[11729] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: The unwashed masses invade the Internet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Gary Bolles (via RadioMail))
Fri Apr 15 23:16:40 1994
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 1994 08:32:37 PDT
From: Gary Bolles (via RadioMail) <gbolles@radiomail.net>
Reply-To: gbolles@nwc.com
Cc: stahlman@radiomail.net, dbuck@world.std.com, stevec@aol.com,
opfer@radiomail.net, gbolles@radiomail.net, ggilder@mcimail.com,
spiff@radiomail.net, fnelson@radiomail.net, jswatz@well.sf.ca.us,
kgs@panix.com, rothman@netcom.com, brodsky@radiomail.net
To: frezza@radiomail.net, com-priv@psi.com, farber@central.cis.upenn.edu,
gnu@toad.com, barlow@eff.org, interesting-people@eff.org
Migawd, Frez, you cc'd somebody at AOL. Be prepared for a flame wave...
I think we're in the midst of a cultural influx unlike any we've seen before;
cyber-anthropologists will be studying the overnight destruction of the
Internet "community" for years. The average 'netter is soon going to feel like
an innocent Polynesian islander whose idyllic social structure gets trashed by
capitalism's "mature" constructs. Once protocols like secure Mosaic become
widely distributed, there may not be a free WWW server as far as the packet can
see...
I named our cover story in January "The Internet Gold Rush", not because I felt
there was money to be made, but because of the similarity in process and
effect. We all know that hardly anybody's going to be making much money for a
while (except the access providers, if they don't have to keep cycling their
hard-earned sheckels back into expanding their infrastructure), but then
neither does the average Jane or Joe in a gold rush, either.
gB
----- Forwarded Message
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 1994 07:10:22 PDT
>From: Bill Frezza (via RadioMail) <frezza@radiomail.net>
Subject: The unwashed masses invade the Internet
To: com-priv@psi.com, farber@central.cis.upenn.edu, gnu@toad.com,
barlow@eff.org, interesting-people@eff.org
Cc: stahlman@radiomail.net, dbuck@world.std.com, stevec@aol.com,
opfer@radiomail.net, gbolles@radiomail.net, ggilder@mcimail.com,
spiff@radiomail.net, fnelson@radiomail.net, jswatz@well.sf.ca.us,
kgs@panix.com, rothman@netcom.com, brodsky@radiomail.net
Well, so much for the vaunted egalitarian desire to
open up the Information Superhighway to The People. Good Lord, can you
imagine letting anyone on the net whose only credentials are that they can
come up with $9.95 per month!
I guess it's easy to be a champion for
the underprivileged - until they
move into your neighborhood.
This calls for an immediate congressional inquiry!
Bill Frezza
frezza@radiomail.net
----- Forwarded Message
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 94 09:16:55
>From: Information Broadcasting <IBC%IBCMHS1@infocite.com>
Subject: Daily Industry News: Telecommunications
To: <frezza@radiomail.net>
DECISIONLINE/Telecommunications
USA TODAY Update
April 14, 1994
Source: USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network
INTERNET UNHAPPY WITH NEWCOMERS:
Some veterans of Internet say they're fed up with the
boorishness of newcomers from America Online. The fast-growing
on-line service began offering wider Internet access to its
700,000 members Feb. 28, opening the gates to hordes of novices.
They have upset the staid Internet culture, established by its
original users: Scientists, engineers and computer experts.
AMERICA ONLINE FACES BAN:
Some Internet members say newcomers from American Online are
posting Internet notes without learning the unwritten rules. There
have been threats by operators of some Internet sites to ban
access by anyone from America Online, which is obvious by their
e-mail address. There are rumors of programmers using electronic
trickery to flood offenders with "junk" e-mail.
