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Review by twitch53 
UPDATED: 8 years ago
member for 9.4 years, 143 visits, last login: 4.8 years ago
 Dallas,Dallas,TX
 $80 per month (3 month contract)
 "Good speed, easy installation"
 "servers are down frequently"
 "I'm satisfied"
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UPDATE 11/20/01
I got my DSL turned on. Its running fine except the servers have gone down a couple times since I've had it. Speed are pretty good, I'm getting 600/80. Thats pretty good for my plan. Overall I'm pretty satisified.
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My friend ordered 768kbps for 80.00 bucks a month (which is a rip off), plus i never got a set date for installation. If I cancel the service now they will charge me $150 for something i never had. It's been 2 months, and when I call to inwuire about the order all they can tell me is "we will email you, your activation date." I've just decided not to get DSL. I know I will never get service from them, so Im just gonna wait until the contract is over and I've never gotten service. Don't go with Internet America it is the equivelent of America Online, it sucks.
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Review by wolfguy6
Posted: 8.1 years ago
member for 8.1 years, 5 visits, last login: 6.1 years ago
Lewisville,Denton,TX
Contract price not specified.
 about 30 days
 Verizon
CLEC party: Verizon
"They were ready in just a few days"
"Verizon had to wait for replacement equipment to finish install"
"Overall works Very well"
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Ok, about a year ago I ordered DSL with Internet America, and Verizon, had just moved to current house. The install for IA side went well, theyhave me my DSL account information in my mailbox in just a couple of days. Verizon on the other hand had a few problems and had to upgrade componets on the DSLAM, this took a few days *actually an extra 2 weeks*
Over all, after a year, its been very reliable, it has gone down 2 times because of Verizon, and one time because of the modem died.
Currently have the Verizon Bronze Plus package and the IA Faster Service with an IP block.
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Review by bettyp
Posted: 8.3 years ago
member for 8.3 years, 7 visits, last login: 8 years ago
Grand Prairie,Dallas,TX
Contract price not specified. (month by month)
about 7 days
Southwestern Bell
CLEC party:
"Installed within 7 days"
"Had to pay up front"
"The Geeks installed it in a week"
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I called Internet America 800-BE-A-GEEK July 2nd and I had my DSL running the night of July 9th. I did have to pay up front for the service, but it was explained to me that it was because a modem was being shipped sometime that week. The technician who came to my house was late, but after a few minutes on the phone with Internet America, I was up and running. I love it. I'm never going back to dialup.
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Review by tommymorgan
Posted: 8.3 years ago
member for 8.5 years, 14 visits, last login: 8.3 years ago
Houston,Harris,TX
$89 per month
about 60 days
Southwestern Bell
CLEC party:
"none"
"Terrible coordination with IP Communications; techs don't know what they are talking about; website shows FRAUDULENT prices"
"Keep away from these crooks."
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I originally went to PDQ.net's page to check out their DSL pricing. In doing so, I saw that they were merging with Internet America, but this did not bother me. The pricing page (in early-mid March 2001) listed three service levels and I chose the 1.5M/768k option.
I called to place my order and everything seemed fine. I paid for the equipment so I would not have to have a contract and my credit card was promptly charged ~$360. A couple weeks later I called to check the status of my order and to verify that my order info had been recorded correctly. I expected that my install would not be happening any time exceedingly soon, but what I did not expect was that they had me down for a 384k upstream. I reiterated that I wanted the 768k up and all was well again.
I called about a week later for the same purpose as before and this time I was told that the upstream they had me down for was 128k! Once again I told them that I wanted 768k and that it was very important.
Another call a week later... back to 384k up. I again said that I wanted 768k up although now the pricing page listed the fastest service level at 384k up. I told them that it said 768k when I ordered and that's what I expected. I went on to say that for anything less than 768k I would rather get a cable modem -- it's cheaper, easier and the speed performance IS comparable... I had one before I moved. I was told that it shouldn't be a problem. Due to the fact that I had ordered when they advertised 768k up, I would get 768k up.
