[Fox_Tango]V11#1;"Win a Pro3" Spam?

[Phil Barnes-Roberts AD6PQ]

At 04:00 AM 12/4/04 -0500, fox_tango-request at mailman.qth.net juggled the 
keys to produce...
>...
>Message: 2
>Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 17:42:08 -0500
>From: John <johnmb at nc.rr.com>
>Subject: [Fox_Tango] Re: Win a Pro3 Spam
>To: Dave Haney <w3sj at tampabay.rr.com>, Fox_Tango at mailman.qth.net
>Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20041203174208.009f0550 at pop-server.nc.rr.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
>At 05:19 PM 12/3/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>
>Spam, by any other name, is still ....
> >
> >Shameful fact: only 1% of QSL.NET's users contribute financial support to
> >its continued existence. So how about a little incentive to have more of you
> >folks get involved ?>

'---O==o==O---'
Well, John--

So you object to the way Al wants to crank up a little interest in helping 
to support the lists he's been offering and supporting out of his own 
pocket for years now, with darn little help?  Did you not eagerly sign up 
for the list(s)?  So it's not unsolicited email, you're a volunteer here.

I'll bet you think the Internet is free, too.  (In at least the monetary 
sense; and in the content sense, it's becoming questionable lately.)

If you have any other ideas for supporting the servers, the storage, the 
site security, the maintenance, the fees for the domains... I don't even 
pretend to know what-all else; how about letting the rest of us in on 
it?  And I'm sure Al would be glad to hear something workable.  But that's 
the key; it has to have a chance of working.

As an example, since 1949, listener-supported radio broadcasting works; 
vis, the Pacifica network of KPFA, KPFK, WBAI, WPFW, KPFT and their 
affiliates in all corners of the country.  Yeah, you can get some kinds of 
programming "for free", where the station or the network sells you (your 
demographic profile) to the advertisers.  But you aren't likely to hear, 
for instance, NBC _ever_ say anything really bad about GE (their owner), 
any more than the local newspaper will say anything bad about an 
advertiser, etc.  The censorship is subtle, and you won't often notice it, 
but it's there just the same, a powerful chilling force to 
conformity.  Even NPR and PBS have pressures on them, they're no longer "free."

Pacifica comes on the air three or four times a year with about a week of 
well-received classics and special programs, doing a fund drive for new or 
renewal subscribers, who finance about 80% of the costs of keeping the 
transmitters on the air, etc., etc.  They get (or used to get) about 20% 
from the CPB to support news.  Listeners vote with their dollars for their 
favorite programmers, which is not lost on station managers.

All of which gives rise to the "pirates" in broadcasting, who keep it small 
enough to support by themselves or among a small group, and hope to have 
enough audience support to stay ahead of the FCC.  There are laws that 
allow for micro-power, but again, powerful forces (NAB, for instance) 
against it.

Now Al isn't a pirate, but what little history I've heard points to his 
starting small, and growing to meet the demand, to the point where I can 
only imagine what it costs.  Not going to happen with just one guy, even 
were he a filthy rich one.  So we pass the hat.  I'm on six lists, so I 
happily kick in five bucks per when I can.

Again, if you have a better idea, carefully think it over and let us all 
know.  Oh, and how many times have you sent _your_ donation to support the 
service that gives us so much?

--
73, Phil Barnes-Roberts AD6PQ < Mailto:pbarnrob at acm dot org >
"When you are trying to get a handle on a big decision, try looking at it like
this; 'What kind of world do I want to live in?' " --Ann Bodenhamer Martin