pkahn@meridian.ads.com (Phil Kahn) (05/03/88)
In article <4229@dasys1.UUCP> cheeser@dasys1.UUCP (Les Kay) writes: >In article <2962@saturn.ucsc.edu> alibaba@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Alexander M. Rosenberg) writes: >>This looks very much like an illegitimate use of USENET. This is blatant >>advertising! >> >>Please do not do this in the future. >> >It is odd. I've seen about 3 or 4 messages saying that my offer was a bad or >poor idea on my part and that the net should not be used for "This type of >thing." The administrator of one of the systems I use also recieved a few >letters. > >To those that missed the ad and would like it reposted or mailed, sorry, but >due to the sentiments of some of the users of the net, it won't be ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Look, I've avoided this fray, but clearly Cheeser doesn't seem to grasp what's going on here, and it seems time for a little NET usage discussion. Cheeser makes it sound that there is a group on the net who is responsible for disliking his posting and forsaking others that found it of interest. Maybe so, but that is entirely irrelevant. If Cheeser hasn't noticed, many of the networks he uses to disseminate his messages are free to him. The operation of these nets (e.g., ARPA) is assumed by some agency or group which is willing to bear the expense of the net. One of the restrictions (particularly on ARPA), is that postings be of an informational, and not commercial, nature. The logic is that if you're to make money, why should they support part of your operational expenses. Here's the punchline. If these networks see commercial postings proliferate, they can suspend that digest or newsgroup. So if Cheeser got jumped on (deservedly, I think), it is because his behavior threatens the continued existence of these very important net newsgroups. In part to defend itself against continued violations, I have heard of individuals purposely removed from a network by its administrators because of chronic user disregard for net protocol; this only serves to further divide the user community since censure is universally an abhorrent activity. So if Cheeser doesn't like the rules, he should consider writing his postings more delicately or spending a few million to build and support a network system.