A couple weeks later... 768k! Finally they got it right, but by now I was getting tremendously upset with the amount of time it was taking to install the whole thing. They said it should be soon.
Eventually I got a card in the mail letting me know that my phone line now had DSL, but I still didn't have the equipment. I called again and inquired as to why (even though I had been charged for it a couple months prior) and they said that IP Communications sends the equipment out when the phone line is ready, and that it should take no longer than seven days to receive the modem.
The modem actually showed up in less than seven days and I was anxious to get it going. I plugged everything in, configured my computer and rebooted. Well, it wasn't working. I have been running networks for several years and I could not get it to work after an hour or so of tweaking. I again called support and after having no luck was given to the support manager. The manager was also unable to get things working, so he got IP Communications on the phone and they were sending data to the modem and asking me if the receive light was flashing. It was. "Now ping X." I did... they did not receive my data. Ultimately it was determined that I was sent a defective modem and that I would have to ship it back and wait for a new one. At this point I inquired with the manager regarding the upstream speed and was informed that it would be 128k. I was enraged. He said that Internet America offers 384k up, but in Houston, SW Bell caps all ADSL traffic at 128k up and there was nothing Internet America could do about it. I expressed my disgust and demanded that they cancel my whole order and refund my money. In addition to the money for the equipment, I had been charged $80-something twice (once each for the two months I was waiting for the install). My internet access to this point had been the complimentary dial-up account they provided, so I was not pleased to have paid 160 bucks for two months of dial-up. I wanted all $520 back and I wanted it fast. This was about May 25, 2001. He said that he can't cancel my service, but he was filling out the forms that the billing department would need to do so as we were speaking. He added that I should hear from the billing department within ten business days. With what they had subjected me to, I insisted that they get in touch with me within two days and he said that he would escalate the issue and I would be contacted within two days.
It is now July 25 and I have never heard from them. I am still out $520. I put 60 days for "Time from order to success" because that is when my service would have worked if the modem had not been defective(it still would not have been the speed I had ordered though...). The truth is that there never was success, but there were a lot of lies and/or tech mistakes along the way.
Internet America is by several orders of magnitude the worst ISP I have ever dealt with. You would be doing yourself a huge favor by steering clear of these crooks.
UPDATE: I called the billing department today to see when I would be getting my refund and they said it had been approved on July 19 for $604. I guess they charged me 80-something a third time and I didn't even realize it.
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Review by AWS_Chris
Posted: 8.5 years ago
member for 8.5 years, 9 visits, last login: 7.5 years ago
Allen,Collin,TX
$88 per month (12 month contract)
Southwestern Bell
CLEC party:
"No circuit problems."
"Horrible billing problems, dishonest salespeople, horrible customer support"
"Look elsewhere for your DSL service."
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I placed an order for DSL service with Internet America approximately 4
months ago when I moved into my new apartment and was no longer able to get
AT&T @Home Cable service. I decided to go with their "Faster" DSL service
for the higher download rate. I also told them that I needed more than 1 IP
address (3, to be specific). I was told that they only offered a minimum of
8 IP's beyond the single IP solution. This was fine, as long it was a
bridged IP block and I didn't require a router. The salesperson was very
specific in that a router would not be required. Seeing that I was a bit
hesitant, he told me that if I was not happy with the service that I could
cancel within 30 days and get my money back. At this point, I placed the
order.
I called back a week or so later to check on the status and was told
that I could not get a DSL circuit from IP Communications (Internet
America's standard CLEC) and would have to go with SWBell. I told them this
was fine. About 1 week later (the day I moved into the new apartment) an
SWBell tech showed up to terminate the DSL circuit.
