ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (11/27/85)
Why don't we do what everyone else does when they have money
problems? Thats right, get the government to pay for it.
Indirectly, of course. Here is the hare-brained scheme:
Who benefits most from the net? Why, AT&T. They sell the
software. They sell the UNIX that runs on all these machines.
They sell the phone lines who's costs are becomming too much.
So we talk to AT&T about donating the phone costs for some of
the backbone sites. They set the hours and route the calls
over otherwise idle equipment. This should be OK with them
as the alternative is to have the net and all of its phone/computer
demand reduced. By promoting the net, they indirectly promote
the sales of UNIX and non-backbone phone charges.
The twist: So how does the government enter in to this? It
may take some re-arranging of connections. AT&T can tax deduct
the *donation* of a service to a nonprofit organization (schools).
We channel the bulk of the phone costs through the non-profit sites.
AT&T puts it on otherwise idle equipment at odd hours, then deducts
the value as determined by common tarifs. The government subsidises
by reduced tax burden on AT&T. This does depend on AT&T having a
profit such that they need deductions, and on the IRS seeing it as
an OK deduction.
Well, I *said* it was crazy... but maybe, just maybe...
--
E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems
'If you can dream it, you can do it' Walt Disney
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