So what do you think...

[jkreznar@ininx.com (John E. Kreznar)]

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> about this letter? Would you sign it?

In a word, no.  Here's why:

> We are very concerned about any movement toward usage based
> pricing on the Internet,

I am too.  It's going too slowly.  I wouldn't be here if the present
trend toward usage based pricing didn't exist.  To the extent that the
Internet is still funded through taxation (expropriating the fruits of
another's toil without his consent), I feel that I am receiving stolen
property by using the Internet.  Civility and decency demand that this
situation be ended as soon as possible.

> These discussion groups and
> distribution lists are the backbones of democratic discourse on
> the Internet, and it is doubtful that they would survive if
> metered pricing of electronic mail is introduced on the Internet.

Any more doubtful than that a newspaper or a magazine would survive?

> Usage based pricing would also introduce a wide range of problems
> regarding the use of ftp, gopher and mosaic servers, since it
> conceivable that the persons who provide "free" information on
> servers would be asked to pay the costs of "sending" data to
> persons who request data.

Conceivable, perhaps.  A much more likely model would appear to be that
the requester would have to pay the bill, just as when buying a book or
a journal.

> We are also concerned about the types of  accounting mechanisms
> which may be developed or deployed to facilitate usage based
> pricing schemes., which raise a number of concerns about personal
> privacy.  Few Internet users are anxious to see a new system of
> "surveillance" that will allow the government or private data
> vendors to monitor and track individual usage of Information
> obtained from Internet listserves or fileserves.

I certainly share with you this concern.  This underscores the
importance of anonymous digital cash and other technologies which enable
untraceable trading on the Internet.

			*	*	*

There's also the pragmatic consideration that he who pays the piper gets
to call the tune.  If you don't want your neighbor interfering with your
Internet use of cryptography, for example, then don't make him pay the
bill for that use by acting to perpetuating your use of his tax money.

	John E. Kreznar		| Relations among people to be by
	jkreznar@ininx.com	| mutual consent, or not at all.

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