IAGDGP@AESD.dnet.ge.com (11/15/90)
We've heard alot about the censorship on Prodigy here. One of the repercussions in the industry is that GEnie lowered their rates and attracted alot of the disgruntled Prodigy users. Well now GEnie is doing some rather interesting censorship of its own. They can't keep up with the new traffic and are attempting to force users to only discuss topics in specific places. The science fiction area has taken the most heat. What bureaucrats at both companies dont see is that these networks are new little communities, the 21st century village! This new way of communicaticating and the free speech implications are going to be with us mutating and growing for a long time. Companies whose only interest is profit margin and users that feel their "rights" are being abused are going to buck heads continually. I do applaud GEnie though. The decision to prune the sfrt generated alot of debate ( and flames). On Prodigy, from what I gather, it would have been squelched! Doug Prosser GE/aesd Utica, NY D.PROSSER1 on GEnie
anderson@npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM (Joel Peter Anderson) (11/21/90)
In article <9011151338.AA25144@crdgw1.ge.com> IAGDGP@AESD.dnet.ge.com writes: > > We've heard alot about the censorship on Prodigy here. ... >Well now GEnie is doing some rather >interesting censorship of its own. They can't keep up with the new traffic >and are attempting to force users to only discuss topics in specific places. I think it should be explained here that GEnie contains many Bulletin Board systems, and the sysops of each board are compensated according to the amount of traffic they manage. The need to move message traffic to specific places is an effort to keep the traffic numbers in each area correct. (Usually the topic-cops are pushing message traffic away from their area, and hence, reducing their pay by reducing the traffic). GEnie also splits between *Star services (all included for $4.95 a month) and the rest of the services for an additional $6 per hour. (I don't know what peak time rates are). While I wish a few more BBS's were included in the *Star services area I can't complain - there is already more stuff than I can keep up with! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We know only the strong will survive, But the meek will inherit. So if you've got a coat of arms, oh friend, I suggest we wear it." John Mellencamp. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- joel.anderson@StPaul.NCR.COM |WELL: jpa@well.sf.ca.us Joel Peter Anderson |GEnie: J.ANDERSON71 (I think) NCR Comten / Software engineer |PNET: jpa@pnet51.orbit.mn.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------