224 lines
9.9 KiB
Plaintext
224 lines
9.9 KiB
Plaintext
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PPP
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Proudly Present
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Another
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Phucked Phreak Production
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*708/808-7629** Friday March 15, 1991 7:21:28 PM **Vol #8*
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** **
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* Computing Society:Part II *
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** **
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* Written By:The Wizard *
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** **
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* CopyMUCH 1991 (M) Phucked Phreak Productions *
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*************************************************************************
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"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
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prohibitting the free excercise thereof; or abbridging the freedom of
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speech or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to
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assemble, and to petition the Goverment for a redress of grievances"
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Under the above Law set forth in the First Amendment To The Constution
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Of The United States Of America, The Author releases this work into the
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pubic domain for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.
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** Introduction **
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This is part two of the "Computing Society" series. Views herein are mine
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and not yours.
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** Computing Society II **
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So here you are, sitting there staring at your local BBS wondering to
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yourself, "What the hell does this idiot have to say now? Or, what doesn't
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he have to say."
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I've got lots to say.
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For one thing, in the time since I last wrote for you, lots of things
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happened.
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In Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the sysop of The Variety & Spice BBS was
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ordered to pay business rates for each of his board's sixteen lines. This
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would've amounted to about $50 of additional costs each month. This isn't
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all a business line requires, however.
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To operate a business line, you also must pay a $100 deposit on each line.
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So, the sysop would've have to pay a $1600 balloon payment, in addition to
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an additional fifty some odd dollars per month.
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The reason that Michigan Bell provided was like this: Since the system had
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a section that was not open to the public, and required a donation for
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access, the sysop was recieving money and was therefore operating a
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business.
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That's a little unfair, wouldn't you say?
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For one thing, have you heard of any privately run commercial boards that
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are making any profit? I've heard of ONE. It's some board in Millwaukee
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that has like fifty lines and 10 IBM 386's connected to it. The sysop says
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that the system "pays the bills".
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A BBS system run by a private citizen is a hobby. Plain and simple. Ask
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any sysop around. Every damn one of them will tell you that he runs his
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board to serve the public, as a hobby, or just for the hell of it. I defy
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you to find one board (besides the one in Milwaukee. Fact is, if you find
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a sysop like that, send me mail at the adress below, and you'll be
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special.) run by a guy on a PC that is set up to make money. It just
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doesn't happen. You see, there are so many free systems around that fees
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just shrink your userfile. That's it. (Unless you're in an area where
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there are a LOT of stupid people, like Milwaukee. <grynne>)
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So here's another abuse that Modem/Computer people have to take. And why?
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A BBS does not hurt Telco equiptment. The line just sits there taking
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calls. This makes the telco even MORE MONEY.
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So I want to know, WHAT THE FUCK IS THEIR PROBLEM?
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They're making money. They're making LOTS of money. I personally send
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them anywhere from $85, to $150 a month. So why can't they be content with
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that? Because they're greedy.
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That's human nature. It's also human nature to screw with the weakest
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looking individual/group around.
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So, why don't we stop letting ourselves be the weakest group around?
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Why don't we start kicking ass? The NRA can do it and most of their
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members' parents are brother and sister. If you're reading this, you're
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probably a reasonably intelligent individual. Get some computer buddies
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together, get a six pack and a pizza, (and if you're under 21, that six
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pack had BETTER be of Coke, <grynne>, we wouldn't want anyone drinking
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underage...) and start a club to lobby Washington and to protect our
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rights.
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Obviously, a BBS isn't a business, so let's get some laws on the books to
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back us up.
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An interesting note on the progress of the Variety & Spice story. The
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sysop showed up to the hearing. He was totally unprepared. He intended to
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"wing it" before the Michigan Public Service commission. He, of course,
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lost. Simply because he sounded like an asshole.
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He said he planned to refile at a later date.
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So, why don't you right now give bonehead a call and see to it that he does
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refile his complaint, and that he tries to WIN this time, instead of lose.
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** Variety & Spice Sysop is available at 313/885-8377 **
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Remember to call.
