crm@duke.UUCP (Charlie Martin) (04/04/85)
OK, I'm usually on the liberal side of what should be allowed on the net, but this is too much... DON'T USE THE NET FOR COMMERCIAL ADVERTIZEMENTS! I wouldn't be too surprized if this would get Bell-ex-Bell sites to stop forwarding stuff for the net at all, losing us a lot of valuable computer time that I'm sure the accountants wouldn't approve of it they knew about it. TRY TO THINK A LITTLE NEXT TIME, OK? -- Charlie Martin (...mcnc!duke!crm)
halle@hou2b.UUCP (J.HALLE) (04/05/85)
Note Mr. Jones' address and the address to which the form should be sent. Then ask yourself why he posted the ad to net.general. Then ask him if he is going to rebate to you the commission he will receive if you sign up.
lrd@drusd.UUCP (L. R. DuBroff) (04/05/85)
This sort of BLATANT commercial is not appropriate for the net at all, and certainly does not belong in net.general with world-wide distribution! If this is meant to be informative (telling the user community that there is a lower cost alternative to AT&T), it is an insult to our intelligence; I doubt that there is even one net reader who is not aware of the existence of MCI as well as a dozen or more alternative carriers. This is the worst of all the many misuses of net.general that I have seen.
gupta@ucbcad.UUCP (04/06/85)
> > You can save up to 50% on your long-distance phone bill by using MCI Long > Distance. MCI Long Distance is a low-cost, high quality service for your > home or business. > > Why use MCI? Because MCI is the leader in low-cost long distance! Are these nets meant for commercial advertisement? Pardon me if you find my question too naive. Rajesh Gupta Berkeley
hes@ecsvax.UUCP (Henry Schaffer) (04/07/85)
This article was not only an abuse of usenet, it was also in violation of our University's ban on use of equipment for private gain. The poster has been admonished and a cancel message for this article was sent out. --henry schaffer n.c. state univ (academic computing)
stekas@hou2g.UUCP (J.STEKAS) (04/08/85)
Does this mean than NC State Veteranary School has got the
MCI account? Are Madison Ave.'s days numbered? Will Barbizon
School of modeling get the GM account? The mind boggles.
Jimstv@qantel.UUCP (Steve Vance@ex2499) (04/08/85)
This article was posted just a little too close to April Fool's Day to
seem real. Nonetheless, I dutifully sent the following letter to the
posting address.
===============================================================
To: nsc!gatech!msdc!ncsu!ncvet!mtj
Subject: Re: Save 50% on Long-Distance Phone Bills
Newsgroups: net.general
In-Reply-To: <136@ncvet.UUCP>
Organization: MDS Qantel, Hayward, CA
News-Path: vlsvax1!zehntel!tektronix!uw-beaver!cornell!vax135!houxm!mhuxt!mhuxr!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!mcnc!ncsu!ncvet!mtj
Cc: nsc!gatech!msdc!ncsu!ncvet!usenet
Advertising things like MCI on the usenet is not permitted. There are
newsgroups in the system where things can be sold, but not things like
MCI subscriptions. Net.general is about the wrongest place you could
have put such an ad. I recommend that you find out more about usenet
before you post anything else.
As regards the contents of your posting, you are wrong again. It has been
a long time, over a year, since MCI could legitimately say that you could
save UP TO 50% on your bill. With average calling patterns, 10-15% is
more like it nowadays, and this will go down to 0% when equal-access is
fully implemented. You mention that MCI is the biggest of the ALDS.
They also save you the smallest percentage over AT&T. There is an issue
of Consumer Reports from last year that documents this. Incidentally, I
have an MCI account, although I don't use it much, so I am familiar with
their service.
--
Steve Vance
{dual,hplabs,intelca,nsc,proper}!qantel!stv
dual!qantel!stv@berkeley
Qantel Corporation, Hayward, CAinc@fluke.UUCP (Gary Benson) (04/09/85)
> > You can save up to 50% on your long-distance phone bill by using MCI Long > Distance. MCI Long Distance is a low-cost, high quality service for your > home or business. OK, MCI, sign me up. I ought to warn you, though, when I responded to your TV ads, I was told you are not yet available in my area. If that's the case, why don't you dorks restrict your commercial use of the net to those areas where service really *is* available? Also, can you answer ATT's claim that all you're offering is "cheaper", not better, and that you get what you pay for? I'd be extremely curious to see you inform all of us marketing targets out here what, if anything, the real advantage to your service is. Thank you so much. -- Gary Benson * MS 232E John Fluke Mfg Co Inc * POBox C9090 Everett WA USA 98206 -_-_-_-_-_ {ihnp4!uw-beaver} {decvax!microsoft} {allegra} !fluke!inc -_-_-_-_- This area reserved for line-eater output [ ] Thank you.
