ISDN RedHotAnt users read this!

[granny]

Just discovered, by finally phoning RHA support in frustration, that RHA have changed the ISDN dialup number and not told anyone.

So, if you use ISDN on RHA and have been having mad trouble with it over the last few weeks here's the new number to use:

0800 015 9969

Enjoy

 

[Embattle]

Why is it all three RHA numbers suffer from pl

 

[granny]

Um.. cos RHA is a stupidly cheap 0800/0808 dialup... of *course* it's shite, what do you expect??

Use BarryDial if you don't want packetloss


[Edited by granny on 12-10-00 at 09:43]

 

[granny]

Oh and it's overloaded by cheapskate bastards using accounts they haven't paid for thus making the service worse for those of us that _have_ paid for it. Anyone reading this using a RHA account that they haven't paid for - you're stealing from me, I WILL shop you if I find out, OK?

end.of.rant

 

[Embattle]

I do for my most important games. I would still prefer less pl and not have the Multilink.

The best one currently for games is the first beta number, the one that ends in 10.

 

[Durzel]

Morals aside, it's worth asking who truly is the lesser of the following two classes of people:

1. Those that use a service/facility for nothing simply because they can,

2. Those that pay for said service (and continue to pay for it) despite knowing that many others can/do access it for nothing.

I dunno about you but I certainly wouldn't pay for a themepark ride or suchlike when it was patently obvious that everyone in front of me was using it for gratis..

Food for thought?

 

[granny]

"Morals aside"

?

You set your morals aside... then infer that someone who pays for something rather than steal it "simply because they can" is the lesser person?

Durzel you regularly espouse views that could only come from a truly immoral person. I am honestly glad I don't know you in real life. Do you use this kind of reasoning when deciding how to treat your friends and family? I sincerely hope not.

 

[old.Cheesebury]

:O

 

[old.gav]

Durzel it is obvious to me that you are a cunt.

So it is ok to do things that are wrong if others are doing it to?

 

[Durzel]

Morality is a funny thing, very subjective. I'm sure many people that use these boards (perhaps who have even commented on this thread?) "warez" software that they decide they like. That's different of course, no one is actually being hurt by anyone copying a piece of software are they?.. No no, of course not.

It's somewhat refreshing to see "holier than thou" attitudes appear as soon as soon as the theft in question originates from their own pockets, but rapidly disappear when it becomes someone elses concern - eg. Microsofts or whatever.

I would personally rather be openly immoral than have double-standards.

 

[granny]

..which is why I clearly stated in my post "you're stealing from ME" when talking about RHA (or whatever) accounts.

Other people using a RHA account *directly* impacts *me* by making the service worse for *me*. Someone using a warezed copy of, for instance, photoshop, has no impact on me whatsoever.

My main issue however was with your readiness to leave your morals at the door... and then engage in a moral argument. In retrospect maybe "immoral" wasn't the word I was after, more amoral. Interestingly enough there's close parallels to be drawn with your column interviewing nopcode.. well, before public pressure forced you to add a disclaimer at the start, something I remember you resisting strongly. Fact of the matter is that we all have to have morals, and these are subjective things, very much so, and the morality we all define for ourselves is what makes us who we are. Deciding to put our "morals aside" strips us of that personality, reduces us to automata, makes us less than we can be. I cannot forsee any situation that could cause me to leave my morals aside, however much they differ from someone elses and I would say that anyone who decides to leave morals aside when arguing a point is simply someone I could never trust and whos opinions I would view with extreme distaste.

I stand by what I said originally - if someone is using a RHA account they haven't paid for it is affecting me directly and they cannot expect any kind treatment from me.

 

[Durzel]

I totally agree with you GrannY

My point in the reply was that, while you make a fair point about people abusing RHA, and how it affects you personally, there is no difference between that and warez'ing some software companies title - which is exactly why I drew the comparison.

Just because something does or doesn't affect you directly does not in any way make it more or less amoral. At the end of the day, someone using a warez'd copy of Photoshop may have no impact on you whatsoever - but someone using a warez'd version of a piece of software you, or a company you work for made does directly affect you. Company profit margins go down, so do your wages. You see the parallel?

Ultimately using someone elses RHA account without their permission is both immoral and illegal - BUT it is absolutely no different - morally and legally speaking - from warez'ing a piece of software, downloading an MP3 of some artist's work or whatever.

And anyone who moans about the former whilst openly endulging in the latter is guilty of double-standards.

To clarify, I totally agree with your argument, and I'm not disputing any of your points persay - however I do personally think that you can't pick and choose morality - it's no more or less moral to steal from some software company (to use an example) than it is for some individual to steal from you. This would also apply to downloading MP3's etc, etc.

Of course, I'm being pedantic since "everyone downloads commercial MP3s from Napster dont they". But is it morally right to do so?

(Incidentally I agree with you whole heartedly about the "morals aside" issue - I was merely attempting to look at the argument from an impartial perspective - if one exists)

[Edited by Durzel on 15-10-00 at 00:49]

 

[granny]

Well that's a long way from what you originally said:

"Morals aside, it's worth asking who truly is the lesser of the following two classes of people:

1. Those that use a service/facility for nothing simply because they can,

2. Those that pay for said service (and continue to pay for it) despite knowing that many others can/do access it for nothing."

Choose your words more carefully because what you originally said was that someone who *didn't* steal a RHA account was a lesser person.

I also disagree with your views on the impact of warez (particularly when it applies to high-end software) but that's a seperate argument that's been done to death in a millon other places which I'm sure would only bore the crap out of everyone if it were to trundle on here.

 

[granny]

Noooooooooooo!!

This thread's turned me into a Brentford Resident!! I *liked* it in Penge

 

[Durzel]

I seem to have a habit of giving the wrong impression lately

 

[old.ketaMine]

but that number doesnt support 128k (or so im told)

 

[Embattle]

That number does support 128K.

There have been reports showing that warez actually has improven sales because people get the warez copy and get to use it and in the end buy it if they like the product.

I've had both offical and warez copy of Office, now I don't feel guility when I have a warez copy of it because Bill Gates and friends are rich fuckers, major rich fuckers. I might buy it all the time if it didn't cost a ton of money since on the hurt scale it'll hurt me more to give that money than it will for MS not to recieve it.

I did buy things like CuteFTP, UB2000 etc because they were good value for money and weren't going to backrupt me.

Napster is a strange case that is supported by the artists but prescuted by the publishers because its something they can't control and also didn't invent. The money argument goes out the window since as a whole the music industry grew last year. I've got songs from napster because we have them on cassette but I wanted them on my computer and also just to see what some songs are like. Who is to say that I'd buy the song any way, even if I couldn't dl from some one else in napster.

 

[stu]

Yeah? Well I reg'd Gamespy.

(And I feel a right fucking idiot for doing it as well)

 

[old.TUG]

Nothing new there then

 

[Embattle]

I reg'd it as well, since at only $20 it was damn good value

 

[Embattle]

Well in the last few days, since they changed the numbers, RHA has become utter shit. Least when I was on a modem I didn't expect so much