Interesting People mailing list archives
final material on IIA . Again would you send your credit card?
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 1994 15:21:10 -0500
Forwarded by Gleason Sackman - InterNIC net-happenings moderator ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() ---------- Text of forwarded message ---------- From: merrill () ccmail dsgmcl saic com (Kevin Merrill) Newsgroups: alt.bbs.internet Subject: ! ! ! IIA FAQ ! ! ! Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 17:23:14 GMT While logged into IIA's host this morning, I received an e-mail from the IIA staff (I've been asking lots of questions) asking If I would post their FAQ to the news groups where IIA debate has been going on. They claim that they have been have difficulty posting _anything_ to news groups and that they have tried repeatedly. Regardless,......here is what they gave me to post,............ **************************************************************************** Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 10:20:55 -0500 From: IIA Development Team <staff () mary iia org> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IIA FAQ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Who is the IIA? The International Internet Association is an organization of engineers and computer and network enthusiasts dedicated to the free flow of information without regard to position or affiliation. In keeping with that concept, we are working diligently to ensure that all aspects of our society, be they individual, corporate, social, educational, intellectual, virtual, or correctional, have the opportunity to take part in the world of tomorrow, which we believe will be online. The IIA is simply an organization that wants to do its part in shaping the future of the human race by providing net access for all... Q: If you're a non-profit association, what is your source of funding? How do you pay for the services you provide? We wheel and we deal, with elbow grease and motivation. We leverage public image, information, and dreams to inspire people and companies to support our organization. Currently, the majority of IIA funding comes from private contributions. We are a not-for-profit association incorporated in the District of Columbia Nov. 18, 1993, and have a federal 501(c)(3) non profit application pending which will enable us to receive tax deductible donations. We also have and will continue to solicit support from commercial organizations for technical assistance Q: How many people work for the IIA? 5 Billion. They just don't know it. We hope to increase that by 10% over the next two years. Q: Why does the IIA require a credit card number before providing service, and why does this "non-profit" organization charge for calls via their 800 number? One of the missions of the IIA is to provide Internet connectivity nationwide. In order to do so we are putting together the requisite equipment and network and telecommunication resources to support a national user base. Unfortunately, we are not yet in the position to provide local phone coverage for the entire nation. As it is our interest to support users who do not have commercially available alternatives, we have implemented a system to ensure universal flat-rate access to our service. Our system provides 800 access 24 hours a day seven days a week from any point in the Domestic U.S. including Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories at the rate of 20 cents a minute. Though this may not be the least expensive option for users in major markets who are already being served by local providers, this system will provide users in previously ignored and forgotten markets equal access to the Internet. In order to provide this service we have contracted a U.S. long distance provider to supply 800 access. Over the course of the next year the IIA will be reducing the cost of 800 access through a two tiered approach. We will be monitoring our traffic patterns and begin placing local access nodes across the country. Second, we will continue to negotiate with our telecomm providers to reduce the cost of access. In addition, you can now, and will always be able to, dial directly into our nodes, and never will have to pay any access charges. You have to ask yourself the philosophical question. Would you prefer to pay AT&T or support the online future?? The IIA has not ever nor will they in the future charge anything for Internet Service. We make a small royalty off of 800 time, which helps us to pay our bills. What we really need is the support of the organizations we work with to make universal free Internet access a reality. Q: But I don't *want* to use the 800 number... Why do I have to give my credit card? Unfortunately, our system is currently unable to restrict access to the 800 number to specific accounts. Anyone who has an account is able to log on through the 800 number. As soon as we are able to fix this, we will be able to drop our credit card number requirement. Once again, if you don't use the 800 number, you will never see a charge on your bill. Really! Cross our hearts and hope to die! Hopefully, the absence of posts about fraudulent charges will provide *some* evidence of our honesty... Q: Why do you have a DC address when you appear to operate out of NJ? Why is your official address just a PO Box? Originally it was planned that we would launch our operations from the nations capital. Several of our founding members live in that region and the symbolism is very strong. Unfortunately the reality of the swamp by the Potomac is that they have one of the least capable telecommunications infrastructures in the nation. Our attempts to make the IIA function from a technical standpoint were so frought with problems that we ultimately decided to work instead from our research facility in New Jersey. We still do a great deal of our administrative work out of Washington D.C., and will maintain operations in that area. In any case, Washington D.C. has already been shown to foster ineffective and inefficient large organizations. We plan to play a role in making a new bastion of democracy in the minds and keyboards of the Internet. Q: Why is the address listed on the net for IIA a residential house in NJ? We maintain several technical facilities. One is in Highland park, NJ. On the Internet, and in the world of the IIA, it is not necessary to place every resource within geographical proximity of each other. As the Internet becomes more prevalent (our goal!), the model of the IIA will no longer seem strange. We neither have the funds nor the desire to put up a schnazzy glass-faced office buildings. Think to yourself exactly how much space does several strands of fiber and a few Sparc-10's take up? Well, the answer is really not that much, and especially not when you have a few motivated engineers who don't have any funds to spare. The real address of the IIA is on the net, and that's always where you'll find us if you want to look. Q: Why are you providing local access in NJ, but not in DC? When are you going to proide local access in DC? You have free libraries, an unbelievable metro (compliments of taxpayers), parks, 17 independent enforcement agencies, parades, marches, fireworks, standard of living, Library of Congress, etc.. Please be patient! Q: Why is there no "real people" to answer calls at the "IIA", just an automated voice system? Why hasn't the IIA responded sooner to the massive amount of net criticism?? We get a call every 68 seconds on average, and just as many direct electronic requests. If anyone is interested we would be willing to forward our number to your home and our mail to your account. We are up all night several nights a week, many of us work full-time jobs and still put 8 or 10 hours into the IIA at night. We eat lousy food from a corner deli, don't see our families, and spend Christmas Eve (true story) answering electronic requests. Have a little patience. Rome wasn't built in a day.. Q: I sent in a request for an account but never heard from them? Why does it take so long to get an account? They seem to have announced their service a long time ago. Where is it? Are they having staffing or technical difficulties? Unanswered requests: If anyone has sent a request and not heard we apologize. Two possibilities. 1: We screwed up and lost it. Early on we were still perfecting our administrative systems and mistakes were made. You have our sincere apology. If you contact us via fax we will rectify this as quickly as possible. 2: We have it. We will process it as soon as possible. We are getting a whole lot better at this. Q: What is the connection between IIA and IDT, which contacted potential users in Europe? IDT asked us if they could provide foreign access to the IIA through the International Call-Back system they invented. Since this is an organization which has members who have been very supportive of us, we allowed them to serve in this capacity. Additionally IDT has served invaluably in the capacity of advisor to the IIA in our dealings with domestic telecomm companies. Finally, this is not an exclusive arrangement. If anyone else has a clever way to get to the IIA, we are all ears. In Summary: You achieve in proportion to what you attempt. The International Internet Association is just one organization of thousands on a tiny world zipping around in a forgotten corner of the universe. Much is happening on this world, some good, some bad -- yet there is so much more that can be done on this world that it makes us all want to cry in frustration. However, we intend to press on in our attempt to make the the world a better place through Internet connectivity. God willing we hope you will join us. Maximillian D. Robbins, Executive Director, International Internet Association David S. Miller, Chief Technical Officer, International Internet Association
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- final material on IIA . Again would you send your credit card? David Farber (Jan 19)