At 2:16 PM 7/23/95, Susan King wrote:
> Some way to form a laundry list
>so if someone is removed from one service there will be a database to check all
>new subscribers against before giving them an account elsewhere. They do this
>with credit cards. Everyone using a commercial service does have to give some
>type of name and credit information.
 
        As much as I'd like to agree, the idea of blacklisting people from
the net bothers me immensely.  First of all, the very idea has bad
connotations in the US because of the abuses of those in power (McCarthy,
Meat packers in the early 1900s, etc).  Secondly, and perhaps more
importantly, is that there are hundreds of small-time network providers in
the US alone.  If we can somehow prevent the person from signing on with a
big service which has a responsible postmaster, they will sign up with a
smaller, less responsible provider.  It's certainly in AOL's best interest
to "discipline" their users, but other service providers might not care too
much about the opinions of the rest of the net (Daemon, Netcom...)
 
 
Lee Silverman     [log in to unmask]      http://www.netspace.org/users/lee/
         Live each day as if your life had just begun.  --  Goethe