F I D O N E W S -- Volume 15, Number 39 28 September 1998

F I D O N E W S -- Volume 15, Number 39 28 September 1998
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
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| | | \ \\ | Editor: |
| | (*) | \ )) | Henk Wolsink 5:7104/2 |
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| (_/(_|(____/ | |
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| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
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| Submission address: FidoNews Editor 5:5/23 |
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| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
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| please refer to the end of this file. |
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Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
2. GUEST EDITORIAL .......................................... 2
When a plan doesn't come together ........................ 2
3. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 4
4. ARTICLES ................................................. 5
What is a copyright ...................................... 5
LOCALE.ART ............................................... 9
International BBS Week ................................... 11
Zone Echomail Coordinator Duties ......................... 12
Finding Your Lost Regional Echo Coordinator .............. 14
Region 17 (Zone 1) now has a web page! ................... 15
5. NOTICES .................................................. 16
6. FIDONET BY INTERNET ...................................... 18
7. FIDONEWS INFORMATION ..................................... 21
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 1 28 Sep 1998

=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================

Greetings,

Last week's editorial about echomail and it's "is it copyright" or
not, did provide some interesting comments. Some of you said, it is
not subject to copyright laws, some ofcourse maintain it is.

As mentioned, I have my own views on the subject:
'Unless so stated in each and every message posted, such messages
are _not_ copyrighted'.

However, having said that, I saw an interesting article on one of the
list servers, which makes interesting reading. The article is below,
should you be interested in it, for further reference. It applies
mainly to Zone 1, but then, it also makes reference to the Berne
Convention. Read it and do make your own assumptions.

Who said my predecessor died? Well, be informed that he is well and
kicking. :-) His eye is still bothering him, but for the rest he's
fit! Keep and get well Zorch.

Happy reading,

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FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 2 28 Sep 1998

=================================================================
GUEST EDITORIAL
=================================================================

When a Plan Doesn't Come Together...
The End of a Dream?
Douglas Myers, 1:270/720, [email protected]

Fido's most persevering conflict is that between technical
organization and social organization. At times it's bitter, but
there's an awareness in both camps that they really need each other.
Without the technical organization, the net doesn't stay connected.
Without the social organization, there's no need to be connected.

Presently, the net is ruled by it's technical organization. Typical
of those things designed by a technician, the basic organization is
efficient, authoritative, and very logical. And, as typical, the
organization falters when dealing with the social issues of right,
justice, and feelings.

Those of a more social bent would prefer democratic election for all
offices, and even issues. They've made significant progress at the
net and regional levels. Typically these elections are slow and
inefficient, but proponents feel that they better deal with social
issues. Until recently, though, there had been no democratic
elections at the zone level.

The scene for Fido's first democratic election in 1997 was a strange
one. It involved an office, Zone Echomail Coordinator, which wasn't
even "real" in that the position is not mentioned in Policy 4, Fido's
governing document.

Many feel to this day that the position is not even necessary.
Nonetheless, the position was offered to the sysops of Zone 1 for
their selection.

Many feel the election failed. In the manner of elections, it was a
loud and hotly contested affair. And, in the ultimate analysis, it
produced a candidate who didn't survive his first term, judged by the
technical and social proponents alike to be unsuited to the job.
Now, in the selection of his replacement, it appears that the
technical leadership has declared the grand experiment a failure and
will simply select his replacement.

Is the dream of the social organizers dead?

Probably for now <sigh>. It's still theoretically possible for Bob
Satti to insist on a sysop-level vote, but it would be at the risk of
antagonizing the RECC, whit whom he's working well right now. It's
still theoretically possible that the Regional Echomail Coordinator
Council charged with determining how the next ZEC is to be selected,
will ignore the feedback from their regions that the sysops just
don't care to go through another election.
It's still theoretically possible for the sysops, possibly stirred by
this rhetoric, to convince the individual REC's that they truly want
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 3 28 Sep 1998

such an election. But then, it's still theoretically possible that
there will be peace in the middle east and that the internet will
shut down in favor of BBS's across the world.

I don't believe that we'll see a sysop-level vote for a zone office
for a long time, and I wanted that because I'd caught a piece of the
dream myself.
But I don't think it's the end of sysop-level influence at the zone
level either. Though it's an evolutionary truth that authoritative
organizations tend to lose touch with their constituency, I don't
think this process is complete with Fido yet. For whatever reason,
Bob Satti, as the head of this organization, _did_ put the election
on the table in the first place. The RC's who make up the zone
organization still takes input directly from the sysops. Even if
there are varying degrees of sincerity. Even if some only make the
pretense. It's significant that the form is still in place.

For my own part in all this, I plan to continue to work within the
system, to keep the dream alive as best I can :)

--
| Fidonet: Douglas Myers 1:270/[email protected]
| Internet: [email protected]
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
| From Mdtn_BBS @mdtnbbs.com [ In the Heart of Three Mile Island ]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 4 28 Sep 1998

=================================================================
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
=================================================================

Hi Editor,

Could you please add my welcome blurb for R17 Website in the next
addition of the FidoNews, and also you may link R17 URL to any
websites the Fidonews may have on the Web.

