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From: jsol@BUIT1.BU.EDU.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.telecom
Subject: Residential Service + BBS Contrary to Tariffs in MA
Message-ID: <8612110632.AA22211@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Thu, 4-Dec-86 18:26:26 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8612110632.AA22211
Posted: Thu Dec  4 18:26:26 1986
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Date: Thu 4 Dec 86 17:47:22-EST
From: "Hank R. "Jim" Dixon" 

** Important Announcement **

The use of a Residence telephone line in the State of Massachusetts
for a Computer BBS is illegal. I have been recently made aware of this
by New England Telephone. Because of this, my BBS is now Business
service. If you run a BBS or other computer system from your home,
YOU may be next. The following is an exerpt from the Massachusetts
Department of Public Utilities tariffs, relating to New England Telephone:

Exerpt from DPU/NET Tariffs volume A, Section 5.1, subsection D:

"The use of measured or unlimited residence exchange service is
restricted to the customer, members of the household, and persons
temporarily leasing a customer's residental premesis. The above
provisions shall not be construed or applied to bar a customer from 
allowing a social guest or business visitor the incidental or 
occasional use of his service."

Unfortunately, "use" of the telephone service is not restrcted to placing
outgoing calls from it. The leaving of messages, uploading and downloading
of files, and other things encountered in BBS usage is considered to be
"use" of the telephone line.

Fortunately, if you just use one of these systems and dont run one, you
dont have much to worry about. Apparently, they dont have much to say about
using data (outgoing wise) from a Residence line.

These restrictions are not just limited to BBS's. It applies to all types
of telephone entertainment, including information recordings, joke lines,
comment lines, and conference lines. This means pretty clearly that if you
are going to run a system in Mass., you are going to have to pay for it
dearly. This may have a tendency to eliminate most non-subscription / free
systems that presently exist.

If you have any questions that I may be able to answer, please
call my system at (617)623-6969 and leave me (LAMBDA-BOY) mail.

						-- JIM (LAMBDA-BOY) --