MVM@cup.portal.COM (11/28/88)
Looks like Telenet has finally made good on its promise to block access to the Detroit prefix on which RCP/M Royal Oak is connected. (I get nothing but BUSY responses from the PC-P outdial when trying Royal Oak, but a call placed at the same time long distance rings.) I'll be contacting Telenet protesting; BFD. Need to pass the word and get a letter writing campaign going. --Mark V. Miller mvm@cup.portal.com
Mike_W_Ryan@cup.portal.com (12/04/88)
Why on earth would Telenet want to block that exchange? I have used it extensively in the past and found it very valuable. Did Roayal Oak ask for this? I have another beef with PCP. Since the addition of another area code (508) in Boston area, some exchanges that used to be accessible are now not. Rats!
raf@cup.portal.com (Robert A Freed) (12/06/88)
MVM@cup.portal.com (Mark V. Miller) writes: >Looks like Telenet has finally made good on its promise to block >access to the Detroit prefix on which RCP/M Royal Oak is connected. >I'll be contacting Telenet protesting; BFD. Need to pass the word >and get a letter writing campaign going. Following is a public letter to Telenet's Dave Purks, which I posted in the Outdial Services Product Manager's area of the PC Pursuit Net Exchange BBS. I am reproducing it on this list in the hope it may inspire others who share Mark's concerns. -- Bob Freed raf@cup.portal.com -----cut here----- No. 56 12/05/88 13:15:52 From: Bob Freed To: David Purks Subject: (R) MIDET Message class: Public Message base: prod Dave, I realize you must receive dozens of messages daily on the subject of the recent changes in PC Pursuit outdial exchange restrictions, e.g. in the suburban Detroit (MIDET) area. And I have seen Telenet's "stock" response about the high costs of nonlocal outdial connections and the long-available list of supported exchanges in the EXCHANGE.TXT file. However, I would like to remind you of a message I sent you nearly a year ago (on the "old" Net Exchange), regarding one particular BBS in the MIDET area. That BBS is Keith Petersen's and Bob Clyne's RCP/M Royal Oak, at 313/759-6569. "Royal Oak" is one of the oldest and most prestigious continuously-functioning BBS systems in the country. It is a non-profit, non-passworded system, dedicated solely to file transfer of public domain software for those interested in the CP/M operating system (and its derivatives) for 8-bit microcomputers. Sysop Keith Petersen's name should be familiar to you. He is the original author of XMODEM, the CP/M program which contributed the popular name to Ward Christensen's ubiquitous file transfer protocol. And Keith is the longtime overseer of the MS-DOS and CP/M public domain archives on the SIMTEL20 mainframe computer at White Sands Missile Range, which provides free file transfer service to thousands of users on the DARPA Internet network. Keith also moderates several prominent ARPA mailing lists which are gatewayed to tens of thousands of systems connected through the worldwide USENET network. I wish to plead special consideration for this particular BBS system due to its singular importance to the CP/M user community. The number of quality remote access systems which cater to CP/M users has dwindled substantially in recent years. The accessibility of RCP/M Royal Oak via PC Pursuit service has been a real boon to the many Telenet customers nationwide who still operate "antique" 8-bit systems (and who do not have access to the aforementioned private networks). The Royal Oak system serves as a major central distribution point for new CP/M-based software, in large part because of Telenet access which (until just recently) has been available since the inception of PC Pursuit service. While the loss of a single outdial exchange might have little effect on (for example) IBM-PC/MS-DOS system users, it has a major impact on the declining population of CP/M users. In your reply to my earlier message on this subject (prior to installation of the 313-759 exchange restriction), you indicated that you would "keep that exchange in mind when I begin programming the block outs." I don't know if that was simply politeness on your part, or if my request was overlooked among the many others you have received. But if it is at all possible to program the outdial restrictors to allow special access to an individual BBS system, you could not find a system which is more deserving of special consideration than RCP/M Royal Oak. And many hundreds of PC Pursuit subscribers will be gratified by restoration of access to this important system, upon which we have come to rely during nearly three years of continuous service. Please pass this message on to Peter Naleszkiewicz, and thank you for any consideration you or he may be able to provide in this matter. Very truly yours, (Bob) Robert A. Freed Newton Centre, MA 5 December 1988
mem@zinn.MV.COM (Mark E. Mallett) (12/07/88)
In article <KPETERSEN.12451351150.BABYL@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL> MVM@cup.portal.COM writes: >Looks like Telenet has finally made good on its promise to block >access to the Detroit prefix on which RCP/M Royal Oak is connected. Can you explain this promise, its source, and the background behind it? -mm- -- Mark E. Mallett Zinn Computer Co/ PO Box 4188/ Manchester NH/ 03103 Bus. Phone: 603 645 5069 Home: 603 424 8129 BIX: mmallett uucp: mem@zinn.MV.COM ( ...{decvax|elrond|harvard}!zinn!mem ) Northern MA and Southern NH consultants: Ask me about MV.COM