Re: considering internet/privacy periodical

["Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>]

At 4:36 PM -0800 10/27/96, Greg Broiles wrote:
>I'm considering putting together a periodic publication about the technical
>and legal aspects of privacy and the Internet. My "business model" would
>feature free WWW/email access with a charge for fax or postal delivery. I'm
>curious to know if this strikes people as interesting or just Yet Another
>Email Newsletter Of No Real Consequence. (no offense taken if it's the
>latter.)
>
>Any feedback is appreciated.

EXECTUTIVE SUMMARY (as they say): Don't do it. The world doesn't need yet
another cyberspace events newsletter, even one focussed on "legal aspects
of privacy and the Internet" (as if we don't have these already).



Inasmuch as I respect Greg's views, and inasmuch as he drove down from
Oregon for one of my parties, I'll make some comments.

I think we're _drowning_ in Net- and Web-based "zines," newsletters, hot
and hip sites, and crud. More than just Sturgeon's law, it's an explosion
of self-published crap. All well and good, as some may find something of
interest, or so the theory goes.

However, consider the meltdown in the "Wired Ventures" plans for an IPO:
cancelled on Friday for the second time in the past several months. The
chief underwriter reported a "lack of interest," even at the reduced
offering price. (A lot of Wired, HotWired, Suck, and other paperholders are
undoubtedly not too pleased.) No doubt "Wired" the magazine is doing well
(though not amongst many of _us_, it would seem--or at least that we
_admit_ here), but apparently "HotWired" and "Suck" and all the rest are
having trouble finding their niche. Ditto for Michael Kinsley's
massively-touted "Slate." And a bunch of other such Web rags (no pun
intended, but it's not a bad one, eh?).

The latest "Wired," in fact, has an article by Josh Quittner--known to we
Cypherpunks as the reporter who showed up at an early CP meeting, and wrote
about it for "Newsday"--on the adventures of the "Sucksters."
(www.suck.com, as I recall). Josh writes (and maybe runs, I only skimmed
the article in the bookstore, as I do with "Wired") for the "Netly News."
The article somewhat longwindedly gets into the problems these "hot sites"
are having. The lack of loyalty, the lack of _payment_, etc.

(And a comment I made many months ago, about how I routinely "don't even
see" the Web ads placed on Web pages, has since been vindicated by a study
showing that the payback for Web advertising is just not there; it appears
that a whole lot of other people besides me are oblivious to these ads.
This leaves almost no payment system for online journals and hot
sites....advertising doesn't work, people won't buy subscriptions...doesn't
leave much, does it?)

Declan writes for some of these Web rags, so he can provide even more
comments. He has his own list or zine, "Fight Censorship," so his views may
differ from mine.

But Greg probably already knows about all these things. If he thinks
there's a market, maybe there is.

But how would this differ from the mailings sent out by some of the folks
on the Cyberia-l list, and similar forums? The Cyberia-l list itself, the
site at the George Marshall Law School (Trubow, as I recall), various
mailings by David Post, and the flood of press releases, Web pages,
newswire stories, etc.?

Isn't yet another newsletter a bit of an anachronism in the age of search
engines, news services out the wazoo (and out the Yahoo), etc.

In short, it seems unnecessary. And it's unlikely to make enough money to
even pay the modem bill.

Just my opinion.

--Tim May


"The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM
that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology."
[NYT, 1996-10-02]
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."