AT&T: If not our profits... How about yours?!?!

[Deb]

*choke* http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2000/10/09/technology/att/ *gag*


[This message has been edited by Deb (edited 10-10-00@08:56 am)]

[Dan Kaplan]

Unbelievable.[nbsp][nbsp]:([nbsp][nbsp]I can't imagine that going too well.[nbsp][nbsp]It's like the proposals a few years back to charge for the air time of the cell phones receiving the call regardless of who else might be getting charged.[nbsp][nbsp]So, now they expect people to track all the referrer stats to see if a sale is worth making???[nbsp][nbsp]That's guaranteed to cause some consumer discrimination, unless every other ISP goes the same direction...

Discriminatory

[Jason]

How on earth do they expect to actually collect? If I'm reading the article right, they expect merchants (like me, or even FutureQuest) to pay AT&T every time an AT&T customer buys from them? Did I read that right, or am I misunderstanding?

If I got a bill from AT&T because one of *their* customers had bought from me, that bill would go straight into the circular file.

Unbelievable.

And if, as Dan suggested, all the ISPs started doing this... well, I think I'd sell my internet business and go open a hot dog stand somewhere, because that's just rediculous.

J.

[Deb]

I have a talking hotdog here that could really help boost sales .... Maybe you and I could go in together on this venture Jason ;)

Deb
[nbsp]- I really do!

[Brian]

I think without reading into that to far they are just going to do affiliate programs on their start page for their customers. IE when you sign up for them they make their stupid little page your start page by default and then they would have these links on that etc? Maybe I am wrong but that’s what I think it says (then again I only read the first paragraph hehe)

-Brian

[Jason]

I have a talking hotdog here that could really help boost sales .... Maybe you and I could go in together on this venture Jason
Absolutely! Hmm... is the domain name QuestDogs.com available still? ;)

I think without reading into that to far they are just going to do affiliate programs on their start page for their customers.
No, I don't think so. About half-way through the article, it says "But Ken McGee, an analyst at the Gartner Group, said AT&T plans to extend the program to broadband subscribers. Therefore, each time a customer who gets their cable, telephone and Internet service over one line from AT&T, buys something from an online merchant, AT&T would collect a fee from that merchant, McGee said." So, it would appear that they intend to do this on *any* sale to *any* merchant.

And, as I noted in my post above, I can't for the life of me figure out how on earth they intend to actually accomplish that!

J.

[Sandy]

AT&T bought our cable co. and raised the rates...so I bought a dish so I don't have to use them..and it's cheaper.
Also changed my long distance to Sprint.

AT&T's greed is going to cost them in the long run


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Sandy
The Free Mall
[nbsp][nbsp] www.thefreemall.net (http://www.thefreemall.net)[nbsp][nbsp]

[Scott]

Is it me, or are the large corporations slowly taking over?

Scott
- If your talking "steamed" hotdog sales, count me in!