Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!looking!brad From: brad@looking.UUCP Newsgroups: news.stargate Subject: Stargate is a hybrid, a broadcast common carrier Message-ID: <764@looking.UUCP> Date: Wed, 25-Mar-87 12:28:49 EST Article-I.D.: looking.764 Posted: Wed Mar 25 12:28:49 1987 Date-Received: Fri, 27-Mar-87 00:41:38 EST References: <1369@ncc.UUCP> Reply-To: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) Organization: Looking Glass Software Ltd. Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 68 This is the crux of stargate, and why it isn't covered well under existing law. Stargate makes economic sense because it transmits the same information from 1 author to hundreds, or thousands, of recipients. It can do this efficiently because it uses one broadcast channel to do so. While this broadcast technology is necessary, the information is not being sent to the general public. In addition, stargate does not generate or own the information. As such they seem like a common carrier. What stargate does is, for a fee, move information from one author to a wide range of recipients. So they are a one to many common carrier. If people are free to receive the information without paying an appropriate share of the cost, then the system will not work. If the carrier is liable for the contents of the transmissions, it will have trouble working, too. The real solution is to use a poster-pays scheme with a reverse charges facility. If the poster pays for a message, then it becomes clear who is responsible for the message. Plus there is no problem collecting for the efficient transmission. Plus it discourages people from posting crap just to satisfy their own egos Now a poster pays system, which would have been the best thing from day 1, won't work in today's net. For it to work, each poster would have to authorize possible payment, and most posters will be unaware of stargate mechanisms, and possibly even its existence. A reverse charges (collect) scheme is the ideal solution. In such a scheme, authorized recipients agree to accept materials collect under certain circumstances. The most common circumstance would be, "if it is approved by a moderator I like." Other circumstances could be automated. For example, you could accept anything you like collect, except if it matches certain patterns. Patterns might include "is posted by X" or "contains the word Y" or "follows up article Z". Thus if you post an article, one of the following things must happen: 1) A sufficient number of subscribers must be willing to accept it collect, either because a) It was approved by a moderator, or b) enough people already accept it collect. 2) You pay for the transmission (I guess about $5 - does the Stargate "team" want to work out what it would really cost, both at the artificially low price and with real satellite costs?) 3) The article doesn't go via satellite. Since only a few people (or none) want to read it, it is more efficient to send it by landlines or other means. The above scheme doesn't require that you have an agreement with Stargate. It simply requires that you have one if you want to post articles through the satellite that nobody has expressed an interest in paying for.o Now, recipient customers have to agree to pay for what they receive collect. Collect charges would equal the cost of transmission divided by the number of recipients. It's in everybody's interest to increase the official number of billed recipients, but in nobody's interest to increase the number of official recipients at their own site. For this, people will just have to be honest, or bound by contract into honesty. It's a lot like stealing software. In this case, however, you are not paying for the information. You are paying the sender's transmission bill. -- Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473