Ken Levitt <levitt@zorro9.fidonet.org> (12/26/89)
This article is reposted from Fidonet and may be of interest to
Telecom readers.
============================================================================
Date: Sat Dec 23 1989 12:51:24
From: Jack Lohman
To: All
Subj: FCC PROBLEMS
MOBILIZE!
=========
Two years ago the FCC tried and (with your help and letters of
protest) failed to institute regulations that would impose additional
costs on modem users for data communications.
Now, they are at it again. A new regulation that the FCC is quietly
working on will directly affect you as the user of a computer and
modem. The FCC proposes that users of modems should pay extra charges
for use of the public telephone network which carry their data. In
addition, computer network services such as CompuServ, Tymnet, &
Telenet would also be charged as much as $6.00 per hour per user for
use of the public telephone network. These charges would very likely
be passed on to the subscribers. The money is to be collected and
given to the telephone company in an effort to raise funds lost to
deregulation.
Jim Eason of KGO newstalk radio (San Francisco, Ca) commented on the
proposal during his afternoon radio program during which, he said he
learned of the new regulation in an article in the New York Times.
Jim took the time to gather the addresses which are given below.
Here's what you should do (NOW!):
1- Pass this information on. Download MOBILIZE.ZIP which contains the
text you are reading now. Find other BBS's that are not carrying
this information. Upload the ASCII text into a public message on the
BBS, and also upload the file itself so others can easily get a copy
to pass along.
2- Print out three copies of the letter which follows (or write your
own) and send a signed copy to each of the following:
Chairman of the FCC
1919 M Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554
Chairman, Senate Communication Subcommittee
SH-227 Hart Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Chairman, House Telecommunication Subcommittee
B-331 Rayburn Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Here's the suggested text of the letter to send:
Dear Sir,
Please allow me to express my displeasure with the FCC proposal
which would authorize a surcharge for the use of modems on the
telephone network. This regulation is nothing less than an attempt to
restrict the free exchange of information among the growing number of
computer users. Calls placed using modems require no special telephone
company equipment, and users of modems pay the phone company for use
of the network in the form of a monthly bill. In short, a modem call
is the same as a voice call and therefore should not be subject to any
additional regulation.
Sincerely,
[your name, address and signature]
It is important that you act now. The bureaucrats already have it in
their heads that modem users should subsidize the phone company and
are now listening to public comment. Please stand up and make it clear
that we will not stand for any government restriction on the free
exchange of information.
Thanks for your help.
========================== End of FidoNet Posting ===========================
Ken Levitt - On FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390
UUCP: zorro9!levitt
INTERNET: levitt%zorro9.uucp@talcott.harvard.edu"Fred R. Goldstein" <goldstein@carafe.enet.dec.com> (12/26/89)
In article <2403@accuvax.nwu.edu>, levitt@zorro9.fidonet.org (Ken Levitt) writes... >This article is reposted from Fidonet and may be of interest to >Telecom readers. > From: Jack Lohman > To: All > Subj: FCC PROBLEMS >MOBILIZE! >========= >Now, they are at it again. A new regulation that the FCC is quietly >working on will directly affect you as the user of a computer and >modem. The FCC proposes that users of modems should pay extra charges >for use of the public telephone network which carry their data. In >addition, computer network services such as CompuServ, Tymnet, & >Telenet would also be charged as much as $6.00 per hour per user for >use of the public telephone network. ... Cripes. This again. It's becoming the new Chain Letter. It popped up in comp.unix.wizards last month and I think I had it squashed there, but alas, this moderated group has allowed it to surface. Here's the poop. When the new FCC chair Alf Sykes was being confirmed, he was grilled on this topic by Congressman Markey, who chairs the House subcommittee that oversees the FCC. Sykes was made to swear on a stack of bibles, so to speak, that this "enhanced service provider" (not modem, btw, though the two often overlap) surcharge was dead. Markey made clear that a congressional LAW preventing it was being put on the back burner only out of courtesy to Sykes. If Sykes hadn't been so docile, the law would have been passed; Congress doesn't like this crap any more than we do! And Markey does have power over Sykes to hit him where it hurts in case he is lying: His subcommittee oversees the FCC's budget and appropriations. In government, that's everything. I do have a copy of the appropriate Congressional Record article (Nov. 6, 1989) quoting Markey on this, and Markey's press release on the subject. So I'm not rumormongering. Someone on Fidonet is. Fred R. Goldstein goldstein@carafe.enet.dec.com or goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice: +1 508 486 7388