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From: cc1@locus.ucla.edu (Michael Gersten)
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: Re: How to Defeat the Backbone Cabal in your Spare Time
Message-ID: <2228@curly.ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 21-Oct-86 04:03:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: curly.2228
Posted: Tue Oct 21 04:03:55 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 22-Oct-86 22:30:30 EDT
References: <2633@garfield.UUCP> <2129@curly.ucla-cs.ARPA> <2762@garfield.UUCP>
Reply-To: occ4mgk@oac.ucla.edu, cc1@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU (Michael Gersten)
Distribution: world
Organization: Ucla Computer Club (disclaimer)
Lines: 46
Summary: Hidden costs

You really think we should charge the users for posting? Ok, I'll save
my money and not post any sources or bianaries.
 
 
Seriously, this is the very area where pure capitalism breaks down:
hidden costs. If the immediate cost is higher than the immediate value,
you don't do something. No individual in his right mind would pay for
defense if it was optional, since the money could be put to better use
elsewhere. Etc. Dito for education ("If you think education is expensive,
try ignorance"). This is why we have a government, and why we have a
fair amount (too much?) welfare.

Now, you want to charge the individual users/sites. OK, so no user will
post things like sources, since they don't pay back the cost. Result?
Charge the site. But the site doesn't earn anything, so they won't
allow it. Where does it end?

One possibility: charge the reader. The problem is: how? The cost to the site
is inpedendent of # of readers, so the cost would vary based on how many
people read. Or you could charge an average amount on a per newsgroup basis.
This might actually work; however, it discriminates against users at small
institutions in favor of large (economies of scale). There is also the
problem that not everyone has access to a large institution that lets them
read news. Yes, I know its a privilege, but if we start charging, then
users attitudes might start changing. They might regard it as another
compuserve, and consider their use in a similar maner (i.e. What do you
mean I can't use it? I can pay, right?)
 
I actually got the news source (2.10.3 beta), and found that you can prohibit
specific users...nice. So I was wrong about that. 
 
And as for the $50-$150, if you listen to the horror stories that float
out from (apparently) the backbone, that is what the average site should
be paying to distribute the news. I didn't say we would post $50 worth
of news--but if we had to pay for phone costs to receive 1.5 meg a day
(even if we only get around .5 meg a day by restricting news groups), that
adds up.
 
Remember: the cost to a node isn't related to how much is posted by that
node. Total volume is.

			Michael Gersten
p.s. Why does inews core dump on sys3 Xenix? Anyone gotten it to work on such
a beast? (in insert(), while getting the date, environ gets trashed)
      Views expressed here may not be those of the Computer Club, UCLA, or
  anyone in their left OR right mind.  And that's the name o' that tune.