On  Fri, 30  May 1997  20:02:28 +0200  Louise Parsons  <[log in to unmask]>
said:

>I am in total agreement  with the policy against advertising, especially
>if it smacks of exploitation, but in this case aren't exceptions ok when
>the banner is not within the control of the members?

Well, I  live in  Sweden, where  everything is  overpriced, and  a couple
months ago  I bought an  Internet account package  in a retail  store for
500kr (that's about  $65). This includes one year of  unlimited IP access
and an e-mail account without banners.  Call me harsh, but I have limited
patience  with people  who  tell me  all about  the  newest and  grandest
graphics card they've just bought with  whiz-bang 3D effects that work so
incredibly great with  Quake, but who "can't  afford" commercial Internet
access and wonder if I couldn't forget  my userid and password on a piece
of paper.  I mean, these people  do go out a  few times a month  and they
spend the same  500kr on food and  beverages every time when  you can buy
booze for a lot less in the store and drink it at home. It wouldn't occur
to them to ask the bartender to forget a beer on the counter, even though
beer *is* overpriced  ($6 or so a  pint) and they would  still make money
selling it for half the price. Internet access is cheap enough that, with
very few exceptions, people  who can afford a PC can  also afford an ISP.
The issue is not  whether you can spare the 500kr  but whether you choose
to spend them on  Internet access or on some other  non-vital item like a
video game  or a few drinks  at the local  pub. I don't have  any problem
with the fact that some people prefer  to buy the drinks or the game, but
when these same people expect me to  put up with a stream of bounces just
because  they chose  to spend  their money  on beer  instead of  reliable
access, which they  only did because they could get  away with not paying
for access,  I approach  the problem  from the same  angle and  choose to
spend my spare time on drinks  rather than on dealing with extra bounces,
because I can get away with not putting up with the bounces. There are of
course cases where  people really can't spare the cash,  but they are the
exception rather than the rule.

  Eric