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From: steve@thelake.UUCP (Steve Yelvington)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,news.misc
Subject: Re: USENET -> GEnie uplink now working
Message-ID: <1120891450065830@thelake.UUCP>
Date: 20 Dec 89 20:50:06 GMT
References: <15097@well.UUCP> <935@crash.cts.com>
Reply-To: thelake!steve@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu
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(In regard to the availability of Usenet postings on GEnie) ...
In article <935@crash.cts.com>,
     canada@crash.cts.com (Diane Barlow Close) writes ... 

>Hmmm, I don't think this is very fair to the Usenet community, and I, for
>one, object to Usenet being used in such a commercial way.  I have no
>objection to two-way *mail* links, but I seriously object to all my
>postings appearing on GEnie or other commercial networks.  I think,
>perhaps, the Usenet ``etiquette'' gods may have something to say about all
>this as well.

An argument could be mounted that Usenet has no gods, only a handful of
people who occasionally lapse into delusions of godhood. :-) The best
description of Usenet that I have heard is "barely controlled chaos."

What is wrong with GEnie making the data available?

Is it that GEnie makes a profit? By far the majority of Usenet sites are 
for-profit companies. Or at least they *try* to make a profit.

Is it that GEnie charges for access to the data? That standard would
equally condemn WELL, Portal and even Crash Timesharing (pnet01 charges
for access, according to the nixpub listing). And the universities
certainly tend to charge a pretty stiff tuition these days. So scratch
them, too.

Is it that GEnie somehow prevents free access to the data? Consider that
most corporate Usenet sites don't allow *any* public access. GE makes it
available to more people, not less.

>What I object to the most is the fact that the link is one way (and will
>stay that way due to GEnie's commercial nature).  I don't like Usenet being
>``raped'' to supply GEnie's commercial pockets.  If GEnie is that ``tapped
>out'' for knowledge that they are desperate enough to plunder Usenet, then
>perhaps GEnie should be disbanded.

Plunder is a pretty strong word. Usenet, as in "the community of users who
have agreed to freely share data," is not diminished. On the contrary, it
is GEnie that is at risk. As more people become aware of Usenet, they may
choose to patronize one of the many public-access Unix systems rather than
the controlled, centralized, regimented -- and commercial -- services.

-- 
   Steve Yelvington at the (frozen enough to skate!) lake in Minnesota
   UUCP: ... pwcs.StPaul.GOV!stag!thelake!steve