Thank you.

blurb:
=== Cut ===

R17 Website
09/25/98 05:23 pm

G'day!

I'ed like to take a sec and introduce myself ... Hi, my name is Kevin.
I live in Calgary Alberta Canada and I have have been a member of
Fidonet from about 1989. I still enjoy this type of networking and
hope Fidonet still has it's place in the future.

Just the other day Bob Seaborn, REC17, and myself were chatting and
he asked me if I'd be interested in developing a Website for Region
17, I accepted, and R17's site was born.

As the designer of the site, I'm very happy to promote R17's site on
the Internet, and hope this generates more sysops/users for our
region.

Welcome!

[email protected]
http://www.nwstar.com/~region17/

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 5 28 Sep 1998

=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================

What is a copyright?

A copyright gives the owner of a creative work the right to keep
others from using the work without the owner's permission. The key
to understanding copyright law is to understand the difference
between an idea and the expression of the idea. Copyright applies
only to a particular expression, not to the ideas or facts underlying
the expression. For instance, copyright may protect a particular
song, novel or computer game about a romance in space, but it cannot
protect the underlying idea of having a love affair among the stars.

More specifically, a creative work (often referred to as a "work of
authorship") must meet all of these three criteria to be protected by
copyright:
It must be original. In other words, the author must have created
rather than copied it.
It must be fixed in a tangible (concrete) medium of expression. For
example, it might be expressed on paper, audio or video tape, computer
disk, clay or canvas.
It must have at least some creativity--that is, it must be produced by
an exercise of human intellect. There is no hard and fast rule as to
how much creativity is enough. To give an example, it must go beyond
the creativity found in the telephone white pages, which involve a
non-discretionary alphabetic listing of telephone numbers rather than
a creative selection of listings.

How long does a copyright last?

For works published after 1977, the copyright lasts for the life of
the author plus 50 years. However, if the work is a work for hire
(that is, the work is done in the course of employment or has been
specifically commissioned) or is published anonymously or under a
pseudonym, the copyright lasts between 75 and 100 years, depending
on the date the work is published.

If the work was published before 1978 and the copyright has been
properly renewed, the copyright expires 75 years after date of
publication. If the work was created, but not published, before
1978, the copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 50 years.
However, even if the author died over 50 years ago, the copyright in
an unpublished work lasts until December 31, 2002. And if such a
work is published before 2003, the copyright lasts until December 31,
2027.

International Copyright Protection.

Copyright protection rules are fairly similar worldwide, due to
several international copyright treaties, the most important of
which is the Berne Convention. Under this treaty, all member countries
--and there are more than 100, including virtually all industrialized
nations--must afford copyright protection to authors who are nationals
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 6 28 Sep 1998

of any member country. This protection must last for at least the life
of the author plus 50 years, and must be automatic without the need
for the author to take any legal steps to preserve the copyright.

In addition to the Berne Convention, the GATT (General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade) treaty contains a number of provisions that affect
copyright protection in signatory countries. Together, the Berne
Copyright Convention and the GATT treaty allow U.S. authors to enforce
their copyrights in most industrialized nations, and allow the
nationals of those nations to enforce their copyrights in the U.S.

With one important exception, you should assume that every work is
protected by copyright unless you can establish that it is not. As
mentioned above, you can't rely on the presence or absence of a
copyright notice ((c)) to make this determination, because a notice
is not required for works published after March 1, 1989. And even for
works published before 1989, the absence of a copyright notice may
not affect the validity of the copyright.

The exception is for materials put to work under the "fair use rule."
This rule recognizes that society can often benefit from the
unauthorized use of copyrighted materials when the purpose of the
use serves the ends of scholarship, education or an informed public.
For example, scholars must be free to quote from their research
resources in order to comment on the material.

Copyright (c)1995, The Trustees of California State University.

When Copying Is OK: The 'Fair Use' Rule
by Stephen Fishman Copyright (c) Nolo Press

Sooner or later, almost all writers quote or closely paraphrase what
others have written. For example:
Andy, putting together a newsletter on his home computer, reprints an
editorial he likes from a daily newspaper.
Phil, a biographer and historian, quotes from several unpublished
letters and diaries written by his subject.

Regina, a freelance writer, closely paraphrases two paragraphs from
the Encyclopedia Britannica in an article she's writing.
Sylvia, a poet, quotes a line from a poem by T.S. Eliot in one of her
own poems.
Donnie, a comedian, writes a parody of the famous song "Blue Moon" he
performs in his comedy act.

Assuming the material quoted in these examples is protected by
copyright, do Phil, Regina, Sylvia, Andy and Donnie need permission
from the author or other copyright owner to use it? It may surprise
you to learn that the answer is "not necessarily."

Under the "fair use" rule of copyright law, an author may make
limited use of another author's work without asking permission. The
fair use privilege is perhaps the most significant limitation on a
copyright owner's exclusive rights. If you write or publish, you
need a basic understanding of what is and is not fair use.

FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 7 28 Sep 1998

Uses That Are Generally Fair Uses.

Subject to some general limitations discussed later in this article,
the following types of uses are usually deemed fair uses:
Criticism and comment--for example, quoting or excerpting a work in
a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment.

News reporting--for example, summarizing an address or article, with
brief quotations, in a news report.
Research and scholarship--for example, quoting a short passage in a
scholarly, scientific or technical work for illustration or clarifi-
cation of the author's observations.
Nonprofit educational uses--for example, photocopying of limited
portions of written works by teachers for classroom use.
Parody--that is, a work that ridicules another, usually well-known,
work by imitating it in a comic way.

In most other situations, copying is not legally a fair use. Without
an author's permission, such a use violates the author's copyright.

Violations often occur when the use is motivated primarily by a
desire for commercial gain. The fact that a work is published
primarily for private commercial gain weighs against a finding of
fair use. For example, using the Bob Dylan line "You don't need a
weatherman to know which way the wind blows" in a poem published in
a small literary journal would probably be a fair use; using the same
line in an advertisement for raincoats probably would not be.

A commercial motive doesn't always disqualify someone from claiming a
fair use. A use that benefits the public can qualify as a fair use,
even if it makes money for the user.

For example, a vacuum cleaner manufacturer was permitted in its
advertising to quote from a Consumer Reports article comparing vacuum
cleaners. Why? The ad significantly increased the number of people
exposed to the Consumers Union's evaluations and thereby disseminated
helpful consumer information. The same rationale probably applies to
the widespread practice of quoting from favorable reviews in
advertisements for books, films and plays.

Copying From Unpublished Materials.

When it comes to fair use, unpublished works are inherently different
from published works. Publishing an author's unpublished work before
he or she has authorized it infringes upon the author's right to
decide when and whether the work will be made public. Some courts
have held that fair use never applies to unpublished material.

As you might expect, publishers, authors' groups, biographers and
historians were highly critical of this view. They got Congress to
amend the fair use provision in the Copyright Act to make clear that
the fact that a work is unpublished weighs against fair use, but is
not determinative in and of itself. If the other fair use factors
favor fair use, it can be permissible to use part of an unpublished
work without permission. This is particularly likely where the use
benefits the public by furthering the fundamental purpose of the
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 8 28 Sep 1998

copyright laws--the advancement of human knowledge. For example, a
court held that it was a fair use for a biographer to use a modest
amount of material from unpublished letters and journals by the
author Richard Wright. (Wright v. Warner Books, Inc., 953 F.2d 731
(2d Cir. 1991).)

When Is a Use a 'Fair Use'?

There are five basic rules to keep in mind when deciding whether or
not a particular use of an author's work is a fair use:

Rule 1: Are You Just Copying or Creating Something New?
The purpose and character of your intended use of the material
involved is the single most important factor in determining whether
a use is a fair use.
The question to ask here is whether you are merely copying someone
else's work verbatim or instead using it to help create something
new. The Supreme Court calls such a new work "transformative." The
more transformative your work, the more likely your use is a fair
use.

Rule 2: Don't Compete With the Source You're Copying From.
Without consent, you ordinarily cannot use another person's protected
expression in a way that impairs (or even potentially impairs) the
market for his or her work. Thus, if you want to use an author's
protected expression in a work of your own that is similar to the
prior work and aimed at the same market, your intended use isn't
likely a fair use.

For example, say Nick, a golf pro, writes a book on how to play golf.
Not a good putter himself, he copies several brilliant paragraphs on
putting from a book by Lee Trevino, one of the greatest putters in
golf history. Because Nick intends his book to compete with and
hopefully supplant Trevino's, this use could not be a fair use. In
effect, Nick is trying to use Trevino's protected expression to eat
into the sales of Trevino's own book.

An interesting example is when a teacher copies parts of books for
students to use. In one recent case, a group of seven major publishers
went to court and stopped a duplicating business from copying excerpts
from books without permission, compiling them into "course packets"
and selling them to college students.

Rule 3: Giving the Author Credit Doesn't Let You Off the Hook.
Some people mistakenly believe that they can use any material as long
as they properly give the author credit. Not true. Giving credit and
fair use are completely separate concepts. Either you have the right
to use another author's material under the fair use rule or you
don't. The fact that you attribute the material to the other author
doesn't change that.

Rule 4: The More You Take, the Less Fair Your Use Is Likely to Be.
The more material you take, the less likely it is that your use will
be a fair use. However, to preserve the free flow of information,
authors have more leeway in using material from factual works
(scholarly, technical, scientific works, etc.) than to works of fancy
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 9 28 Sep 1998

such as novels, poems and plays. This is true especially where it's
necessary to use extensive quotations to ensure the accuracy of the
information conveyed.

As a general rule, never quote more than a few successive paragraphs
from a book or article, or take more than one chart or diagram. It
is never proper to include an illustration or other artwork in a book
or newsletter without the artist's permission. Don't quote more than
one or two lines from a poem.

