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Author Topic:   Europeans: Phone Boycot Day, June 6

Hugo Rune posted 06-03-99 02:57 PM ET
Do not use your telephone on sunday. Not for internet, not for anything. Why? We're gonna force the telephone companies to give us local phone calls for a flat rate instead of a per minute rate. This would be great news for us internet users as it would mean we could be on-line as much as we want and not worry about the phone bill.
Ambro2000 posted 06-03-99 03:17 PM ET
I have cable modem so I don't pay anything anyway But I'll not use the phone..

Workers unite!!

Ambro2000
JohnIII posted 06-03-99 05:25 PM ET
Is Britain part of Europe ? After the idiot's on 5 Live this morning, I hope we are just to annoy 'em
John III
Khan Singh posted 06-03-99 06:01 PM ET
It's really kind of strange to think that the reason the internet is so big and successful is that Americans have unlimited local calls for free. The entire multi-billion dollar internet economy has come about because of small loophole in the deregulation agreement between the government and the phone company. Such is the nature of evolution and chaos.
Valtyr posted 06-03-99 06:09 PM ET
Is Norway in on this campaign?
High Priest posted 06-03-99 06:17 PM ET
"Is Britain part of Europe ? After the idiot's on 5 Live this morning, I hope we are just to annoy 'em "
Is a sheepdog part of the flock?
High Priest
F-UCK the French
Provost Harrison posted 06-04-99 10:07 PM ET
I would expect that this includes all European countries that pay for local-rate phonecalls. Britain does count, I presume most other European countries, if not all, to my knowledge, do.
Victor Galis posted 06-04-99 10:12 PM ET
What's wrong with the French?
JohnIII posted 06-05-99 04:05 AM ET
I don't know what's wrong with the French, but why should Europe ("the sheepdog") be part of Britain ("the flock")?

