet is a bargain.  :-)
-- 
James R. Van Artsdalen    ...!decvax!dartvax!osi3b2!james    Live Free or Die