[11285] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Please release me!!!!
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Hans-Werner Braun)
Mon Mar 28 10:29:22 1994
From: hwb@upeksa.sdsc.edu (Hans-Werner Braun)
To: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 94 14:59:11 PST
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: <199403262151.AA18692@world.std.com>; from "Barry Shein" at Mar 26, 94 4:51 pm
Barry:
I symphasize with your view, and it is very well taken in general.
However, nobody had asked PSI to provide the service, they rather
volunteered. In fact, my recollection is that it was rather self
serving for them to set it up back then. They even keep the membership
secret (can't do EXPN), remember?
Anyway. Say, hypothetically, in some small underfunded town I am
volunteeing to be firefighter. Other people in that town would be happy
to see someone care so much. They start depending on the volunteers,
whether they are paid for or not. Now a fire starts out and I say "I
just wanted to be volunteer firefighter, I have no interest getting my
tailfeathers burned in a real fire, though." You'd say that's fair
game and level playing field, I guess?
Of course, managing mailing lists, anonymous FTP servers, WWW servers,
and all that good stuff is real work and should not be perceived as a
spare time effort. People should just not pretend they will provide a
service and raise expectations unless they are prepared to follow
through on it. Even if they are not liable, its still bad for their
nerves and reputation. Most "users" on "the net" don't know what and
who is paid and how anyway. For them the perceived freeness in goods
is hidden. May be mailing lists should insert a disclaimer in the mail
headers, like "this electronic marvel is brought to do out of the
volunteered pure goodness of the hearts of all of the PSI staff;
however, as nobody is paying for it, we may choose to do with it
whatever we please, including abandoning the service."
Hans-Werner