John III
SnowFire posted 06-05-99 12:45 PM ET
I think you have that in reverse- Europe is the flock, Britain is the sheepdog.
Hmm... if no one's using their modems, you can get some sweet connections, HR, if your resolution wavers. I have a feeling that will keep the boycott from being TOO succesful.
JohnIII posted 06-05-99 01:01 PM ET
Good Idea. I will now tell everyone not to use their phones
John III
JohnIII posted 06-07-99 01:32 PM ET
Well, I managed it. Who else did?
John III
Hugo Rune posted 06-07-99 01:36 PM ET
Me...
GaryD posted 06-07-99 02:28 PM ET
And no one noticed
Such lack of ambition anyway. You do realise some telephone companies are considering offering freefone Internet links if you make your other calls with them ? Think, totally free access (hate to think how popular/slow !) I don't recall the details but I think I saw this first at news.bbc.co.uk. A deal between the small independent telephone company and the Internet provider.
But I also know that BT is in the process of giving 0800 access. But of course they provide both the line and access.
JohnIII posted 06-07-99 02:35 PM ET
Gary, do you mean Screaming.net, hosted by Localtel. That is old news....
John III
GaryD posted 06-08-99 03:46 AM ET
Ah ! So why the big deal re local rates then ?
Hugo Rune posted 06-08-99 04:23 AM ET
The Big Deal is we're not all british. Also, If I may turn Anarchist for a second or two (I think they actually initiated the whole thing) "Information should be free for all! Make info on the intrernet free! etc. etc."
JohnIII posted 06-08-99 01:22 PM ET
Gary: I am waiting for (yes, baby, yes!!) ADSL.
Droool, slobber, etc.
John III
Provost Harrison posted 06-12-99 10:30 AM ET
I agree, but I personally use the Universities computer facilities. Modems are too 'treacle-like' for my liking. I will wait for a far faster system until I do anything other (and cheaper, too!).
Spoe posted 06-12-99 10:43 AM ET
Yeah. Student housing with free 10 Mbit ethernet(well, I think $10/semester if you don't have your own ethernet adapter; only bad part is they filter outgoing HTTP packets on these connections so no webservers) to a multi T3 backbone is nice -- almost nice enough to get me to move back on campus when I go back this fall, but then I think, "Do I really want to mave back into those cramped quarters when I already have a nice big(1100 square foot/100 m²) apartment near campus?".
Spoe posted 06-12-99 10:52 AM ET
PH, assuming you mean "trickle-like" I don't have much problem with today's modems. I'm about to date myself here, but my first modem was a 300 baud(1200 was available, but in the US$300 range) for my Apple ][e(I remember being able to read text as it scrolled by). Around the same time, most of the student access terminals at UK were wired for 300 or 1200 baud; they had just started upgrading to 9600(no, no I wasn't a university student then -- community ed classes where I helped teach programming after 8th grade). A 56k modem is approximately 190 times faster. Go up again by the same factor and were at just over 10 Mbit(which is a good bit faster than anything you'll get from cable, DSL, or a T1). So, as you should be able to see, 56k seems awfully fast to me.
JohnIII posted 06-12-99 10:58 AM ET
No, he means treacle. As in "wading through treacle".
John III
Spoe posted 06-12-99 11:15 AM ET
Ok. Much the same meaning, though. Not a word we see much this side of the pond.
Provost Harrison posted 06-12-99 02:05 PM ET
Just the first time I started using the internet was when I started at uni. So it would be one hell of a climb-down.
Provost Harrison posted 06-12-99 02:06 PM ET
I thought 'treacle' was quite ubiquitous. What do you call it in the US, by curiosity?
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Author	Topic: Europeans: Phone Boycot Day, June 6
Hugo Rune	posted 06-03-99 02:57 PM ET Do not use your telephone on sunday. Not for internet, not for anything. Why? We're gonna force the telephone companies to give us local phone calls for a flat rate instead of a per minute rate. This would be great news for us internet users as it would mean we could be on-line as much as we want and not worry about the phone bill.
Ambro2000	posted 06-03-99 03:17 PM ET I have cable modem so I don't pay anything anyway But I'll not use the phone.. Workers unite!! Ambro2000
JohnIII	posted 06-03-99 05:25 PM ET Is Britain part of Europe ? After the idiot's on 5 Live this morning, I hope we are just to annoy 'em John III
Khan Singh	posted 06-03-99 06:01 PM ET It's really kind of strange to think that the reason the internet is so big and successful is that Americans have unlimited local calls for free. The entire multi-billion dollar internet economy has come about because of small loophole in the deregulation agreement between the government and the phone company. Such is the nature of evolution and chaos.
Valtyr	posted 06-03-99 06:09 PM ET Is Norway in on this campaign?
High Priest	posted 06-03-99 06:17 PM ET "Is Britain part of Europe ? After the idiot's on 5 Live this morning, I hope we are just to annoy 'em " Is a sheepdog part of the flock? High Priest F-UCK the French
Provost Harrison	posted 06-04-99 10:07 PM ET I would expect that this includes all European countries that pay for local-rate phonecalls. Britain does count, I presume most other European countries, if not all, to my knowledge, do.
Victor Galis	posted 06-04-99 10:12 PM ET What's wrong with the French?
JohnIII	posted 06-05-99 04:05 AM ET I don't know what's wrong with the French, but why should Europe ("the sheepdog") be part of Britain ("the flock")? John III
SnowFire	posted 06-05-99 12:45 PM ET I think you have that in reverse- Europe is the flock, Britain is the sheepdog. Hmm... if no one's using their modems, you can get some sweet connections, HR, if your resolution wavers. I have a feeling that will keep the boycott from being TOO succesful.
JohnIII	posted 06-05-99 01:01 PM ET Good Idea. I will now tell everyone not to use their phones John III
JohnIII	posted 06-07-99 01:32 PM ET Well, I managed it. Who else did? John III
Hugo Rune	posted 06-07-99 01:36 PM ET Me...
GaryD	posted 06-07-99 02:28 PM ET And no one noticed Such lack of ambition anyway. You do realise some telephone companies are considering offering freefone Internet links if you make your other calls with them ? Think, totally free access (hate to think how popular/slow !) I don't recall the details but I think I saw this first at news.bbc.co.uk. A deal between the small independent telephone company and the Internet provider. But I also know that BT is in the process of giving 0800 access. But of course they provide both the line and access.
JohnIII	posted 06-07-99 02:35 PM ET Gary, do you mean Screaming.net, hosted by Localtel. That is old news.... John III
GaryD	posted 06-08-99 03:46 AM ET Ah ! So why the big deal re local rates then ?
Hugo Rune	posted 06-08-99 04:23 AM ET The Big Deal is we're not all british. Also, If I may turn Anarchist for a second or two (I think they actually initiated the whole thing) "Information should be free for all! Make info on the intrernet free! etc. etc."
JohnIII	posted 06-08-99 01:22 PM ET Gary: I am waiting for (yes, baby, yes!!) ADSL. Droool, slobber, etc. John III
Provost Harrison	posted 06-12-99 10:30 AM ET I agree, but I personally use the Universities computer facilities. Modems are too 'treacle-like' for my liking. I will wait for a far faster system until I do anything other (and cheaper, too!).
Spoe	posted 06-12-99 10:43 AM ET Yeah. Student housing with free 10 Mbit ethernet(well, I think $10/semester if you don't have your own ethernet adapter; only bad part is they filter outgoing HTTP packets on these connections so no webservers) to a multi T3 backbone is nice -- almost nice enough to get me to move back on campus when I go back this fall, but then I think, "Do I really want to mave back into those cramped quarters when I already have a nice big(1100 square foot/100 m²) apartment near campus?".
Spoe	posted 06-12-99 10:52 AM ET PH, assuming you mean "trickle-like" I don't have much problem with today's modems. I'm about to date myself here, but my first modem was a 300 baud(1200 was available, but in the US$300 range) for my Apple ][e(I remember being able to read text as it scrolled by). Around the same time, most of the student access terminals at UK were wired for 300 or 1200 baud; they had just started upgrading to 9600(no, no I wasn't a university student then -- community ed classes where I helped teach programming after 8th grade). A 56k modem is approximately 190 times faster. Go up again by the same factor and were at just over 10 Mbit(which is a good bit faster than anything you'll get from cable, DSL, or a T1). So, as you should be able to see, 56k seems awfully fast to me.
JohnIII	posted 06-12-99 10:58 AM ET No, he means treacle. As in "wading through treacle". John III
Spoe	posted 06-12-99 11:15 AM ET Ok. Much the same meaning, though. Not a word we see much this side of the pond.
Provost Harrison	posted 06-12-99 02:05 PM ET Just the first time I started using the internet was when I started at uni. So it would be one hell of a climb-down.
Provost Harrison	posted 06-12-99 02:06 PM ET I thought 'treacle' was quite ubiquitous. What do you call it in the US, by curiosity?