dave@circadia.UUCP (David Messer) (04/11/85)
Thank you for posting this AD on USENET! I was debating weather to continue using AT&T or go to another carrier. This AD convinced me to IGNORE MCI from further consideration! You have help my decision making process greatly! I have never been a big fan of AT&T's business practices, but they have never done anything REMOTELY as exploitive as this advertisement. This type of blatent commercialism should not be tolerated on the net. I will not weep if the site that sent it is disconnected from the net. -- Dave Messer ...ihnp4!stolaf!umn-cs!circadia!dave
piet@mcvax.UUCP (Piet Beertema) (04/12/85)
>Mail the completed form to: MCI Service, P.O. Box 37153, >Raleigh, NC 27627 OK, I'll remember the address......to send a bill to for the costs of - transfer of this commercial across the Atlantic; - forwarding it throughout Europe. And I'll add 50% to it for the abuse of this network. Next time put this stuff where it belongs: US TV and newspapers. -- Piet Beertema, CWI, Amsterdam ...{seismo,okstate,garfield,decvax,philabs}!mcvax!piet
abc@brl-tgr.ARPA (Brint Cooper ) (04/12/85)
In article <136@ncvet.UUCP> mtj@ncvet.UUCP (Michael Jones) writes: > >You can save up to 50% on your long-distance phone bill by using MCI Long >Distance. MCI Long Distance is a low-cost, high quality service for your >home or business. > >Why use MCI? Because MCI is the leader in low-cost long distance! >* MCI is the first company to offer low-cost long distance service. Then follows the most blatatt, commercial use of this Net that I have ever seen. WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? Don't you know that these newsgroups are carried to countless Arpanet sites across the country? Can you imagine what would happen to our access to Usenet on taxpayer-supported computers if the wrong people saw this? Haven't you noticed the virtual lack of such commercial uses of Usenet, Arpanet, CSNET, and the others? Didn't you even wonder why? Remember, that if you cause the Arpanet community to lose access to Usenet, BOTH sides will be the losers. Just whose side are you on, anyway? Brint ARPA: abc@brl.arpa UUCP: ...{decvax,cbosgd}!brl-bmd!abc Dr Brinton Cooper U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory Attn: AMXBR-SECAD (Cooper) Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005-5066 Offc: 301 278-6883 AV: 283-6883 FTS: 939-6883 Home: 301-879-8927
mercury@ut-ngp.UUCP (Larry E. Baker) (04/12/85)
[ring...ring...I said RING!] > I have never been a big fan of AT&T's business practices, but they > have never done anything REMOTELY as exploitive as this advertisement. They never had to. Monopolies seldom advertise. -- - Larry Baker @ The University of Texas at Austin - ... {seismo!ut-sally | decvax!allegra | tektronix!ihnp4}!ut-ngp!mercury - ... mercury@ut-ngp.ARPA
leif@erisun.UUCP (Leif Samuelsson) (04/17/85)
In article <1281@drusd.UUCP> lrd@drusd.UUCP writes: > If this is meant to be informative (telling the user community that there > is a lower cost alternative to AT&T), it is an insult to our intelligence; > I doubt that there is even one net reader who is not aware of the existence > of MCI as well as a dozen or more alternative carriers. Ok, so what is this MCI thing anyway? In this country, the state handles the telephone network. They do it well enough to give us the lowest rates in the world. Or so they say... Posting ads like that around here might even be against the law! Oh yeah, I just remembered. MCI is the company that bought a few Ericsson exchanges last year. Leif Samuelsson Ericsson Information Systems AB ..mcvax!enea!erix!erisun!leif Advanced Workstations Division S-172 93 SUNDBYBERG 59 19 N / 17 57 E SWEDEN
dave@circadia.UUCP (David Messer) (04/23/85)
> > I have never been a big fan of AT&T's business practices, but they > > have never done anything REMOTELY as exploitive as this advertisement. > > They never had to. Monopolies seldom advertise. > > -- > - Larry Baker @ The University of Texas at Austin Obviously, you lead a sheltered life. Ever heard the expression: "Reach out and touch someone"? In fact monopolies advertise all too much... spending our money convincing us that higher rates are needed so they can spend more of it. -- Dave Messer ...ihnp4!stolaf!umn-cs!circadia!dave