AT&T BellSouth Merger > AT&T - BellSouth merger

AT&T - BellSouth merger

Seriously...You didn't really expect the internet would stay free for long once private business got ahold of it and started raping it for all it was worth, did you?

You didn't really think that it would remain a hacker/cracker/phisher/malware heaven forever, did you? I said long ago that there WOULD be steps taken to stop the identity fraud, phishing, spamming and general criminal activity on the net. It is something that, quite simply, HAS TO BE DONE.

It's like anything else: It only takes a few scumbags to ruin it for everyone. And, it has been ruined, make no mistake. It will never come back, or, be like it was in the "good old days" again. As we all know, there are more than a few scumbags out there, as well as crackers looking for exploits. Too bad such intelligent people cant use all that intelligence for good things. But there are allways malcontent, self centered assholes in every endeavor.

Interesting how everyone wants the government to step in now and make sure the net is neutral. Once they have their foot in the door, we will rue the day, count on it. I wonder what the first rapacious tax will be? probably on VOIP for 911 service "surcharges".

Bottom line is that the net is nothing but a huge virtual hard drive full of stuff (like free pages that have been abandoned since 2000 but are still up and wildly out of date)that is, largely, useless and outdated, a bunch of useless blogs and self centeredpolitical sites and commercial sites that you have to pay, and pay, and pay for with monthly ISP access fees (as well as the myriad subscription sites). And dont forget the malware, exploit and phishing sites.

What a wasteland.

*ACLU link is dead - use this one instead: »action.freepress.net/campaign/savethenet and copy/paste the following comment into the field given:

"I urge you to IMMEDIATELY press for passage of S. 2917, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act sponsored by by Senators Olympia Snowe and Byron Dorgan."

reply to Fatal Vector
The Internet has been free? When? Not in the 15 years I have been online. Perhaps college kids who don't know how to factor their tuition pays for net access or thieves who steal wifi from a neighbor think it is free.

I'm paying $40/month for my broadband and paid $20/month for dialup before that. My employers and customers all have fees associated with network access to the Internet. There is nothing free about it and there never has been.

Fatal Vector complains about private business raping people and then claims we'll rue the day when government steps in. What is he talking about? Someone? One of the two of those has to be involved (right now it is a partnership).

I can assure you that Olympia Snow and Byron Dorgan don't have your best interests at heart. They try to control people for fun and tax businesses and suggest that somehow you won't end up paying that bill. Avoid them where possible and challenge their efforts the best you can.

AT&T's (who is really SBC in disguise, AT&T is long dead)consumption of BellSouth will probably have no lasting benefit for the consumer. Seeing as BellSouth had no real competition in the areas where it operated it is highly unlikely that any real good (or significant bad) will come from the merger.

reply to spy1

reply to mwmcclure1
"I'm paying $40/month for my broadband and paid $20/month for dialup before that. My employers and customers all have fees associated with network access to the Internet. There is nothing free about it and there never has been."

There were and still are sites that offer free space for web pages, such as freewebz, freewebs, angelfire, geocities, etc. These were what I was referring to.

"Fatal Vector complains about private business raping people and then claims we'll rue the day when government steps in. What is he talking about? Someone? One of the two of those has to be involved (right now it is a partnership)."

You're kidding me, right? You didn't understand what I said? In a ststement, not a complaint.

"AT&T's (who is really SBC in disguise, AT&T is long dead)"

AT&T was far from "long dead" when it was gobbled up by SBC. Just why is it, do you think, that they promptly took on the AT&T name?

It never ceases to amaze me how one can say something perfectly innocuous or clear here and STILL have someone with a total brain fart pop up.

reply to Fatal Vector

reply to Fatal Vector
LOL. I like this Fatal Vector guy.
A breath of fresh air!

Almost 30 years ago, Devo said we are living in a Corporate-Feudal state. How right they were!

Duty now for the future.

Boojie Boy, Jr.

reply to Fatal Vector

Well, I have a phone line with AT&T and have had it since they were Michigan Bell. Except for a few times when some dufus hit a pole with their car, or, one time when a contractor cut the underground trunk (amusingly, AFTER calling "miss dig" and being told the trunk was 100 feet away), my service has been utterly dependable.

We keep a basic POTS line because of that dependability and for low cost DSL. I use my Cingular for LD, etc, as well as having it save my ass on a occasion or two when I broke down on the interstate in BFOhio.

I know what you mean by wanting to upsell, I just told them no and other than that, my service from them has been exemplary, including service calls when needed.

You DO know that talk america just leases the line from AT&T and then sells it to you at a higer price, right?

In any case, I have had little or no problem with MI Bell/Ameritech/SBC/AT&T/Cingular.

reply to mmmbop
"It's not free, everyone pays to connect to the internet"

That's not what I was referring to. I was referring to being able to do what you wanted without endless restrictions, advertising, etc, never mind the inevitable government boot on our necks because of phishers, crackers, malware pushers, identity theves, etc.

Jeez...Doesnt ANYONE know how to make distinctions based on context and how words are used? They just dont teach much of anything in the screwels today, do they?

"I don't think the internet is a wasteland, whatever is put on there is on there because someone is paying the bandwidth bill so it stays. You wouldn't happen to be affiliated with China's internet policy laws, would you?"

If you take the time and look, you will find endless pages that haven't been updated in years, but are still up even though they have obviously been abandoned and are wildly out of date and useless.

Just WHO then, is paying for them? Since many of them are on free sites? You know...The ones that gave you a free page on their server. Like Freewebs, Freewebz, angelfire, etc...?

And, just what part of the concept that your rights to do whatever the hell you want stop where my rights to be secure and free of criminal activity begins dont you understand?

You are actually saying that criminal activity that affects all of us is just peachy because the criminals paid for their connection? I think maybe it would be wise for you to rethink your position.

And, the bit about china was kinda stupid, dont you think?

reply to Fatal Vector

reply to Fatal Vector

I know.