Re: Genie, Virii, and Beagle Bros. (was Re: Genie...is it worth it?)

[jkonarz@ix.netcom.com (Jason Konarz)]

Okay... Wow... It is so great to discuss an issue that people feel
strongly about... Lets discuss...

Yes, I did sign up a second time, and if GEnie ever comes up with
anything I'd want again -- I'd do it again... Why? Because, the company
is asking ME and other computer users to sign up for a free trial...
They are advertising so that people will try their service... I try it,
and if I found it a value past the $150 credit, I'd stay... I know I
would, because I've been on CIS for over 2 years, and I've been on
Netcom for a few months, and I intend to stay. I am now trying out the
Microsoft Network, because again, MSN *wants* me too, or else they
wouldn't have advertised it to us Win95 users... The differences
between CIS & Netcom, and GEnie is VALUE. The two services I am a
member of offer me a valuable service, for a REASONABLE amount of
money. (CIS turns out reasonable, because of all the core services...
and the 3 free hours of Internet usage a month they just added, at no
extra charge... Which was a very good thing of them to do, even though
I don't use it, I use Netcom...)

The more I use Netcom, the more I wonder how I ever did without it,
with all the things I am now able to do online, without ever watching
the clock... This is NOT ever the case with GEnie... I wait... and
wait... and wait for the menu items to appear on the screen... Finally,
they are there, I click on the mouse... Nope, didn't go through, too
early to click the mouse... Okay, I click the mouse now... Etc. 

-- The service is slow.
-- They only give you 4 hours a month.
-- They treat their free trial people much better than they do their
own PAYING customers (most services, it's the other way around...).
$150 credit vs. 4 hours a month...
-- When I was a member, non-prime time fees were astronomical.
-- Any service that doesn't offer 14.4, or that charges extra for 9600
baud, is back in the stone age as far as I'm concerned...
-- Customer service was a JOKE when I was a member. With all the time I
spent on-hold, they should've paid ME for trying out their service...
-- Overall variety of content on the service was also a joke.

Was what I did illegal?

NO. The offer is limited to one per address. I asked my friend if it
was okay to use their address. She says she doesn't ever want to try
GEnie, as she is content with AOL... So, the address is open to me. I
use my own credit card, her address, the transaction goes through...

I used the same offer code I used to sign up the first time... It's not
as if they are trying to prevent the offer codes from being used more
than once... If I ever sign up to GEnie again, I will use that same
offer code again...

Was what I did immoral, and better yet, should I erase all the software
from my hard drive?

Ha ha ha... Uh... Erasing all the software from my hard drive was
presented as an option... but I think that would be pretty stupid,
don't you? I do not have any problem in the world taking advantage of a
free offer that the company itself provides... If they didn't want me
to take the offer, then they wouldn't mail me the damn disk! It's not
like I'm hacking the system or something...

Lastly, about the "people"... the "community" on GEnie... that I am
doing a disservice to...

Well, if you really think you and GEnie are a big "community"... A big
"circle of friends" perhaps... I suggest you ignore their request for
payment of your account this month, and see how friendly they act
towards you. There is no friendship being an individual and an online
service. I don't care what Prodigy, or AOL's president Steve Case, or
any of those companies say to try and gain loyalty from you to mail in
your paychecks... There is NONE. If you think there is, then perhaps
you should gain some better friends, because your "friends" now at
GEnie are taking advantage of you... You are just a number to them...
Not a friend...

If you have any more comments, discussions, or suggestions, I will be
more than happy to listen!

Thanks, 
Jason Konarz

P.S. Since everyone in this newsgroup seems to follow the online
services, I am reprinting the following news article I found online
about three months ago... the numbers have changed a lot since then...
CIS now claims 3 million, and AOL now claims 2 million... I don't know
about the others:

" IISR said the six largest consumer-oriented online operators at the
end of 1994 were:
  -:- CompuServe, with 2.45 million users.
  -:- America Online, with 1.5 million users.
  -:- Prodigy, with 1.2 million users.
  -:- Delphi, with 100,000 users.
  -:- GEnie, with 75,000 users.
  -:- eWorld, with 65,000 users.        "