Ignorant mass-media strikes again

Wed Dec 9 23:41:23 UTC 1998

At 01:59 PM 12/9/98 -0800, Vadim Antonov wrote:
>>From http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9812/09/isp.idg/ :
>
>> Don't let your ISP cut you off 
>> How to fight back when your ISP keeps kicking you off.
>
>> by Carla Thorton 
>
>> (IDG) -- PROBLEM: Your Internet service provider kicks you offline when
>>                   you're in the middle of important work. 
>>
>> SOLUTION: Install an anti-timer utility, reconfigure your e-mail package,
>> or choose a regional ISP. 
>
>I bet Ms. Thorton never heard that TCP can preserve idle connections
>when dial-up link is down.  Yeah, dial-on-demand is such a hard thing
>to do!
>
>Am i paranoid, or is mass-media hell-bent on propaganda of antisocial
>behavior in the Internet?
>
>Or are they just really clueless?

They may be clueless.
They may be hell-bent on antisocial propaganda.

But the fact of the matter is that some ISPs do actively
kick people off (not just ppp idly dropping the line)
when they are not doing stuff. Furthermore, AOL, which 
is sometimes considered an ISP (let's not get into
that debate), kicks people off if they are idle
for too long and _that_ causes all kinds of trouble
because the AOL application throws fits if it can't
get to the AOL servers.