Stephen Williams writes: ...
Unusual use of the word 'subsidized'... Most of the above I would just call indirectly funded. I don't think you'd say that corporate employees get subsidized pencils just because it's an expense item for the corp. and they buy in bulk.
When the costs are underwritten by others, and the marginal cost to an employee or student is zero or near zero, I call that a subsidy. The pencil example is indeed a subsidy, just as when we often hear things like "Intel is subsidizing the costs of lunch for its employees." (Subsidies occur for various purposes.) Oxford English Dictionary, Second subsidy -- 1. help, aid, assistance (and many related variants) American Heritage, Third subsidy -- 2. Financial assistance given by one person or government to another. (and so on)
I guess what you meant was 'institutionally supported'. 'Subsidized' normally means gov. grants to me. (Yes, a fraction of the above examples get gov. grants specifically for Internet expense, but not most.)
See above. This meaning of subsidy is commonly used, at least by me and the dictionary makers. When a father angrily says to his son, "Look, who do you think is subsidizing your little adventures?," this is the meaning. Or the lunch example. Regardless of such nit-picking about exact meanings of words, there is no doubt that for most people on the Net today, their costs are subsidized (paid for all or in part by others) and thus their market decisions are skewed or distorted by this process. The millions of college students with Net access through their schools can hang out in MUDs and MOOs for many hours every night, knowing their costs are fixed (that is, the costs are folded in to their fees, possibly, or don't exist at all....who can say). The point is that this "free" (marginally, at least, and largely free even in overall terms) service will generally outcompete one which offers similar services but which requires the user to pay for his use in a standard sort of way. And, yes, these same arguments apply to why corporate and government users, whose access to the Net is provided by their employer, will also pick a service that has zero marginal cost to them over a service (like FidoNet) that may cost them hundreds of dollars a month for a feed (I won't get into the range of FidoNet connections, or what telecom pricing trends will means, etc.). (Again, I am making no arguments here for or against the subsidization of students or employees. Merely commenting on a competitive fact of life about the Net.) --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."