Posted by Todd (216.199.4.99) on October 09, 1999 at 08:08:14:
In Reply to: is this real or just BS....long post posted by Bob G on October 08, 1999 at 14:43:41:
I agree with the comments below, and yes this has be circulating the net for more than a year that I know about.
HOWEVER, my co-workers brother is a lobbyist for BellSouth. Here's the issue--the LEC's (your local phone company) get paid an access fee from you Long Distance carrier everytime you make a long distance call. When you dial into your ISP, it's a local call, which is then routed to (typically) another long distance number, and on and on. That's why you can access the whole world from your puter and make long distance calls over the puter for 'free'. The LEC's have been lobbying for a couple of years for the right to apply the access fees to the local numbers for your ISP. So far, they haven't had any luck.
Bottom line, IGNORE that particular piece of spam, but keep your eyes on the news to see if this issue comes up in Congress again.
KTSSU,
T