If you have access to Internet, you have access to Lists or Newsgroups. Internet by definition is worldwide. If you want to argue that if you only have access to a commercial service like America On-Line and as such have easier access to a Newsgroup, maybe the arguement holds. However, I know that several Bee-L members must be accessing the net via some means other than through an academic or government feed - whether they have to pay for the access or not, I don't know. My concern (and I don't mean it to sound elitist) is not getting swamped by messages, my concern is that it will split Bee-L, which isn't all that big (count the names that appear), and that Bee-L will disappear. Seems to me Andy's BBS in CA serves the purpose proposed for this USENET, but as I told Jane, maybe I don't fully understand the distinctions between Lists, BBS, and USENETS. Jerry The dead horse beater [log in to unmask] On Fri, 18 Mar 19, Richard Spear wrote: > > [much deleted] > the concerns being expressed by some subscribers about a bee newsgroup are > a bit facile and more than a bit elitist. i have enjoyed being a member of > this list for some time and i have gotten useful information from the > group, but i look forward to an internet newsgroup that will have the > worldwide circulation and open access that this will allow. i'll tolerate > the occasional "interference" in the name of electronic democracy. > > regards, richard > > [log in to unmask] > all disclaimers apply >