After the modem arrived in the mail I connected the circuit and everything was fine. However, I had not yet been told what my IP addresses were. I contacted support and was
told that I had a WAN IP as well as a .248 block of LAN IP's. When I told
him it was supposed to be a bridged block and that I was not supposed to
need a router, he said they didn't do bridged IP's. At this point, I knew I
had been lied to by the salesperson and was a bit upset. After attempting
to find a cheap router that did not do NAT routing, I gave up and cancelled
the account (about 20 days after install) and ordered new service from
On-Ramp (a local provider out of Austin, TX). I had noticed 2 hits on my
bank account for about $80 each (monthly service costs) from Internet
America. I then noticed they had deducted over $600 from my account. After
a long run-around I found out that they had charged me for a full years
service in advance. I then found out (again, after hours on the phone and
being transferred from person to person) that they had 3 accounts active for
me. One dial-up account, one DSL account with a circuit from IPC (turns out
they could do the install), and one DSL account with a circuit from SWBell.
I was being charged for all three, even though I didn't order a dial-up
account and the DSL circuit from SWBell had never been installed (and the
order had never been cancelled to SWBell). It has now been approximately 4
months and I am still fighting for the refund I was promised when I ordered
the line. Internet America has deducted over $1000 from my bank account
and only managed to refund just over $500. And to top it all off, I was
recently charged another $100 for who-knows-what reason. I have now been
told that they do NOT offer 30 days money-back on DSL service and that they
will not refund a $250 disconnect fee nor a $150 modem charge. The modem
cost is reasonable, as I still have their hardware and I don't have a
problem paying for it. However, the simple fact that they completed screwed
up my order in addition to the dishonesty I got from their salesperson
should be enough reason for them to refund me the money I was promised. I
am now told, however, that their "policy" says they can't refund me and my
only hope is to send an email to ceo@airmail.net .
Surprisingly enough, they can't escalate this issue internally to the CEO
and they require their customers to do their job for them. My suggestion is
that any who is considering ANY service from Internet America think again.
Their shoddy business practices and blatant disregard for customer
satisfaction should be rewarded in kind.
Chris Oyler
AT&T Wireless Group
NDVN Operations Engineer
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not
sure about the former."
-Albert Einstein
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Review by geoffstaples
UPDATED: 8.5 years ago
member for 9 years, 4 visits, last login: 8.5 years ago
Dallas,Dallas,TX
$65 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
Southwestern Bell
CLEC party: Covad
"DON'T USE INTERNET AMERICA UNTIL YOU READ THIS!"
"They charged me for 384K up service and only provided 128K"
"IA's prices are FRAUDENTLY stated on their website."
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I purchased the Internet America "FASTER" service which is advertised on their website as 384K upload speed for $59.95 per month.
I thought the service was slow. I never had any uploads faster then 128K. So, I called their tech support. After 1.5 hours on the phone, I was told: "You can't get 384K up without paying an additional $30.00 per month to Covad and a $29.95 fee to upgrade. Our salesperson should have told you this, but, it isn't our fault that the salesperon didn't tell you. You received the 384K service from us. The fact that your Covad service doesn't support the higher speed isn't our problem.
Here are the full details as sent to their customer support supervisor who has not bothered to reply:
Thomas:
Let me explain how I was defrauded by Internet America and why I plan to file complaints with the Dallas Better Business Bureau, the Online Better Business Bureau, DSLReports.com, and the Texas Attorney General's office. (If I have left anyone out, please don't hold it against me.)
Here's the situation:
I discovered that my "Faster" DSL service was only uploading at 128K.
So, I called your technical support.
The techsupport person told me to go to CNET.com and use their test. It came up as 56K, which this person described as "good".
The tech support person then told me I needed to contact my telephone company. I purchased my service from you, not the phone company. I don't appreciate finger pointing.
Then, he put me on hold to talk with someone. When he came back on the line, he told me that SWBell limits ALL ADSL connections to 128K up.
So, of course, the question is "Well, why did you sell me a service that has an upload cap of 384K when the max the phone company will provide is 128K?"
