Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 20:03:58 -0700 Subject: GovAccess.052: phone monopoly; "elite"; campaigns & elections POOR, DESTITUTE PHONE MONOPOLY WANTS MORE MORE MORE [Online access to government is useless if we can't afford the phone bill.] Date: Sat, 10 Sep 1994 12:37:54 PDT From: Jim Opfer (via RadioMail) There is an article in today's LA Times about how PAC Bell is asking the PUC to allow a "set up charge" for calls. This would make short calls as much as five times more expensive. Supposedly the reason they are doing this is because "american telephone calls are getting much shorter." Innovations such as voicemail, fax, pagers, and email are dramatically abbreviating telephone calls. Today, about 52% of the residential phone connections last one minute or less, compared with 22% in 1982. Interesting article claiming that the phone companies argue that short telephone calls are more expensive to carry. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& THERE'S "ELITE" AND THEN THERE'S "ELITE" After I urged the League of Women Voters, which is on Compu$erve, to, "get on the *big* (and often-free for users) Internet and stop limiting yourselves to those 'small,' elitist >commercial services," two folks responded saying, more or less: "I hope the LWV do indeed use the *big* net, but also hope you realize that the Internet is far from free in many areas of the country. "I live in Inman, SC. It is a small town with Internet access available through the major providers, but with long distance charges added to the usual monthly access fees. "AOL is the most economical way for many people outside the metropolitan areas to have *any* net access. It's really not as elitist as you say. At $3.50 per hour, no long distance service can match the cost of even limited net access." Point well taken. And if we don't watch out, the Baby Bells, AT&T, MCI, et al, and the newly-greedy regional Internet connectivity providers well may monopolize the Internet's convenience and wee-cost right out the window. Caveat Emptor! &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& NEWSWEEK SAYS CANDIDATES ARE BEGINNING ONLINE CAMPAIGNS >From herrington_doug@smtpmac.bah.com Mon Sep 12 05:50:55 1994 From: "Herrington Doug" Newsweek's latest issues (September 12) has a two page article on on-line campaigning in this year's election cycle. The title is "Ready Teddy? You're Online (Forget kissing babies. Candidates are venturing into cyberspace to do their politicking)." &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& LINCOLN COUNTY, OREGON, DELIVERS RURAL VOTE RESULTS ONLINE >From mnasstro@ednet1.osl.or.gov Sat Sep 10 12:35:16 1994 From: mnasstro@ednet1.osl.or.gov (Mark C. Nasstrom) As a precaution against becoming just another road kill along the Information Superhighway, Lincoln County (Oregon) Clerk Dana Jenkins participated in an electronic communications experiment during the May primary elections. A computer bulletin board system (BBS) was installed at the Clerks office on election eve. It was set up by Mark C. Nasstrom of the Oregon Coast Rural Information Service Cooperative to answer incoming modem calls from other PC's with the latest vote counts as they progressed. Anyone with a computer equipped with a modem could phone a number at the courthouse and access the latest election results. Because it was an "experiment", the phone number and other information was not publicized in advance in order to test the system with a limited number of callers who were invited to log on. However, one of the radio commentators spotted the system and asked for details on it. Soon afterwards he announced that the BBS was available and gave the phone number on the air during one of the election reports. The lines were almost immediately jammed with the surge of responses from listeners with computers. Well over a hundred calls were logged on Election Night alone. In all cases, the Election Results BBS had the information available before the radio (with a live feed in the lobby), the newspaper (fully 5 days before), and even the fax machine was in 2nd place, in The Real Time Results Race. As far as can be determined, this was the first and only BBS reporting election results from any clerk's office in the entire state of Oregon. --> (note to Jim: Hi! See what you started with your columns in Boardwatch! I felt that participative democracy starts with having the election results known ASAP after the polls close..Thanks for planting the seed in my brain. You Done Good!) -- "Credible Deterrence Starts Here..." @ ---*> The Lumberyard BBS <*--- @ *> Hardwired On The Edge of North America @ YACHATS 503.547.4605 OREGON <* *******> Member Oregon Coast Rural Information Service Cooperative <******* &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& CALL WASHINGTON FREE, COMPLIMENTS OF JESSE HELMS AND THE HOMOPHOBES >From jimcole@mv.us.adobe.com Wed Aug 31 14:05:44 1994 Allies of Sen. Jesse Helms recently set up an 800 number so that homophobes can call Congress to support Helms' recent spate of anti-gay amendments. BUT, the number can be used by anybody. Call 800-768-2221, an operator will say "Capitol" and just ask for your congressperson or senators. Coloradans can thank Ben Nighthorse Campbell for voting against the Helms anti-gay amendments OR can complain to Hank Brown for voting for the anti-gay amendments. If you don't know how you're senator voted, just ask his or her office whether she/he voted for (bad) or against (good) the Smith/Helms admendment to the education bill that would cut off Federal funds to schools that discuss homosexuality or counsel gay teens. Let them know how you feel; you can bet the phobes will. And, of course, Jesse pays for the call!! &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& GAY RIGHTS OPPONENTS' OPPONENTS ARE ONLINE BIG-TIME >From Dbatterson@aol.com Fri Sep 9 15:44:50 1994 Just like Digital Queers, two organizations that are fighting anti-gay measures sponsored by the religious right in Oregon and Idaho are "here, are queer and they have e-mail." Oregon's No on 13 Campaign (formerly Save Our Communities PAC) is at: socpac@aol.com . Idaho's No on 1 Coalition is at: NoProp1ID@aol.com . The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund is at: victoryf@aol.com . Digital Queers is at: kwickre@aol.com . National Gay & Lesbian Task Force is at: ngltf@aol.com . Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is at: glaadsfba@aol.com . International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission is at: iglhrc@agc.apc.org . &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& "Deliberation, n.: The act of examining one's bread to determine which side it is buttered on." --Ambrose Bierce [from valerie@biocad.com sig msg] --jim GovAccess is a series of postings and a distribution-list maintained by Jim Warren, columnist for MicroTimes, Government Technology, BoardWatch, etc. 345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax/415-851-2814 jwarren@well.com -or- jwarren@autodesk.com [James Madison Freedom-of-Information Award, Soc.of Prof.Journalists - Nor.Calif., 1994; Hugh Hefner First-Amendment Award, Playboy Foundation, 1994; Pioneer Award, Electronic Frontier Foundation, 1992 (first year); founder, Computers, Freedom & Privacy confs, 1991; InfoWorld founder; blah blah blah] >> Permission herewith granted for unlimited reposting and recirculation.<< >> Past postings are at ftp.cpsr.org:/cpsr/states/california/govaccess << >> To add or drop the GovAccess list, email to jwarren@well.com . <<