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Date:      Sun, 20 Apr 1997 21:35:38 -0400
From:      Mike Tancsa <mike@sentex.net>
To:        Adrian Chadd <adrian@obiwan.psinet.net.au>
Cc:        freebsd-isp@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: How many customers read news (was Re: News...)
Message-ID:  <3.0.1.32.19970420213538.009d6310@sentex.net>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.95q.970421082658.2121D-100000@obiwan.psinet.net .au>
References:  <Pine.BSI.3.95.970420195124.25289I-100000@buffnet11.buffnet.net>

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At 08:34 AM 4/21/97 +0800, Adrian Chadd wrote:
>> 
>> > >But the percentage of customers who look at USENET is small and
dropping.
>> > 
>> > Not on our system... At peak times, we have about 25% of our customers
who
>> > are currently online reading news.  To me thats a pretty significant
>> > portion...
>
>*WHAT* are they reading though?
>Thats the problem.

Its not my problem... They can read whatever they want as far as I am
concerned... If its someone in authority demonstrates to me a particular
post is illegal and should be removed, I will...


>> 
>> When we started, if news was down, 3/4ths of the lines would go empty.
>> Now when news is down, about 5 guys notice.
>
>News over here (well at least with my ISP) is pretty popular..
>however I'm scared to ask my news provider exactly WHAT our clients are
>pulling. :)
>Someone should grab most-read-group stats from the news logs and post them
>here, out of interest.

95% porn/erotica/nudeies (whatever you want to call it)... I personally
find a lot of it objectionable, and some of it should be out right
deleted... But I dont have the financial resources to go through it all... 


>I honestly don't care what access we give our clients, as long as :
>
>a) Its not illegal *AT ALL*, or at least we can not be held responsible
>   in any way for that.

Yes, agreed

>b) The costs of running it are paid for by the clients.

You are always going to have people who get more than they pay for.  The
trick is to offset it with those who under use it, and minimize the
abusers... I am always amazed at the variety of customers we have. Some,
will struggle with a problem for days to the point of suicide, and then
they will break down and call us for help... Even apologizing that they are
'bugging' us.  Where as others, will call at the drop of a pin with
whatever problems they have.  The topper was someone who actually brought
in their PRINTER, telling us we somehow broke it  after they were using
Netscape to print out something!  

>Again, (a) is pretty easily understood, (b) however is tricky - here its
>the "90% of the clients subsidise 10% of the clients". And although I
>can't really stop that, I want to try to minimalise it.

Yes, ideally for sure.

	---Mike
**********************************************************************
Mike Tancsa  (mike@sentex.net)           * To do is to be  -- Nietzsche
Sentex Communications Corp,              * To be is to do  -- Sartre 
Cambridge, Ontario                       * Do be do be do  -- Sinatra
(http://www.sentex.net/~mdtancsa)        *



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