Many publishers require their authors to obtain permission from an
author to quote more then a specified number of words, ranging from
about 100 to 1000 words.

Contrary to what many people believe, there is no absolute word limit
on fair use. For example, it is not always okay to take one paragraph
or less than 200 words. Copying 12 words from a 14-word haiku poem
wouldn't be fair use. Nor would copying 200 words from a work of 300
words likely qualify as a fair use. However, copying 2000 words from
a work of 500,000 words might be fair.

It all depends on the circumstances.

Rule 5: The Quality of the Material Used Is as Important as the
Quantity.
The more important the material is to the original work, the less
likely your use of it will be considered a fair use.

In one famous case, The Nation magazine obtained a copy of Gerald
Ford's memoirs before their publication. In the magazine's article
about the memoirs, only 300 words from Ford's 200,000-word manuscript
were quoted verbatim. The Supreme Court ruled that this was not a
fair use because the material quoted (dealing with the Nixon pardon)
was the "heart of the book ...the most interesting and moving parts
of the entire manuscript," and that pre-publication disclosure of
this material would cut into value or sales of the book.

Determining whether your intended use of another author's protected
work constitutes a fair use is usually not difficult. It's really
just a matter of common sense. There is no more commonsensical
definition of fair use than the golden rule: Take from someone else
only what you wouldn't mind someone taking from you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

All Aboard?
By Andrea Santos, 1:135/382, [email protected]

We're quickly closing in on the one year mark since a node physically
located in Malaysia was nodelisted in Zone 1's, Region 12,
specifically, Net 163. Though the node in question is no longer in
Fidonet, the ensuing problems which caused him to seek a node
assignment outside of his Zone are, and nor are these problems
limited to Zone 6.
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 10 28 Sep 1998

Anyone got a few rafts?

Upon learning of the above geographic abnormality, many expressed
concern. Was this a blatant shirking of the suspect P4 geographic
boundaries clause by Net 163, or was there a serious breakdown
underway which required attention? After contacting a few nodes in
that Zone, I concluded the latter and was vocal in my comments in
various administrative echos for the need to resolve the problems,
beginning with the Zone Coordinator. Both NCs and RCs in that Region
had disappeared without notice, and either grunt nodes were finding it
impossible to obtain a local nodelisting, or NCs had no uplink to
submit updated Nodelist segments.

With so much discussion going on at the time about this nodelisting,
I remained cautiouly optimistic that the "powers that be" would get
involved. Surely, it was not in the best interests of a sysop located
half way around the world to have to seek out a node assignment here.
More importantly, the longer term viability of an entire Zone seemed
questionable.

My optimism ended after being copied a Netmail this past June from an
NC in Zone 1 who had been contacted about nodelisting a Sysop from
India. Upon receiving this mail, I contacted the NC of the India Net
to see if the sysop in question could be nodelisted in his
geographically assigned Net. This was done in quick fashion, however,
you won't find this nodelisting in your currently compiled Nodelist,
nor will you locate about 16 others in the same Net which have been
added in the last year or so. Not much you can do when there is no
uplink to send nodelist segments. Yet 3-4 more months have gone by
and nothing has changed.

Recently reviewing the Malaysian Net, this segment is identical today
to what I have on file back in February of this year, yet it was
relayed by a Zone 3 sysop, somewhere around the same time, that the
Malaysia NC was no longer running a Mailer and the Net no longer
existed. Any reason why this Net still appears in our Nodelist?

To my chagrin, and almost a year after Net 163 took it upon themselves
to provide a nodelisting to a sysop interested in being a part of
Fidonet, subjecting themselves to Policy action, it would appear
little has changed and it isn't for lack of active members in that
Zone trying. Just this week, yet another sysop in Zone 6 (this time
Indonesia) has put out a call for help and has provided the usual
non-response as the reason why.

Need another raft!

Though it's a remote possibility, my concern does not lie with nodes
elsewhere potentially CRASH mailing a down node l/d, or even the mere
nodelisting of inactive grunt nodes.

What should be of concern to everyone is that there are sysops running
viable boards who are not appropriately accounted for in our Network.
Anyone interested in routing mail to these network members can't.
Sysops who would like to be a part of Zone 6 Fidonet are ill-served by
our inaccurate "address book" and are not likely to join our
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 11 28 Sep 1998

organization after following protocol and trying to directly connect
with several long distance *C's, to no avail. In other words we, as a
Network, are doing our best to discourage sysops from becoming a
members of Fidonet.

In early August, a Sysop posted that a prospective node I had
previously communicated with had sent mail to RC15 (Zone 1) to apply
for an RIN nodelisting, as his geographic area was not covered by any
existing Net. Since it had only been 2 weeks, and summer to boot,
I wrote back to the sysop and said to give it another week and offered
my assistance. Also made a note of this communication.

At the end of the month, I reviewed my notes, checked the nodelist,
saw the prospective sysop was not there, and mailed him. He had heard
nothing from anyone about his application, but expressed he was still
interested in joining Fidonet.

