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The Canadian government via the CRTC is planning to enact legisl
ATTENTION ALL USERS:
====================
We have a new problem. Everyone knows that lately there has
been a crackdown on Bulletin Boards which carry pornography,
pirated software, etc. There is, however, a new and much more
powerful threat which is threatening to stop all privately run
BBS's.
The Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
is currently in the process of setting itself up to regulate
Public bulletin boards. They want to make it an offense to run a
BBS without a CRTC license. If licensing comes into effect, the
BBS scene will quite literally shrivel up and die.
Consider the example of radio in the 40's and 50's. Before
the CRTC was formed, anyone could broadcast radio signals legally
from their home on any bandwidth. Fearing obscenity and extreme
access to information, the CRTC was formed to sell licenses to
broadcasters. Without such a license, you could be prosecuted
for broadcasting. The result of this action can be seen today:
the only radio stations we see are totally mainstream and are
hell-bent on making profit, not pleasing listeners or informing
the public.
We all know that the bulletin board systems are a great way
to get alternative information. We can get information on the
Paul Teele / Karla Homolka trials. We can get new insights as to
what is really happening in the former Yugoslavia through the
giant Internet. We currently have access to multitudes of
information that isn't available through the mainstream media.
If licensing comes into affect, we will LOSE this access.
Not only will the pirate boards be hunted down and exterminated,
but all currently LEGAL PUBLIC DOMAIN BBS's will also be made
illegal unless they can afford a license. And who do you think
will get licenses? Only those willing to follow the CRTC
guidelines for radio and television. Corporations and rich
executives. The BBS world, our underground paradise (if you
will) is in great danger of becoming a commercial hell like the
rest of today's media.
We don't yet know what the proposed licensing fee will be,
but it could anywhere in the area of $300-$5,000. This could
also depend on the size of the BBS. However, most BBS's will
simply close up shop if the government wants a license. The
government will simply weed out all the little guys and support
the big guys.
This WILL HAPPEN, and sooner than you think! The U.S.
Government has already started doing this, with the new
Information SuperHighway being the flag-ship of government
regulated systems. The Canadian government is going farther, and
must be stopped now.
Before I go into my plan of action, I want to tell you that
if licensing comes into effect, if will be basically impossible
to beat the system. All pirate radio stations in North America
have been crushed by the government in a matter of months.
Imagine how easy it will be to crush pirate bulletin board
systems (and by that I simply mean BBS's without a license) with
traceable phone numbers. Bell Canada would be sure to help the
CRTC bust those boards. And the RCMP would have a real easy time
busting any boards with illegal software, because those boards
would not have licenses. The CRTC finds the board through Bell,
arrests the sysop for running a board without a license, then
informs the RCMP that this sysop was allowing copyrighted
material to be transferred through his/her bbs. That sysop, for
the first time in his/her life, is suddenly looking at a possible
jail term.
COULD YOU IMAGINE GOING TO JAIL FOR RUNNING A BBS????????
That, I admit, is the extreme case, but it is looking more and
more likely as time goes on. If you're as pissed off about this
as I am, then keep reading, because I have a plan of
action/protest to stop this from happening.
WE are the only people out there who can stop this from
transpiring. Only the extremely computer literate, those of us
who know the ins and outs of the BBS scene and computers
generally, will be able to generate an argument strong enough to
counter the argument of the government and the CRTC.
I've been a user in different parts of Ontario for about six
years. I currently go to York University for Computer Science
and my plan is to organize a campaign of users who will be
willing to petition the government to stop this craziness. My
sister is a lawyer and also an occasional user of the boards.
She would be willing to confront the CRTC on legal grounds if we
have enough support from YOU. I have to hear from you. In order
to force the CRTC to at least seriously listen to our argument,
we need a lot of names, and a lot of letters to your local MP and
to the CRTC.
If I have enough support, I will set up a BBS which is
dedicated to keeping you informed. I will keep up to date as to
what the CRTC is doing and open up discussion concerning what we
should do about it. I would also print out all the messages on
the board and send them off to the prime minister, the CRTC and
our local MP's. At the same time, my sister and I will prepare a
legal argument to present to the government and the CRTC. IF we
have the support of your names and your letters behind us, the
CRTC will be forced to stop.
OUR GOAL: To stop the CRTC from requiring the licensing of
bulletin board systems and get it written into the law books that
private, home run bbs's are totally legal and should never be
regulated, in the interests of free information.
PLEASE send me E-mail or letter mail with your thoughts. I
WILL set up the bbs and get this ball rolling if we have enough
support! Please send this file to other BBS's and get this
information out. Contact me if you want to be involved. We need
all your support!
Support USERS AGAINST THE LICENSING OF BBS's (UALBBS).
KEEP PRIVATE BBS's LEGAL!
LORD QORTHON
Jeff A. Heyens
876 Palmerston Ave
Toronto, M6G 2S2.
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