Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!snorkelwacker!spdcc!merk!xylogics!world!bzs From: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein) Newsgroups: news.misc Subject: Re: The Rape of Usenet Message-ID: <1989Dec21.232925.4400@world.std.com> Date: 21 Dec 89 23:29:25 GMT References: <946@crash.cts.com> <1989Dec21.000041.6034@ns.network.com> <1989Dec21.020140.24067@athena.mit.edu> Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die Lines: 40 In-Reply-To: jik@athena.mit.edu's message of 21 Dec 89 02:01:40 GMT All I can say is that it's mind-boggling to me that someone from a university is griping about people selling information. Astounding! Has MIT stopped charging tuition? Are they giving free usenet access to anyone who asks? Have they started doing their research for free? This has to be humor. I can see a gripe with genie's specific policies, but what about The World (us), The Well, Portal, UUNET, etc. Are you arguing that they should all cease to exist immediately? Are they selling *information* or are they selling access to their equipment? What's your real gripe? That they're not spending good, honest DOD research money and tuition dollars on their usenet access like MIT does? The hypocrisy inherent in some of your statements is truly awesome. You should meditate a little on what your gripes really are, I don't think it's some inherent immorality of taking money from someone so they can have the means of access to information. It might be their editorial policies etc, which might be justifiable. But someone at a university complaining that someone else is selling information? What's the problem? Trying to kill the competition? I think when you or I put something out on the net we do it because it might benefit someone (educational, informative, entertaining, whatever) no matter how they manage to get access to it. Just like when we publish an article in more conventional media, it's out there, it's gone. Who cares really? Why? Have you thought about all this even for one minute? I doubt it, it sure doesn't show. -- -Barry Shein Software Tool & Die, Purveyors to the Trade | bzs@world.std.com 1330 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02146, (617) 739-0202 | {xylogics,uunet}world!bzs