I'm intentionally leaving out some details from this point on but,
suffice it to say, despite the efforts of myself and my RC, the window
of opportunity to get this sysop a node number when it was most
convenient for him, and not an unresponsive member of Fidonet, has
passed. Commitments outside of this network, which weren't an issue a
month or even a 2 weeks ago, now are. Whether that changes in the
future is anyone's guess.

The days are long gone where Fidonet had the luxury of turning away
interested sysops. The problems which prevented this sysop from
getting a "properly" assigned node number were not addressed in time
because of that chain around our collective necks otherwise known as
the Geographic Boundaries clause.

In another time and place, geographic assignment made alot of sense.
In working Nets, Regions and Zones, it still does, per routed mail and
enhancement of local online communities. But if a Net, Region or Zone
is known not to be working, the boundary clause serves as a nothing
but a deterrent to any prospective node who can't get a reply, and as
an ongoing threat, in the form of a PC, to any Coordinator who would
do the needful and assign a node number.

My question to our International Coordinator is when will Coordinators
be permitted to assign out of area node numbers in non-response
situations, and quickly, to encourage the growth of our network,
without being subjected to complaint action?

The Ship's got plenty of room for the rafters. Let's get them
aboard and share it!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

As Fidonetters know, the week of 14 Sep 1998 thru 20 Sep 98 was
supposed to mark "International BBS Week," a promotional event to
highlight the BBS community.

So what happened last week? Absolutely nothing. International BBS
Week was a dead duck. Even the participants in its Fido newsgroup
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 12 28 Sep 1998

didn't mention it.

International BBS Week was suggested nearly two years ago by a group
of New Zealand sysops, and was later touted by some sysops in the
Minneapolis area. But although those sysops talked a good game,
their failure to organize in any meaningful way meant that
International BBS Week was doomed from the start. Nary a peep has
been heard from COCA, ICON, or any other group that claims to
promote BBS sysops. None exercised any leadership to make
International BBS Week meaningful and the event fizzled out like a
wet firecracker.

Meanwhile, the number of BBS systems continues to drop sharply.

The idea of having an International BBS Week is good. It should be
discussed during the October 2-4 SysCon'98 conference in Las Vegas,
and BBS sysops should band together to plan a meaningful
international event in the near future, perhaps within the next 90
days. If we continue to do nothing, the BBS community will continue
to shrivel and die.

So, these questions as we move forward:

1. Are BBS systems relevant anymore in a Webbed world? If so, what
is their role? If not, why not?

2. Since the term "BBS" has become burdensome baggage, is there a
better term we can use to describe these systems?

3. Where does the low-budget BBS computer hobbyist fit into an
online world that is dominated by deep-pocketed Web players?

4. What technical and content issues prevent BBS systems from being
a viable alternative online destination and how do we address them?

5. What is the most effective way to promote BBS systems in the
future?

Our time is short. Your ideas and comments, please.

Pat Clawson
TeleGrafix Communications Inc.
Winchester, VA

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Zone Echomail Coordinator Duties

In an article last week related to the upcoming ZEC election, I had
touched on the duties of this office. A more definitive listing was
posted in Z1_ELECTION last year by the then-elected ZEC, Bob Kohl.
This is presented here in it's entirety for your information.

Recent feedback from some of the REC's is that the sysops in their
region do not want a sysop-level election. As far as I know, only
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 13 28 Sep 1998

Region 13 still supports this concept. Though the Regional Echo
Coordinator's Council has not made any official announcement yet, the
REC's posting in the echo ZEC seem to favor selection of the ZEC by
the RECC.

I'll continue to submit information related to the selection of the
ZEC to Fidonews. Even if the one-time practice of electing the ZEC
at the sysop level is rescinded, sysops may still attempt to make
their opinion known through their Regional Echo Coordinator.

------------------------- begin quoted echomail --------------------

Area : Z1_ELECTION

Date : Nov 21 '97, 02:41
From : Bob Kohl 1:102/861
To : All
Subj : Re: ZEC duties Rev. 21934575-86721569-35d
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Feel free to crosspost at will:

At the pleasure of the Z1C, the duties for the Z1EC shall be:

1) Coordination between the Z1 echomail distribution systems

2) Coordination of the RECC and with the Zone 1 RECs.

The ZEC is the chairperson of the RECC. He or she shall bring ideas
to the RECC and moderate the discussion of ideas. He or she shall also
act as a tie breaker in the event of a tie vote. The RECC may overturn
a ZEC proposed action or idea with a 2/3rds vote of the RECC.

If the RECC concludes that the ZEC is not active, ineffective in his
or her job or not taking care his or her responsibilities per this
list; they may take a vote of no-confidence. If the vote of no-
confidence passes with 2/3rds majority, the RECC will refer this issue
to the Z1C for mediation or action as the Z1C sees fit.

The ZEC shall be allowed to take issue with RECs that are not
participating or doing their job, by taking the matter up with with
the host RC of the REC's region and the Z1C for mediation or action.

These two actions shall NOT be taken lightly without all due
consideration of possible extenuating circumstances.

