Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!ut-sally!pyramid!hplabs!hplabsc!taylor From: taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (Dave Taylor) Newsgroups: mod.comp-soc Subject: Re: French national computernet sex scandal!!! Message-ID: <655@hplabsc.UUCP> Date: Mon, 15-Sep-86 14:16:23 EDT Article-I.D.: hplabsc.655 Posted: Mon Sep 15 14:16:23 1986 Date-Received: Tue, 16-Sep-86 02:06:00 EDT Reply-To: seismo!mcvax!inria!sermage Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories Lines: 45 Approved: taylor@hplabs Reference: <650@hplabsc.UUCP> This article is from seismo!mcvax!inria!sermage (Philippe Sermage) and was received on Mon Sep 15 10:29:31 1986 [ slightly edited ] All of this is true, except the Minitel is not free everywhere yet. The telephone administration borrow a mini-terminal instead of a paper telephon catalog. You can use the terminal for free the first three minutes, after that you have to pay a small fee. Before that you got the papper telephone catalog for free only for a part of the country (a departement: there are 95 of them in France). After that there are 3 codes: 3613, 3614, 3615. The difference between the three numbers is the price and the utilities. The first one cost about 15 cents for 20 minutes - it is used for information about administration. The second one cost about the same price every 2 minutes. This is used for services like tourism information or mostly a service which is paid in another way mail selling, short information and so on. The third cost about 15 cents every 45 seconds 12$ by hour. With this one you can spell a lot, take contact under a pseudo with people, ask your bank about your contos, move money from one to another, do a train, a hotel, a boat, a restaurant reservation, read news classified advertissements in newspaper database. That is normal usage but if you want you can open a server - I don't know about the price an you get a standard TRANSPAC (French net) code. For the 3 codes if you're a server then most of them are private and you can sell subscriptions and give passwords to get in the server after that you do what you want. About the mini-terminal: it's realy mini because three keys are missing: CTRL ESC, and BREAK. The screen is 40 columns, 25 lines and the worst is that the system TELETEL works in block mode only. I don't know which computers are used to make the net working. Last year in June all the systems crashed because of the success, but after a summer with limited services it worked again. If you want more information just tell me - I can try to get it.