When I mentioned that my neighbor was getting greater then 128K up from one of your competitors, I was told, "Why don't you buy your service from them?"
So, I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was connected with Jeff.
Jeff informed me that I can get the 384K up that I thought I had originally purchased by paying a $29.95 upgrade fee and then $99.00 per month instead of the $59.95 advertised for this rate.
Jeff says that:
The sales person should have told me that there was an additional fee. The sales person never mentioned an additional fee.
Jeff says that Internet America has no responsibility.
So, I've been paying for a service I did not receive and, according to Jeff, there will be no adjustment made to my account. I've received what I paid for from Internet America and that is the end of the story.
NOW, here's what you need to know:
I was one of your very first customers. I left your service a few years ago because I needed ISDN and you didn't have it. In fact, in the beginning, I helped your tech guys resolve various technical issues by providing solutions to problems that they couldn't solve.
I came back to Internet America when I switched to ADSL because I had consistently excellent service from you when I was previously your customer.
Had I known the true cost of the ADSL service, I would have shopped around instead of simply buying from Internet America without price shopping.
I have recommended your service to at least 15 people over the last 6 months. A number of those have purchased your service. I recommended you because I thought you were honest, cared about your customers, and provided a good service for a fair price.
Any illusions of Internet America's quality of service or integrity have now been shattered. So, of course, I can no longer recommend you and will be steering customers away from your service in the future.
As soon as I find another service provider, I plan to switch.
I have a one year contract with you in exchange for the free installation. I consider that contract to be void since you defrauded me by selling me a service that I did not receive.
If, unlike Jeff, you have a better solution to this problem, I would like to hear from you.
Geoff Staples
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Review by BB boy
Posted: 8.6 years ago
member for 8.7 years, 20 visits, last login: 8.6 years ago
Houston,Harris,TX
$80 per month
about 16 days
Southwestern Bell
CLEC party: Southwestern Bell
"Initial cut over from PDQ went fairly smoothly"
"un-announced disconnects...billing errors...rude and lazy tech support"
"These guys suck..."
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Internet America merged with PDQ.net, because of this I was migrated from Covad circuits to SWbell circuits. This cutover took 16 days, all in all relatively painless.
1st problem I had was that I was paying for 1.5/386 and was only getting about 600/56 and when I was on PDQ I was getting 1.5/90 consistently. So I downgraded my service to 768/128 w/ 1 static IP. Fine whatever...
2nd... After a month of working properly I found that I could no longer reach my gateway. I call IA and they tell me its because there is a hold on my account due to non-payment. Turns out, after over an hour on the phone, that they had enterd the incorrect Billing info (their mistake). Needless to say that I was upset, they dont even send you an email or phone call informing you of a problem. They just pull the plug when they see fit.
3rd... Another month goes by and billing time comes up again, and sure enough it happens again. They pull the plug again no warning nothing! An hour later they fix the billing error and I am up and running.
4th... A week after that my line goes down for the third time in three months. After 2.5 weeks down and IA blaming my setup, circuit outtages and SWbell, turns out that IA made circuit changes on their side and had incorrectly entered my information when switching over from their Covad circuits, and had switched me from Static to DHCP, again WITHOUT NOTICE. Ill probably be billed the same too...
AS of today I am still down (4/4/01), if the line is not up today I am switching ISP or abandoning DSL all together.
These guys are poorly organized and customer service is not a priority. They have horrible internal communication and external communication with their clients.
These guys just suck.....if it werent such a hassle and expense switching ISP's I would have dropped them a long time ago.
so sad 
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Review by Falquest
Posted: 8.6 years ago
member for 8.6 years, 2 visits, last login: 8.6 years ago
Forney,Kaufman,TX
$70 per month (12 month contract)
about 44 days
CLEC party:
"It works"
"They charged my credit card for 3 modems 2months service and 2 setup fees"
"Have room on your Credit card cuz they like to charge over and over and over again...."
