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.