3) Coordination with the other ZECs.

4) Central repository of information for the various Z1 distribution
systems.

5) Mediation of Zone 1 echomail issues/disputes.

6) Upper level mediation between Moderators, Fidonet distribution
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 14 28 Sep 1998

systems on related echomail issues.

7) Coordination with the Echolist Keeper.

8) Help in the formation and implementation of a Zone/Fido-wide
Echomail policy. The ZEC shall work in conjunction with the RECC
on this issue, so that the REC's can take this information to their
respective regions for feedback.

9) Term(s) of no more than 2 years. No limit on number of terms

10) Codify, with the RECC, the procedure for future ZEC elections.
All future elections are subject to review by the Z1C..

11) Provide for an interim Z1EC, should anything happen to currently
seated Z1EC to prevent him/her from fulfilling these duties. The
single duty of the interim Z1EC shall be to expedite an election
and the smooth transition to the next Z1EC. The interim ZEC
shall refer to the Z1C for help with problems if the RECC cannot
resolve said issue(s).

BK

-!- DB A3000sl/001347
! Origin: Conniption BBS * One fit at a time * (1:102/861)

-------------------------- end quoted echomail ----------------------

--
| Fidonet: Douglas Myers 1:270/[email protected]
| Internet: [email protected]
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
| From Mdtn_BBS @mdtnbbs.com [ In the Heart of Three Mile Island ]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Finding Your Lost REC

Your Regional Echo Coordinator has been trying to find you. He's been
charged with the mission of finding out how you would like to select a
new Zone Echo Coordinator to coordinate the Council of REC's (RECC).
If you've missed his call in your own regional echos, and you don't
know how to find him in the nodelist... and if you're interested in
offering your opinion... then this list may help.

To netmail your REC, all you need is his node number. To find that
on the list below, you need to know your NET number. That's the part
of your node number between the ":" and the "/". Once you've
determined your NET number, then find your REC in the list below.
Netmail him with your opinion.

If you're node number indicates that you're in a single-digit net,
then you're a zone independant and should already know everything :)
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 15 28 Sep 1998

If you're node number indicates that you're in a two-digit net, then
you're a regional independant and can just select from the second
column of the list.

If you're in nets 100 to 199, abandon all hope of finding the
information from this list. Those net numbers are spread between
regions indiscriminately - you'll have to examine the full nodelist
to determine your region.

If your net number is anywhere between 400 and 999, you're not in
Zone 1 and don't have to worry about this selection. Similiarly for
net numbers above 4000. If your net number is between 1000 and 1999,
you probably don't exist.

REC 10 Blynn Mueller 1:10/1 Nets 200 to 219, 2000 to 2199
REC 11 Keith Wineka 1:11/1 Nets 220 to 239, 2200 to 2399
REC 12 Ken Wilson 1:12/1 Nets 240 to 259, 2400 to 2599
REC 13 David Calafrancesco 1:13/1 Nets 260 to 279, 2600 to 2799
REC 14 John Bodoni 1:1/214 Nets 280 to 299, 2800 to 2999
REC 15 Brandon Carnahan 1:15/5 Nets 300 to 319, 3000 to 3199
REC 16 Brian Bonfietti 1:16/1 Nets 320 to 339, 3200 to 3399
REC 17 Bob Seaborn 1:17/1 Nets 340 to 359, 3400 to 3599
REC 18 Jerry Gause 1:18/1 Nets 360 to 379, 3600 to 3799
REC 19 Ben Hamilton 1:19/1 Nets 380 to 399, 3800 to 3999

--
| Fidonet: Douglas Myers 1:270/[email protected]
| Internet: [email protected]
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
| From Mdtn_BBS @mdtnbbs.com [ In the Heart of Three Mile Island ]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Region 17 (Zone 1) now has a web page!
======================================

by Dallas Hinton (1:153/715)

Thanks to the hard work of webmaster Kevin Klement, and space courtesy
of nwstar.com, Region 17 now has a very nice web page where those
interested may find FidoNet information, links, and how-to files on a
number of topics.

We're still looking for more of our history, and like most web pages
ours will be undoubtedly be in a permanent state of construction, but
we think it looks very nice!

Please drop by and say hello:

http://www.nwstar.com/~region17/

-30-

-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 16 28 Sep 1998

=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================

Future History

5 Oct 1998
29th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus".

23 Nov 1998
35th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

1 Dec 1998
Fifteenth Anniversary of release of Fido version 1 by
Tom Jennings.

16 Feb 1999
13th Anniversary of the introduction of EchoMail by Jeff Rush.

12 May 1999
12th Anniversary of Fido Operations in Zone 4;
10th Anniversary of the creation of FidoNet Zone 4.

24 Jul 1999
XIII Pan American Games [through 8 Aug 99].

9 Jun 1999
Tenth Anniversary of the adoption of FidoNet Policy 4.07.

10 Sep 1999
10th anniversary of Zone 5 operations.

26 Oct 1999
Thirty years from release Abbey Road album by the Beatles.

31 Dec 1999
Hogmanay, Scotland. The New Year that can't be missed.

1 Jan 2000
The 20th Century, C.E., is still taking place thru 31 Dec.

1 Jun 2000
EXPO 2000 World Exposition in Hannover (Germany) opens.

15 Sep 2000
Sydney (Australia) Summer Olympiad opens.

21 Sep 2000
10 years of FidoNet in +7 (xUSSR)

1 Jan 2001
This is the actual start of the new millennium, C.E.

-- If YOU have something which you would like to see in this
Future History, please send a note to the FidoNews Editor.

FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 17 28 Sep 1998

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 18 28 Sep 1998

=================================================================
FIDONET BY INTERNET
=================================================================

This is a list of all FidoNet-related sites reported to the
FidoNews Editor as of this issue; see the notice at the end.

FidoNet:

Homepage http://www.fidonet.org
FidoNews http://www.fidonews.org [HTML]
http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html [ASCII]
WWW sources http://www.scms.rgu.ac.uk/students/cs_yr94/lk/fido.html
FTSC page http://www.goldware.dk/ftsc
Echomail [pending]
WebRing http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fnetring.html [TFN]
General http://owls.com/~jerrys/fidonet.html
http://www.trak-one.co.uk/foti

============

Zone 1: http://www.z1.fidonet.org

Region 10: http://www.psnw.com/~net205/region10.html

Region 11: http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/

Region 17: http://www.nwstar.com/~region17/

Region 18: http://techshop.pdn.net/fido/

Region 19: http://www.compconn.net

============

Zone 2: http://www.z2.fidonet.org

ZEC2:
Zone 2 Elist: http://www.fbone.ch/echolist/

Region 20: http://www.fidonet.pp.se (in Swedish)

Region 23: http://www.fido.dk (in Danish)

Region 24: http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (German)
Fido-IP: http://home.nrh.de/~lbehet/fido (English/German)

Region 25: http://www.bsnet.co.uk/net2502/net/

Region 26: http://www.nemesis.ie
REC 26: http://www.nrgsys.com/orb

Region 27: http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm

Region 29: http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (French)

FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 19 28 Sep 1998

Region 30: http://www.fidonet.ch (Swiss?)

Region 33: http://www.fidoitalia.net (Italian)

Region 34: http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (Spanish)
REC34: http://pobox.com/~chr

Region 36: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7207/

Region 38: http://public.st.carnet.hr/~blagi/bbs/adriam.html

Region 41: http://www.fidonet.gr (Greek/English)

Region 48: http://www.fidonet.org.pl

Region 50: http://www.fido7.com/ (Russian)
Net 5010: http://fido.tu-chel.ac.ru/ (Russian)
Net 5015: http://www.fido.nnov.ru/ (Russian)
Net 5030: http://kenga.ru/fido/ (Russian & English)
Net 5073: http://people.weekend.ru/soa/ (Russian)

============

Zone 3: http://www.z3.fidonet.org

============

Zone 4: http://www.altern.org/zone4

Region 90: http://visitweb.com/fidonet
Net 903: http://www.playagrande.com/refugio
Net 904: http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (Spanish)

============

Zone 5: http://www.eastcape.co.za/fidonet/index.htm

============

Zone 6: http://www.z6.fidonet.org

Region 65: http://www.cfido.com/fidonet/cfidochina.html (Chinese)

============

Pages listed above are as submitted to the FidoNews Editor,
and generally reflect Zone and Regional Web Page sites. If
no Regional site is submitted, the first Network page from
that Region is used in its place. Generally, Regional pages
should list access points to all Networks within the Region.

TCP/IP accessible node access information should be submitted
to the FidoNews Editor for inclusion in their Region or Zone.

-----------oOo-------------

FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 20 28 Sep 1998

Fidonet Via Internet Hubs

Node# | Operator | Facilities (*) | Speed | Basic Rate
-----------+-------------------+----------------+-------+-----------
1:12/12 | Ken Wilson | FTP | T1 | $24mo.
1:13/25 | Jim Balcom | FTP | 56k | $20mo.
1:124/7008 | Ben Hamilton |FTP,VMoT,F2I,UUE| 64k | $10/$20mo.
1:140/12 | Bob Seaborn | FTP | T1 | $5/$20
1:270/101 | George Peace | FTP | T1 | $30mo.
1:271/140 | Tom Barstow | F2I | ??? | $2mo.
1:275/1 | Joshua Ecklund | UUE,F2I | 28.8 | $10/yr.
1:280/169 | Brian Greenstreet | FTP | 33.6 | $2mo.
1:2401/305 | Peter Rocca | FTP,UUE | T1 | unkn
1:2424/10 | Alec Grynspan | FTP,VMoT | T1 | $1mo.
1:2424/3121| Earl Clark | UUE | 33.6 | n/c
1:2604/104 | Jim Mclaughlin | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 33.6 | $1mo.
1:2624/306 | D. Calafrancesco | VFOS | 33.6 | $15yr.
1:345/0 | Todd Cochrane | FTP | T1 | n/c
1:346/250 | Aran Spence | FTP,UUE | T1 | $10mo.
1:342/1022 | Steve Steffler | UUE,F2I | 33.6 | n/c
1:3651/9 | Jerry Gause | FTP,VMoT | 33.6 | $3/$6
1:396/1 | John Souvestre | FTP,VMoT | T1 | $15mo.
2:2411/413 | Dennis Dittrich | UUE | 64k | n/c
2:33/505 | Mario Mure | VMoT,UUE | 64k | n/c
2:335/610 | Gino Lucrezi | UUE | 33.6 | n/c
2:469/84 | Max Masyutin | VMoT | 256k | n/c
2:2474/275 | Christian Emig | UUE | 64k | unkn
2:2490/5170| Lenny Murphy | F2I | ??? | n/c
5:7104/2 | Henk Wolsink | FTP | 28.8 | n/c
--
+ VMoT = Virtual Mailer over Telnet (various)
+ F2I = Fido2Int (W95)
+ UUE = uuencode<->email packet transfers