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Ordered 768/384 with Static IP
They charged my credit card for 3 modems 2 months service and 2 " first time setup fees. The first order was, "lost" but still managed to get to billing. On the second order they charged me for 2 modems.
Neighbor ordered 4 days before I did and had problems with them, "losing" the order and they over charged him as well.
Now that it is running it seems to be fine. Too bad no other residential ISP's want to work with IP.net in our area. IP.net had the line up and running 4 days after IA finally sent them the request. Just modem never showed.
Total costs where over $850.00 OUCH!!! (charged on 3/13 line up on 4/3)
You don't have to max your Credit card, they'll do it for ya.
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 8.7 years ago
(review was emailed from domain carreker.com)
Irving,Dallas,TX
$52 per month (12 month contract)
Verizon (ex GTE)
CLEC party: Verizon (ex GTE)
"Cheap internet connectivity"
"Doesn't know how to handle their support team very good."
"Pretty good ISP, but if you know nothing about computers, go with some else."
| Pre Sales information:
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Internet America is a decent ISP. I've been with them since early 1995 and
have had little problems with them since...except that time when they only
supported Netscape for some reason??? What a piece of crap.
Last year I purchased DSL from them, and that's when things started to go
bad. When I first attempted to get DSL the DSL rep told me that there was no
problem, and that DSL was available in my area. So I set up an account for
DSL with my existing account that I've had since I started. A day later, the
same DSL rep called back to inform me that DSL was NOT available in my area
and would not be for at least 6 months. I was kind of let down by the news,
but no big deal. I have high speed connections at work and can always pull
files down there.
About 6 months later...around September of 2000 I get an email message from
Covad. Covad is the line provider for Internet America saying that my
scheduled DSL install was going forward in two weeks and wanted me to call
with a time for the tech to come out and install the line? I was shocked to
get this email. I was happy yet confused. Why had no one told me that I
should be expecting an email from Covad or why didn't anyone tell me that
DSL was now available? So time goes by and the Covad tech comes out and sets
up the line. All is good.
Now it's March 2001. We just moved to a new apartment about 3 miles to the
east of where we used to live and only 9000 feet from the CO, 3000 feet
closer than the old place. The very next day after moving all our stuff, I
called Internet America to setup a date for my DSL to be moved to the new
location. I talked to one of the DSL reps and he informs me that Internet
America no longer uses Covad for the DSL lines! Ok, so what, just get me
connected. I don't really have a preference when it comes to a line. The rep
then informs me that it's not that easy. I have to call Verizon "who is
already on my S list" to have them get the line. Ok, no problem. I call
Verizon and talk to what I guess is someone they hired off the street or
someone they pulled from there wireless department. This guy knew nothing.
He told me that I needed to get the DLCI and CID from Internet America and
then call them back. I thought ok, good point, Verizon is going to need this
info I suppose. So I called Internet America again. Told them what the
Verizon person said and Internet America then told me that they don't know
that information?
To make a long story short, Two weeks at about more than an hour a day on
the phone with both companies, twice being told by Internet America that I
should just cancel my account with them, and once being disconnected by the
person I was talking with "No I was not being rude or loud, the rep just
didn't want to talk", I have a DSL setup to be installed. I don't like
being a jerk because I used to work in the tech support field and know what
it's like when people call up yelling. Otherwise I could have gotten my
connection earlier than this. I still don't have it setup yet, but Verizon
is waiting for Internet America to give them some info and then Verizon will
set the line up.
Why you may ask am I still going with Internet America? Good question.
First, I've been with them forever and have never had any problems till now.
I consider this the second chance. Second, to only charge $10 for a static
IP is great! Everyone else charges a lot for one of those, Verizon alone was
going to charge $60! Third, it's only $9.95 a month for DSL service.
Internet America has their problems just like any other service. I consider
my self lucky that I know enough about computers and networking that I never
have to call tech support for help. This may be why I've never had a problem
with them, but as long as my stuff is working, I don't care what they do.
