Disparity Re: BD: Re: SCN: "Free-Nets" in Los Angeles Times

[Al Boss]

I'm all for us finding ways to fund ourselves. I do think, though, that 
we should look into one that at least 3/4 of us agree is a good idea.

Overlooking all sides of the argument about whether or not we could 
legally charge for a higher level of Internet service and what kind of 
expenses we'd need toward overhead like people, places, and stuff, I 
just don't think it makes any business sense.

The ISP business is pretty well-saturated here. And the profit margins 
are not very good. And most new ones don't survive. I'd guess that ISPs 
chances of turning a sustainable profit are about the same as those of a 
  new restaurant. Most restaurants fail in their first year of business.

If we want to sell something to augment our operating costs, we should 
consider selling something less labor-intensive and with a better return 
on investment than Internet service. (No, not our bodies. I love you 
guys, but there's a limit.)

Holding bake sales at the exit gates of rock concerts would get us a 
whole lot more money for less headache than trying to provide a low-cost 
ISP service. (And it would be more entertaining.) Having SCN volunteers 
donating fees from consulting on network security, doing computer 
repairs, or ghost-writing flame mails seems more viable to me than a lot 
of what we've been discussing in this thread.

Al

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