Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

SBC CEO: Pay up if you want to use our pipes

Posted by Hemos on from the the-next-battle-royale dept.

acousticiris writes "If there were any delusions that Ma Bell Wasn't Back, SBC CEO Edward Witacre has cleared that up in an interview with Business Week Online. When asked about Google, Vonage and other Internet Upstarts he responded in typical Ma Bell Style: 'How do you think they're going to get to customers? Through a broadband pipe. Cable companies have them. We have them. Now what they would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain't going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it. So there's going to have to be some mechanism for these people who use these pipes to pay for the portion they're using. Why should they be allowed to use my pipes?'."

7 of 613 comments (clear)

  1. Somehow by Short+Circuit · · Score: 5, Funny

    This doesn't seem as funny as it used to be.

    --
    tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
    1. Re:Somehow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Sheesh, bad luck. A simple Venn diagram will show an embarrassingly small overlap of non-pornographic things you can do on the internet for "personal" and "entertainment" uses.
      Are you even permitted to use the net for for college work under those terms?

  2. rephrase the debate by the+arbiter · · Score: 5, Funny

    Better question: Why the hell should I use SBC's pipes if they're going to be such dickheads about it?

    Now I feel better.

    --
    Boycott everything - they're all trying to fuck you one way or another
  3. I knew that.. by SillySnake · · Score: 5, Funny

    I knew that slashdot was going downhill, but why are they posting stories about CEO drug use? Who really cares who uses which pipe to smoke thier stuff in. It's all about puff puff pass people!

  4. Re:Welll.... by Distinguished+Hero · · Score: 4, Funny

    Plus evil.google.com would probably be in beta for a very long time.

    --
    Uttering logically derived and empirically supported truths to the disciples of the orthodox establishment.
  5. Re:Empty Threat by rbbs · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or a record company wanting a piece of iPod revenue because they are using 'their music' on it...oh wait...

  6. Re:Empty Threat by ozbird · · Score: 4, Funny

    What are they putting in the water on the executive floor these days?

    Greed, which is a bad mix for their existing psychopathic tendencies. They need a commonsense and ethics infusion, stat.