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Review by JaviSRK
Posted: 8.8 years ago
member for 8.9 years, 18 visits, last login: 4.7 years ago
Houston,Harris,TX
$54 per month
about 60 days
Southwestern Bell
CLEC party:
"PDQ.net was great before being bought out...."
"My whole experience with these guys"
"Do NOT deal with these guys. The horrible experience BEGINS with their sales team."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
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I had DSL previously with PDQ.net for about 6-7 months with 768/384 ADSL, before it was bought out by Internet America. Before the buyout, I had rather excellent service, with me never having to call Tech Support. By November, I noticed that my download speeds weren't even reaching half the advertised speed (only going 384 down). After some extensive research (yeah right), I noticed that I had a SDSL bridge (Speedstram 5260, I last recall)! I called pdq.net on December 20, 2000, and they gave me a new number to call, which was now Internet America. I called their tech support, (to get an ADSL modem) and they had given me a case number in which to refer to. On December 22 (mind you this is the Friday before X-mas), I received an email from Covad that I reqested a disconnect! It was 3pm, so I had to scramble in calling PDQ.net. I called, and mostly everyone had already left for the day. I talked to an accounting rep there, and asked if I can get reconnected. Of course, being the grinch that she is, she simply said "I can't do anything for you until after X-mas.", which turned out to be Tuesday. My DSL line was already disconnected by then. I call back on Tuesday (Dec 26), after taking a day off from work, asking about what the hell happened. It turns out that Internet America turned off the account because there was some sort of discrepancy in their records. "Cool, I thought..." I then asked if I can get turned back on immediately. They replied "No. Covad were the ones who installed your lines, and we don't deal with Covad any more, so you have to get a new line from IP Communications."
"How long would that take?"
"30 Days."
"WHAT? 30 days, when you are the guys who (insert foul language here) messed everything up?"
"I'm sorry."
Basically, after I reamed their tech support department, I calmed down enough to talk to the sales department and told them to take my order. They were nice enough to give me a number, etc. From here, I waited a few weeks, and I heard nothing... so I decided I would call back on 1/18/01.
Turns out that the order was not even submitted to IP Communications as of yet. I really got angry, when they told me when they charged me for installation and setup fee ($306!!!!!), when THEY were the ones who cut me off with no good reason. So the salesman promises (I repeat, PROMISES) that the order would be expidited, and my setup/installation waived, and I am happy again.
3 weeks pass, and this is about 2/8/01. I decided to call, and to check up on the status of the DSL order. I was then informed that the DSL order was not even RECEIVED by IP Communications as of yet, because of a so called "system outage", plus the fact that the $306 was still intact! I told him that this was unacceptable, and I just hung up on him. (Poor guy... but I work tech support as well, but that was bad. Really bad. Especially when he said that he could do nothing for me) At this time, what could I do? Wait ANOTHER 30 days, while IP Communications goes thru a (really) long list of Line installations, or find an alternative?
Luckily, I still had the wits to call Covad (My previous DSL provider), and they informed me I can switch ISPs, provided that the preceding ISP (pdq/internet america) had released the circuit back to Covad. I called Internet America to confirm this, and once I heard those magic words, I spurted out "CANCEL!" From there, it was a 20 minute process to cancel the order for IP Communications, my account information in general, then another 5 minutes to the billing department, just to tell me that it will take 3 to 5 business days for my money to be credited.
From there, I called Earthlink, told them I still had a Covad Circuit available, qualified me, took all my wonderful info down, and said that the installation process would be a little faster than a fresh new install. On 2/13/01 (yesterday), I received an email from Covad, saying that everything will be in place by MONDAY. (2/19/01!!!!) And I will be back up on DSL, after 2 horrible months from Internet America.
Earthlink/Covad did more in 5 days than what Internet America did in two MONTHS. This is a sign to those who want Internet America/PDQ.net DSL service... you're better off getting service elsewhere.
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Internet America
