I don't know if anyone outside the Newcastle area knows, but there has been a bit of movement up here...
Saturday's Newcastle Herald carried an article on page 6 (reproduced without permission below), and a meeting on Saturday was covered by both NBN and Prime news. The same group (I'm part of it, although I'm by no means the ringleader) also notified ACA that they had a "big nasty incompetent corporation tries to kill the little guy" story of national proportions just waiting to be done.
The people responsible for orchestrating this "media circus" (well, we hope that's what we'll end up with, anyway) are Dick Strickleton, Arie G Upton, John Cocklin, Jason Bowe, and myself - we're all sysops or ex-sysops in the Hunter Valley region of NSW.
The Telstra rep (Gene Kitakos?) that our trouble-maker-in-chief (Dick Strickleton) spoke to agreed that the decision was rash, and that they'd either do it differently or not at all if they had the chance to do it again.
Anyway, here's a copy of the Newcastle Herald peice (along with Dick's comments):
A BATTLE between the communication giant Telstra and small time computer operators is underway.
Mr Dick Strickleton, of Cook's Hill, is one of thousands of Bulletin Board System Operators throughout Australia who regard their personal home computer as a hobby.
Telstra does not.
Last week, Telstra sent about 700 letters to operators across Australia informing them that as of the February the 1st the non-business usage rate of $139.80 would change to a business rate of $274.80.
The Bulletin Board system, "the baby brother of the internet", provides information to personal home computer users throughout Australia.
Mr Strickleton, a student, says the tariff increase had incensed operators.
"Most of us are students and it is a hobby for us", Mr Strickleton.
A meeting would be held at Islington Bowling Club at midday today to discuss strategies to stop the increase.
A spokesperson from Telstra, Mr Hugo Armstrong, said "The change was made because there were large bulletin board operators who were rorting the system and masquerading as residential lines.
"We've found that there are some large bulletin borad operators operating out of suburban houses and soaking up resources," Mr Armstrong said.
He said several complaints from operators had been lodged with the company.
"We are aware that there are a lot of small bulletin board operators who are hobbyists and we will endeavour to work out a way to adjust the situation.
No-one should be under the impression that it's about to generating huge amounts of revenue. Telstra is simply seeking to meet it's obligation to law and community... "
Mr Strickleton predicts that up to 90% of operators would close their systems if the increase went ahead.
The interview was conducted on the previous Friday afternoon.
Very sorry to everyone about the "baby brother of the internet" bit... but at the time it was the only way I could give the reporter any kind of insight into our operations. I'm sure that this is well understood by anyone that has had any sort of dealings with the press media.
Mr Armstrong's comments (to say the least) are somewhat contradictory and border on outright lies. I am sure that everyone here can attest to his underestimation of the situation as far as complaints are concerned, but his comments regarding "suburban houses and soaking up resources" make us appear to be nothing more than electronic criminals.
Dick.
-!- GoldED/2 2.42.G0214 ! Origin: Hollow Pursuits- and computers are pigs. (049)-252-052 (3:622/422)