roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith) (11/16/90)
> I personally think that the omission of GTE is one huge glaring error > (among soooo many) of the MFJ. OK, I give up. What's MFJ a TLA (Three Letter Acronym) for? Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016 roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu -OR- {att,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy [Moderator's Note: MFJ = Modified Final Judgment, i.e. what Harold, in his, uh, wisdom issued in the process of busting up the Bell System. Judge Harold Greene delivered himself of his ruling (the MFJ) back in 1983. He has modified the judgment a few times since then. PAT]
ellisndh@uunet.uu.net (Dell H. Ellison) (11/21/90)
> OK, I give up. What's MFJ a TLA (Three Letter Acronym) for?
An acronym is an abbreviation that makes a word (e.g. NASA, HUD,
MADD). MFJ and TLA are just three letter abbreviations.
[Moderator's Note: But since when were 'nasa' and 'hud' actual words?
And since when was 'mad' spelled 'madd'? Did you mean to say that
simple abbreviations convert to acronyms once people start pronouncing
the letter combination as they sound? In that case MFJ = muffjuh and
TLA = t'lah. So there! :) True Acronyms: 'Zip' Code, as in <Z>one
<I>mprovement <P>lan; 'Care' was a charitable organization after World
War II, as in <C>ommittee on <A>merican <R>elief in <E>urope. PAT] ericb@mango.atherton.com (Eric Black) (12/06/90)
>> OK, I give up. What's MFJ a TLA (Three Letter Acronym) for? >[Moderator's Note: MFJ = Modified Final Judgment ...] I always thought it was "Mother F****** Judge" :-) Eric Black Not a big fan of the breakup. Atherton Technology, 1333 Bordeaux Dr., Sunnyvale, CA, 94089 Email: ericb@Atherton.COM Voice: +1 408 734 9822 [Moderator's Guffaw: Whew! I hope you don't mind the asterisks in your message, but this is a family Digest -- I have to keep it clean. One of the rules around here for a long time during my predecessor's tenure in the middle eighties was 'Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of Judge Greene in Vain'. Jon Solomon did not set that rule, but he tended to observe it rather than answer to the high-priests of telecom for publishing heresy in the Digest. I get a lot of mail like yours -- far more than I print -- from people angry at what is finally beginning to become quite obvious: the telephone network in the USA is going to (bleep) in a handbasket. What took a century to build and refine, a judge killed with the stroke of a pen. PAT]
john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) (12/07/90)
On Dec 6 at 0:08, TELECOM Moderator writes: > the telephone network in the USA is > going to (bleep) in a handbasket. What took a century to build and > refine, a judge killed with the stroke of a pen. PAT] There are obvious examples confirming your point of view, but there are (IMHO) many more examples of benefits that most certainly would never have seen the light of day if stodgy old AT&T was still the head of the church. I know my bank account is a little fatter as a result of the MFJ. When "The Phone Company" did EVERYTHING, non-telco designers, manufacturers, and consultants were unheard of. So how have we benefitted? Well, I'd like to compare your two-line "twist knob" phone to my Panasonic KX-T1232. Or maybe a "Dataphone" 300bps modem to one of my Trailblazers (which would have been forbidden for me to hook up in the old days). My long distance calls go through faster, more reliably, and sound better then in the pre-MFJ era. Is this the stuff of which handbaskets are made? Pac*Bell, as bad as it is, is MUCH more responsive to my wishes and needs than it ever was as Pacific Telephone. (Repair is faster, needed less often, and the people are much more open about how it all works.) AT&T now BEGS for my business. In the pre-MFJ their arrogance knew no bounds. In fact, I use several long distance companies--each providing certain benefits. Does all of this require more public education to reap the benefits? You bet. What doesn't these days? But with the exception of COCOTs, I find telephone service now to be superior by a quantum leap to that which existed before the gospel of the famous Judge. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
ericb@mango.atherton.com (Eric Black) (12/11/90)
In TELECOM Digest V10 #867, I wrote: >I always thought it [MFJ] was "Mother F****** Judge" :-) And the Moderator wrote: >[Moderator's Guffaw: Whew! I hope you don't mind the asterisks in your >message, but this is a family Digest -- I have to keep it clean. I'd like it noted that my original posting indeed had the asterisks (and the smiley). Contrary to the impression given by the Moderator's comment, no editing of my message was required, and none was made. I assumed that TELECOM readers could count asterisks as needed. Also, the "J" could stand for either "Judge" or "Judgment", depending on the listener/reader... Eric Black "Garbage in, Gospel out" Atherton Technology, 1333 Bordeaux Dr., Sunnyvale, CA, 94089 Email: ericb@Atherton.COM Voice: +1 408 734 9822 [Moderator's Confession: Mr. Black is correct. No editing was required of his earlier message, but I couldn't resist the temptation for a little fun. Actually, everyone knows MFJ means Modified Final Joke. PAT]