Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!killer!mjbtn!root
From: root@mjbtn.UUCP (Mark J. Bailey)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Cut off AT&T? (Was: The death of USENET)
Summary: Mini-Usenets?
Message-ID: <271@mjbtn.UUCP>
Date: 7 Jul 88 23:21:02 GMT
References: <651@scovert.sco.COM> <30.UUL1.3#935@aocgl.UUCP> <2761@ttrdc.UUCP> <5156@dasys1.UUCP>
Lines: 63

In article <5156@dasys1.UUCP>, tneff@dasys1.UUCP (Tom Neff) writes:
> losing net.friends.  What is USENET, after all, if not "carrying mail"
> between two other sites?  If you and I talk via email right now, we rely
> on the good offices and generosity of any number of intermediate sites,
> few or none of whom have anything to do with AT&T.
> 
> The bottom line is this: If everyone took the same decision AT&T just did,
> USENET would cease to exist.  Perhaps there's an excuse for the decision,
> but I don't like the trend.

I agree with Tom.  If many of us start to refuse third party traffic, others
besides ourselves will start to the same, thus killing our connectivity, and
eventually Usenet will collapse into hundreds of "mini-Usenets" and, well, 
we might as well just become local area user nets....Usenet will vanish.

Again, I sypathize with AT&T wanting to reduce traffic.  While they are a [
BIG company, business is business.  But their decision to cut third party
traffic is a knife in the back to Usenet.  I don't think they mean any bad
intensions, I just feel that that particular decision will have a negative
Usenet effect.  In the long run, it may also damage Usenet news as news
can become cluttered with debates and disintergrating connectivities as 
sites adjust to what all of us are feeling is fair...that if AT&T won't
handle traffic that is third party to AT&T (in origin and content), then
the rest of the net won't handle traffic party to AT&T, and everyone loses...
INCLUDING AT&T.

I am making a plea!  To the powers that BE at AT&T or those who can give 
input to them, please re-evaluate and think of what damage to the net
(maybe not physically, but prinicpal wise) the bouncing of third party
traffic to AT&T would result.  I (and obviously others) strongly feel that
while the net will exist as long as one system calls another, slowly and
surely, and war will start and it will spread like a cancer and destroy
us all as people get mail bounced, become frustrated by the implied 
imbalance, etc.  As I and others have suggested, if you want to cut 
volume, CHANGE YOUR MAP ENTRIES!  

With any type of entity, like our own United States system of
government, a decision in "foreign" policy MUST encompass EVERY aspect
that a decision or action might have on the "world".  AND *ALSO*, it 
should listen to and make considerations based on world reaction and
opinions.  This is only good relations!  From net murmurs, I see such a
negative reaction developing.  NO ONE IS ARGUING THAT AT&T DOES *NOT*
HAVE THE RIGHT TO WANT TO REDUCE TRAFFIC AND RESPECTIVE COSTS!  The ONLY
question is the bouncing of third party traffic!  And it will probably
get worse.  As Tom said, you might find your net.friends dwindling and
then what good will Usenet be to you anyway?  Reducing traffic is one
thing, bouncing third party traffic is sacrilege in the Usenet environment.
You might call it the unpardonable sin, and I think you can probably 
see what I mean.  While I and a large number of the rest of the net
sites don't have a lot third party traffic passing through AT&T (when
I do it is pathalias generated), it is the IDEA and *PRINCIPLE* of
a site(s) refusing third party traffic that wields death (or fear 
thereof) for the beauty of Usenet!  Therefore, I plead with you:

AT&T - Please RECONSIDER the third party issue!  There are more diplolmatic
----   ways (pathalias)!  From a third party point of view, you might 
       have a lion by the tail!  

-- 
Mark J. Bailey                                    "Y'all com bak naw, ya hear!"
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