NU115247@ndsuvm1.BITNET (04/27/88)
I would like to know if there is a path between BITNET and Compuserve?? In other words, can i send files that i have in my Compuserve logon to my BITNET logon and vice versa?? If there is such a path, how much does Compuserve charge to use it?? ( America, the land of the fee) What i'd like to do is send files from my Compuserve logon to my BITNET logon and download from BITNET becauseITNET doesn't charge me $12 and hour to download! Thanks for your help, ------- Jeff Cooper | Stress: The confusion created when the | mind overrides the bodies desire NU115247 @ NDSUVM1.BITNET | to choke the living shit out of | asshole who desperately needs it.
mdf@TUT.CIS.OHIO-STATE.EDU (Mark D. Freeman) (05/01/88)
In <734NU115247@NDSUVM1> NU115247@ndsuvm1.BITNET writes: >I would like to know if there is a path between BITNET and Compuserve?? According to some poeple at CompuServe whom I spoke with last week, connecting CompuServe to non-commercial networks causes an interesting problem. If you send mail FROM CompuServe to another network, CompuServe can bill the sender (who obviously has a CompuServe account). If you send mail TO CompuServe, who do they bill for the resources to process it? You can't charge the RECEIVING CompuServe account, as the mail might be unsolicited and/or something the CompuServe user doesn't want to pay for. They can't bill the non-commercial network, as there is no central organization with the authority and/or responsibility for such things. Creating a link from CompuServe to other commercial networks poses much less of a problem, in that they need a funny-money exchange agreement, just like what most universities do for interdepartmental use of CIS department computer time. So, there is no link between CompuServe and BITNET. It seems to me like the problem keeping that link from being created is insoluble. If you have any ideas on ways around the billing problem, I'd like to hear it. * I don't work for or use CompuServe in any way. -- Mark D. Freeman (614) 262-1418 mdf@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu 2440 Medary Avenue ...!cbosgd!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mdf Columbus, OH 43202-3014 Guest account at The Ohio State University
henry@GARP.MIT.EDU (Henry Mensch) (05/03/88)
From: mdf@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark D. Freeman)
Date: 30 Apr 88 19:44:37 GMT
So, there is no link between CompuServe and BITNET. It seems to me
like the problem keeping that link from being created is insoluble. If
you have any ideas on ways around the billing problem, I'd like to hear
it.
Yeah; they could simply NOT CHARGE FOR IT (y'know, include it as a
SERVICE). Of course, this is probably too much to expect.
# Henry Mensch / <henry@garp.mit.edu> / E40-379 MIT, Cambridge, MA
# {ames,cca,decvax,harvard,lotus,mit-eddie,rochester,soft21}!garp!henryRAY@AI.AI.MIT.EDU (Ray Hirschfeld) (05/04/88)
Date: 30 Apr 88 19:44:37 GMT
From: mdf at tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark D. Freeman)
Reply-To: mdf at tut.cis.osu-state.edu (Mark D. Freeman)
To: TELECOM at MIT-MC
Re: Is there a path from BITNET to Compuserve?
...
So, there is no link between CompuServe and BITNET. It seems to me
like the problem keeping that link from being created is insoluble.
Maybe not. After all, there is a link between MCImail and the
internet. The billing is simple: mail from MCImail to the internet
is charged the usual fee; mail from the internet to MCImail is free.
I don't know how it's REALLY paid for--for all I know the DoD pays MCI
a fee for the connection. The link is supposed to be used only for
official correspondence, but I don't know whether the definition of
"official" is any more stringent than that required for use of the
ARPAnet in the first place.
It seems possible that MCI provides this service at no charge. The
link provides revenues from outgoing messages that otherwise could not
be sent, and the marginal cost of handling incoming messages might
very well be small. If so, CompuServe could profit from the same sort
of arrangement.
Ray
P.S. The reply-to: field in your message is incorrect.