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>C O M P U T E R U N D E R G R O U N D<
>D I G E S T<
*** Volume 1, Issue #1.08 (May 9, 1990) **
****************************************************************************
MODERATORS: Jim Thomas / Gordon Meyer
REPLY TO: TK0JUT2@NIU.bitnet
COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of
diverse views.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent the
views of the moderators. Contributors assume all responsibility
for assuring that articles submitted do not violate copyright
protections.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
***************************************************************
*** Computer Underground Digest Issue #1.08 / File 4 of 5 ***
***************************************************************
Copyright (C) 1990, by BBS PRESS SERVICE, INC.
Copyright hereby waved by Alan R. Bechtold -- pass this article around at
will, including posting it on any BBS and online service!
==================
THE EDITOR SPEAKS:
==================
by Alan R. Bechtold
"Attack From Above..."
----------------------
It's happening all over. Telephone companies in Texas and Michigan and
Indiana are exerting their power over bulletin board operators, trying to
extort business rates out of anyone who runs a BBS -- whether the bulletin
boards are businesses or not. It could happen in YOUR state next.
A couple of weeks back I wrote about Variety 'N' Spice BBS in Michigan.
Michigan Bell decided that Variety 'N' Spice should pay business rates for its
phone lines and I agreed. They ran their system on a multitude of lines,
switched in rotary fashion, and in every sense of the word operated the BBS as
if it WERE a business. It was even listed as a "subdivision" of a publishing
company responsible for a regional computer magazine in the area.
I know the sysop of that board and like him a lot. This wasn't an easy stand
for me to take. Now I have a copy of the actual regulations covering
classification of telephone customers as business users and a letter from a
Michigan Regulation Officer at the Michigan Department of Commerce, explaining
those regulations in English (thanks, Dennis -- and to everyone who sent me
info on this).
It appears I was right.
Variety 'N' Spice, operating as a "subsidiary" of an actual company that
published a for-profit magazine, SHOULD have to pay business rates for the
telephone lines it used.
BUT, according to the letter I have, from Deborah Phipps, a Regulation
Officer in the Customer Complaint Section of the Michigan Department of
Commerce, "If bulletin boards or access to bulletin boards is provided to
calling parties at no charge other than that which may be associated with the
telephone call, and are not provided in conjunction with a business, a
profession, an institution or other occupation, then it would appear the
service should not be classified as a business."
The letter goes on.
"If, however, there is a charge associated with any level of access to the
bulletin board, whether the charge is rendered to cover costs or produce a
profit, then the service would be considered a business and classified as
such."
This means that if you run an open, free bulletin board in Michigan and it's
strictly a hobby and not associated with a business or organization of any
kind, you have a legitimate complaint if Michigan Bell tries to charge you
business rates for the phone lines you use.
To register specific complaints regarding such classifications, call the
Consumer Services Division of the Michigan Public Service Commission at
800/292-9555 or 517/334-6424.
Which brings me to Indiana.
Last week, Charles Bowen's A NETWORKER'S JOURNAL (right here in INFO-MAT)
reported that Indiana BBS sysops were being hit by GTE with a required
business rate charge for phone lines, regardless of whether the boards are run
as businesses or not. This is hitting many BBSes with a nearly 200 percent
increase in phone bills. It's an increase most can't afford or justify.
In specific, Bowen mentioned Indiana sysop Randy Wilson, who was among the
first to receive notice of the new increased rates.
This week, Bowen quotes CompuServe's Online Today, which quoted Wilson as
saying he has discontinued using Sprint (a GTE long-distance company) and
"strongly urges" his BBS users to discontinue their Sprint service and "go
with one of the other long-distance carriers."
Wilson operates a hobby BBS for which he makes NO charge for access. He told
Online Today that GTE refused to discuss the forced increase in business rates
so he no longer has any interest in their long-distance services.
I think Wilson's reaction is perfectly rational. We as bulletin board
operators and users must NOT back down on our resistance to paying business
rates for telephone lines just because a bulletin board is on them. They must
be BONA-FIDE BUSINESSES first, and not all BBSes are BUSINESSES!
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is telling sysops that "business
rates for home computer lines were approved in January."
Read that line again -- CAREFULLY. It sounds to me like the telephone
companies, if allowed to continue, don't intend to stop with just charging
business rates to bulletin boards. They eventually plan to charge business
rates to EVERYONE with a computer attached to their phone lines. That means
you won't be able to set up a separate phone line for your computer without
paying business rates for the line. That stinks.
So. I back Wilson's idea to boycott GTE (remember -- this is ME talking
here, not INFO-MAT or BBS PRESS SERVICE or any of our affiliate BBSes that
carry INFO-MAT). I personally support his idea and recommend that you follow
it.
If you disagree with GTE's stand against BBS operators in Indiana, Cancel
your SPRINT and GTE long-distance service and switch to other companies not
currently engaged in attempts to gouge computer users for use of their lines.
It will certainly make a strong statement of your feelings, in no uncertain
terms.
Also, if your local phone company is trying to charge bulletin board
operators (especially FREE hobby boards) business rates for the use of their
lines, let your local utility regulatory commission know you are outraged.
Lodge a formal protest if possible.
And -- I think it's time for us to put our money where our mouths are. I
have long advocated the need for a true national Modem Users Association. We
modem users -- sysops and BBS users alike -- are scattered far and wide,
linked by a variety of electronic mail systems and local and regional
associations, but not truly linked into a single, unified voice.
I've called for the formation of an organization that not only would link
with existing local and regional groups but also would stretch far beyond
their capabilities, and I've been waiting too long for it to happen.
I'm saying let's DO IT. NOW.
I'm willing to coordinate it, but it takes money to put something like this
together and all of you must be willing to come up with some money to get this
off the ground.
The organization I propose would act as a central clearing house for
information of interest to BBS users and operators, act as an umbrella linking
local and regional modem user groups into a nationwide network, and unify all
modem users and the services and systems they use.
It would also establish a lobbying effort in Washington to push for
legislation favorable to modem users and would fight, state-by-state, against
outrages rate increases and demands from telephone companies and other
entities.
Membership in such an organization would be open to individual modem users,
bulletin board sys