Our Wishes for '86 and Beyond

Around this time of year, we always get to thinking about how the things around us can improve.  So we assembled a few of our writers and had them come up with some suggestions on how technology can better serve everyone.  We hope that these ideas will someday be followed and we encourage our readers to come up with additional ones, which we'll gladly print.

Uniform Long-Distance Rates

With the many advances in modern communications, one end result is quite obvious.  It's gotten easier and cheaper to establish contact in all parts of the country, and in most parts of the world.  We want to see an end to rip-off long-distance rates that charge you more to call one place when it really costs the company about the same to reach anywhere.  Why not have uniform rates to everywhere, whether it be long-distance or local?  Technology is making the entire world fit into our backyard - how about granting us some access to it?  Many of us phone phreaks have come to look at phone calls in a different way.

When you can call anywhere you want to, for as long as you want, without worrying about how much it's going to cost you, it all starts to take on new meaning.  You begin to realize how offensive it is to be charged for something as basic as talking!  Shouldn't we all be able to talk to whoever we want, whenever we want, and for as long as we want?  If it were possible (as it someday will be) to have an unlimited amount of people using telephone equipment at the same time without tying it up, wouldn't we be better off with this philosophy?  We believe so.  The telecommunications giants can still profit handsomely without making communications a luxury.

We're not simply after a free ride; we'd still pay something, though not as much and not as often.  We want to see advances in technology shared by all and then perhaps we'll see some of its real potential.  Right now, there are many of us that can't afford to call the White House when we want to voice our opinion on something.  The ones that can afford it have no problem.  And that's the problem here.

The time for change has arrived.  After all, how can we call it long-distance if it no longer is?

Elimination of Charges for Touch-Tones

How the phone companies get away with this is beyond us.  When we use Touch-Tones, their equipment works faster and more people are able to make calls.  In fact, it is better for their equipment if customers use Touch-Tones.  If everybody used Touch-Tones, these companies' profits would soar!

Yet we are still charged a monthly fee for using them.  There isn't any extra equipment to install.  They're not giving you the tones - you're the one who sends them out.  In most crossbar and step (even a few ESS) offices, you can use a Touch-Tone phone with no problem even if you're registered as "pulse" with the phone company.  The moment you tell them you have a Touch-Tone, you get charged.

Most ESS offices have a special device that disables your Touch-Tones unless you pay for them!  The only thing your monthly fee pays for is to turn off this device!  We think it's time this nonsense was stopped.  Shouldn't we be encouraged to use Touch-Tones?  Haven't they become almost a necessity, with the growth of services that are Touch-Tone activated, such as reservation and voice messaging systems?

This archaic policy makes it a lot harder - particularly on those who aren't all that wealthy - who are being denied a very basic piece of technology for no earthly reason.

Legislation to Protect Bulletin Boards

A lot more frequently than many of us think, bulletin board systems are seized as evidence of illegal activities.  Our own bulletin board in New Jersey was taken this past summer, and they still haven't found anything "illegal" on it.  (A hearing scheduled for November 22 was postponed two weeks by the prosecutors, who claim they weren't told about it.  The period for forfeiture has expired, which means they cannot keep the equipment as a penalty.  The hearing is to decide whether the bulletin board should be returned immediately, since no evidence of wrongdoing has been revealed.)

Bulletin boards must be protected!  They are a vital means of communication, a resource that can be used by more people every day.  Obviously, this freedom makes some authorities a little nervous.  But it's something they're going to have to get over because bulletin boards aren't going away.  Neither will they be regulated or registered, as these nervous types demand.

If there is illegal activity occurring, then the people responsible for it should be tracked down.  This doesn't mean pulling the plug on the service that enables them to speak.  We have to make an effort to define the difference.

At the same time, we hope to see an improvement in the quality of bulletin boards everywhere.  Nothing is more boring and useless than a board that lists credit card numbers and Sprint codes.  What is the point?  They either go bad within a day or are monitored closely.  Boards that discuss how things are done and answer the questions, simple or complex, that we all have are the boards we're fighting for.  Let's see some more of these.

Some Reasonable Prices on "Public" Services

CompuServe, The Source, Dow Jones, are you listening?  Is it any wonder you're constantly being ripped off with the outrageous prices you charge?  A session on one of these services can be a nightmare, as every second costs you, every mistake is money out the window.  Come on already; times have changed.  Enough with the surcharges and access fees - provide affordable services for people or go join the dinosaurs.

Access to What Is Being Said About Us

One of the most frustrating things is to have to pay to see what TRW is telling people about you.  Any wonder why people break in?  Shouldn't it be just as easy for us to see our credit record as it is for some schmuck at Sears?

While we're on the subject, how far are we going to let these people go with our credit history?  Is it fair to be denied credit because you paid a bill late four years ago?  Or because you were tried for a crime and the charges were dropped?  Is it fair for companies to analyze your buying tendencies and theorize as to what type of person you are, and to use that as a deciding factor?

We feel it's only fair that we be shown, perhaps on an annual basis, what is being said about us and given the opportunity to correct any errors, or at least to question or explain them.  We shouldn't have to pay a penny for this "privilege."

An End to Information Charges

Again we're at a loss to explain why the phone companies charge for something that encourages using their service.  If we have to pay sixty cents to find out what someone's phone number is in another state, and then pay for a phone call as well, we're sure as hell going to think twice about making the call in the first place!  While it's true that some people would use an alternate service to make the call, the losses to AT&T can't be that stupendous.  We feel that this is an unjustifiable charge, one that hurts everyone in the end.

Our suggestions include: providing one call to information (at least) for every long-distance call dialed; providing free phone books (originally, charges for information were to encourage people to use the phone books instead); alternate information services for alternate carriers, i.e. a subscriber to Skyline would have the advantage of free access to Skyline information; or an online database where you can find out as many numbers or cross-references as you like via modem.  We'd like to hear more suggestions and we hope they get to the right people.

Nationwide Access for All

If there are databases that are so big and extensive that anyone can check our credit history from anywhere in the country, what is stopping us from using our bank card in New York to withdraw money while we are in Los Angeles?  When will these systems be integrated so we can all benefit from technology?  There is already statewide connection of auto teller banking, and some limited interstate use, but when will a national network be set up?