compiled by C. Ingersoll, 1:2623/71, (609)814-1978, [email protected]
Posted on the 1st of every month in FN_SYSOP, R13SYSOP and Fidonews.
-
___
! Origin: * Fly By Night * (609)814-1978 *(1:2623/71)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 21 28 Sep 1998

=================================================================
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
=================================================================

------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION -------

Editor: Henk Wolsink

Editors Emeritii: Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell,
Donald Tees, Christopher Baker, Zorch Frezberg

"FidoNews Editor"
FidoNet 5:5/23
BBS +27-41-515-913, 2400/9600/V.34/V.90

more addresses:
Henk Wolsink -- 5:7104/2, [email protected]

(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews Editor
P.O. Box 12325
Port Elizabeth,
6006
South Africa

------------------------------------------------------

FidoNews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation
of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
does not diminish the rights of the authors. OPINIONS EXPRESSED in
these articles ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS and not necessarily those of
FidoNews and/or the Editor.

Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
Copyright 1998 Henk Wolsink. All rights reserved. Duplication
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For
use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or
the Editor.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
form may be obtained from the FidoNews Editor via manual download or
file-request, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above postal
address. File-request FIDONEWS for the current Issue. File-request
FNEWS for the current month in one archive. Or file-request specific
back Issue filenames in distribution format [FNEWSFnn.ZIP] for a
particular Issue. Monthly Volumes are available as FNWSmmmy.ZIP
where mmm = three letter month [JAN - DEC] and y = last digit of the
current year [8], i.e., FNWSJAN8.ZIP for all the Issues from Jan 98.

FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 22 28 Sep 1998

Annual volumes are available as FNEWSn.ZIP where n = the Volume number
1 - 15 for 1984 - 1998, respectively. Annual Volume archives range in
size from 48K to 1.4M.

INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via:

http://www.fidonews.org
http://www.fidonet.org/fidonews.htm
ftp://ftp.fidonet.org/pub/fidonet/fidonews/
ftp://ftp.aminet.org/pub/aminet/comm/fido/
ftp://ftp.irvbbs.com/fidonews/
ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/Fidonet/Fidonews

And in non-English formats via:

http://www.hvc.ee/pats/fidonews (Estonian)
http://www.fidonet.pp.se/sfnews (Swedish)

*=*=*

You may obtain an email subscription to FidoNews by sending email to:

[email protected]

with a Subject line of: subscribe fnews-edist

and no message in the message body. To remove your name from the
email distribution use a Subject line of: unsubscribe fnews-edist
with no message to the same address above.

*

You may retrieve current and previous Issues of FidoNews via FTPMail
by sending email to:

[email protected]

with a Subject line of: help

and FTPMail will immediately send a reply containing details and
instructions. When you actually make a file request, FTPMail will
respond in three stages. You find a link for this process on
www.fidonews.org.

*=*=*

You can read the current FidoNews Issue in HTML format at:

http://www.fidonews.org

STAR SOURCE for ALL Past Issues via FTP and file-request -
Available for FReq from 1:396/1 or by anonymous FTP from:

ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/

FIDONEWS 15-39 Page 23 28 Sep 1998

Each yearly archive also contains a listing of the Table-of-Contents
for that year's issues. The total set is currently about 13 Megs.

=*=*=*=

The current week's FidoNews and the FidoNews public-key are now also
available almost immediately after publication on the FidoNews Editor
homepage on the World Wide Web at:

http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html

There are also links there to jim barchuk's HTML FidoNews source and
to John Souvestre's FTP site for the archives. There is also an
email link for sending in an article as message text. Drop on over.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews Editor, or file-requestable
from 5:5/23 [5:7104/2] as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". ALL Zone Coordinators
also have copies of ARTSPEC.DOC. Please read it.

"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
trademarks of Tom Jennings, P.O. Box 410923, San Francisco, CA 94141,
and are used with permission.

"Disagreement is actually necessary,
or we'd all have to get in fights
or something to amuse ourselves
and create the requisite chaos."
-Tom Jennings

-----------------------------------------------------------------