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Why?
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In case you haven't noticed THIS SOCIETY NEEDS AN ENEMA. Why should we
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leave it for someone else to do? Why shouldn't the Intellectually Elite
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people in America sit down and defend everyone's rights? Besides the fact
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that chess team is taking a lot of your time, why? There aren't any good
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reasons. This in itself should show you that this is a worthwhile causes
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People shouldn't have to put up with this type of shit.
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This society needs an enema, let's give it to them.
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Start groups. Hold meetings. Get together, and talk about what you feel.
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Then sit down and write your congress-slug a letter.
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Did you vote in the last election? Why the hell not? If you legally
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can't, disregard this tirade, otherwise, READ IT!
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Every American citizen has the right to vote in all elections in this
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nation. DO IT. This is your voice in government. When you see someone put
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a bill before the congress that tramples on people's rights, DON'T VOTE FOR
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THEM NEXT TIME AROUND. Tell your freinds what you feel. You have the
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right to change this nation. Use it before someone figures out a way to
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revoke your right to vote.
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People will do this, trust me. At the moment, I can't think of an instance
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in the past where this has happened, but logically, it's going to. Unless
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you do something NOW.
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On an entirely different note...
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DON'T USE PRODIGY. THEY'RE ADDING A SURCHARGE FOR SOMETHING THAT SHOULD
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BE FREE.
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Recently, Prodigy decided to pull a real fast one on it's customers by
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starting to charge for sending E-mail, AND NOT TELLING A GODDAM SOUL.
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This is in itself would be deemed bad business by some, and bad manners
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by others, BUT, when people spoke out against it on prodigy's chatter
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SIG, things got really hairy.
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Seems the sysop at Prodigy liked the idea of editing, deleting, or just
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generally fucking with the contents of some people's messages.
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Isn't this un-American? I think so. I pay my $4.95 a month, I expect
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the right to say that Frank's new system of email surcharges really
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bites my ass.
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Of course, this didn't start off as soon as people began complaining.
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It started when action groups against the email policy demanded their
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own SIG to discuss the problems of email surcharging.
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THAT was when the sysop got really pissed off. He began deleting,
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censoring, and editing messages from the leaders of these groups.
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Then it got reported to the AP Wire, and real quick, Prodigy found
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itself in trouble up to it's asshole.
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Prodigy STILL charges for email, but it's now clearly stated in all of
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their propaganda, and online.
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That's why I say you should take the time to find a local
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Usenet/Internet site and learn to use it properly. It's got more access
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points than Prodigy can ever hope to have, and most of all, IT'S FREE.
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(It's free in a lot of cases, but for others, it isn't free. It's still
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cheaper in the end than Prodigy because I can garauntee that there's a
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site that's an A call to you. As opposed to Prodigy, where the nearest
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dial-up for me is a C call. Real convenient guys.)
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** Last But Not LAST **
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Well, this is the end of this installment. At the moment, I have to
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apologize, but I'm taking an indefinite hiatus from writing the
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Computing Society series. I am beginning to undertake some fiction
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efforts, as well as needing to devote more time to my bass. So there
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you go.
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_______________________________________________________________________
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/ \
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| Jackass BBS............PPP Homebase..708/808-7629...85 Meg/USR HST |
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| The Cage.............................708/945-3665...Cool Board, CALL |
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| Ripco Interational.....Classic board.312/528-5020...CALL NOW |
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\_______________________________________________________________________/
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To join our writing staff, call The Jackass BBS at the above number and
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send Spanky some mail. later.
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: NIRVANAnet(tm)
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Jeff Hunter 510-935-5845
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Rat Head Ratsnatcher 510-524-3649
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408-363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 415-567-7043
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 415-583-4102
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Specializing in conversations, obscure information, high explosives,
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arcane knowledge, political extremism, diversive sexuality,
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insane speculation, and wild rumours. ALL-TEXT BBS SYSTEMS.
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Full access for first-time callers. We don't want to know who you are,
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where you live, or what your phone number is. We are not Big Brother.
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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