W O R L D   P O W E R   S Y S T E M S 

Network Services for weirdos

Tom Jennings
tomj@wps.com
415-552-8156


WPS is offering Internet access, not just for shell accounts, though
I'll gladly do that, but for you to PUBLISH YOUR OWN INFORMATION
on the Internet, in net terms, servers for FTP, Gopher, etc.

While plain old "shell accounts" are certainly available, I'm more
interested in giving people the ability to publish specialized
information to the Internet; not just be a consumer, but a producer
of content.

A PUBLISHER account will let you set up data files for FTP, Gopher
or HTTP (World Wide Web) servers, for anyone in the Internet to
access. You also get the usual SHELL ACCOUNT features, so that you
can use the resources of the Internet for whatever you want. Your
data will be available to anyone who has access to the Internet!

LIMITATIONS:

- Resources: WPS is a pretty small machine, as Internet hosts go. 
   This will expand as the number of users increases. The limiting
   factors are dialin modems and the speed of the link to the
   Internet; however this can expand as the user base grows.

- Content:  WPS considers itself a publisher, with legal liabilities
   similar to a magazine; there will be no limitations on your
   content beyond the usual blatant legalities (which at the moment
   means sex with under-18, stolen software, that sort of thing).
   The link is via The Little Garden, an Internet buyers club, with
   an excellent policy and reputation re: content and restrictions.


WHAT IS OFFERED:


SHELL ACCOUNTS: Your typical, hard-to-use Unix shell, where you
get your choice of common mailers (ELM, PINE), and all the usual
inscrutable Unix commands. 

There are two variations on shell accounts, one of which is a little
peculiar...

- DIAL-IN ACCOUNTS: You must be able to use a modem to dial into a WPS
modem, which is a local call within San Francisco. Dial-in modems are
limited, so this isn't much fun.

- SCAM ACCOUNTS: Many people can get free access to a simple 'telnet'
terminal, or can borrow someone elses account (say a friend going
to school, who doesn't use their account much). While this is
useful, it is unstable, in that you could lose it at any time,
losing all your unread email and likely lose any saved files, if
you even were allowed any.

It's usually easy to keep scammed accounts if you use absolutely
zero resources on the host computer. When you start taking up disk
space, or even sending email that occasionally goes awry (so that
the system operator notices...) you lose!

If you don't have a stable, reliable email address, access to the
Internet isn't much use beyond playing. You can't build up contacts
and connections over a long period of time.

A WPS SCAM ACCOUNT will give you a stable email address that you
can give out without disaster of it disappearing with no notice
when your freebie account evaporates. Your mail will simply collect
for you, until you find another account (seems to be reasonably
easy these days).  You can easily convert it to a DIALIN ACCOUNT
so that you can dial directly into a WPS modem and use it that way.

SCAM ACCOUNTS are exactly the same as DIALIN ACCOUNTS except you
can't use the modem to get in. The SCAM is not with WPS!

SCAM ACCOUNTS are cheap at


PUBLISHER ACCOUNT: You get a shell account, as above, plus an entry
on the main page on each of the WPS server. WPS currently runs FTP
(file transfer, most useful for archives) Gopher (pick-from-a-menu
with descriptions, useful for things more interactive) and http, aka
"Web" or WWW, a fully interactive mixed text/graphic system. (I will
also consider installing other servers.) I plan to install a
mail-server, so that users without direct access to the internet, but
who have email ability (such as many BBSs and FidoNet) can get at your
files.

PUBLISHER ACCOUNTS consume more resources (mainly disk space and
saturating the link to the Net), and require some coordination with me,
the system admin (aka sysop). 


LIST-SERVE ACCOUNTS: This allows you to run a subscription mailing
list. You also get all the features of the SHELL ACCOUNT. Lists are
incredibly powerful, and easy to use. People who post and read messages
(aka "articles") are not required to have full Internet access; since
it's plain email people on BBS's can take part.
 
ALPHA PAGER


DOMAIN NAMES and MX RECORDS: NOT AVAILABLE YET: WPS can also provide
Internet "name service", and actually generate you a real internet
domain name, of the form "myname@my-domain.com". Link this with a SHELL
ACCOUNT, and voila! instant Internet real estate!


MY RESPONSIBILITIES: I am responsible for maintaining the basic
system, modems, disk, etc. The server software or shell programs
are kept constantly available, 24 hrs every day, except during
occasional maintenance; average is less than 4 hours down-time per
month. Every attempt will be made to announce down-time a day in
advance.

The system is backup on tape on a regular basis, generally once
per week; a set of backup tapes no more than one month old are
stored in another location.




FIRST-AMENDMENT-TYPE ISSUES: The following is *my interpretation*
of the current state of rights and liabilities regarding electronic
communications. If you want more, buy books and hire a lawyer. I
believe this to be sound advice, worth as much as you've paid for
it (refunds available upon request).

Speech in all forms is in theory protected, including as stored on
the disk of wps.com. Somethings are not protected, such as certain
kinds of pornography (changes with the season), illegally-obtained
information (stolen credit cards numbers, etc), and
things-pertaining-to-crimes- elsewhere.

Computers merely confound and complicate privacy and speech. It is
easy to condense lots of information into one small place, and have
it revealed inadvertantly, by a slip-of-the-keyboard, or by a system
bug, or crash, or break-in.

Rule #1: IF YOU DON'T WANT SOMEONE TO SEE IT, DO NOT STORE IT ON
A NETWORKED COMPUTER!!! YOU WERE WARNED. I'm not joking.

wps.com is a *communication device*, and storing sensitive information
on it is as foolish as keeping your notes in a school locker, or
on a telephone answering machine.

Rule #2: PRIVACY WITHIN A COMPUTER DOES NOT EXIST. At the very
least, the system adminstrator (lil'ol' me) can read *every single
file*.  Believe me, I have no interest in prying, and in fact it
is illegal for me to reveal any information of yours I might see
(private electronic communications being protected under the
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS PRIVACY ACT (ECPA)) but in fact, sometimes
I will stumble upon things as part of normal maintenance. Various
problems, as simple and common as lost-connection whilst dialed
in when composing an email message, will leave your partial-message
stored in a place where *any* user can see it! Don't use wps.com,
or any computer for that matter!  for things you wouldn't do on a
payphone in a busy, public place.