Yeah, that'd be nice. Not. We pay for internet access, we have a right to it. Cars are a priveledge too, that's why we pay for them. This talk about "priveledges" as opposed to "rights" makes the University sound like our mommies taking away a rattle or something. The bottom line is that an "intranet," or whatever jazzy lingo you want to use, would offer no sources of research. Say goodbye to Lexis, and Slashdot for that matter.
Everybody at Clemson needs to know their are ways to foil the Universities plan. This site shows users how to easily set a proxy in order to reach Dialpad to spite DCIT's wishes. Real computer geeky stuff in the spirit of Slashdot!
I got in contact with the university, and the money generated by the long distance companies is funneled into services like the local phone switchboard, and campus 911 and the like. That still doesn't mean they have the right to ban their students from Dialpad. And, they abso-freaking-lutely have a monopoly over long distance service.
As far as ISP monopolies, I live in a dorm on campus and there is no way in the world I'm going to sign up for AOL (aka AOHell), in fact, most of the ISPs are long distance if you live in the heart of Clemson. When I heard that Dialpad was blocked, I immediately ran to the arms of my MSN account, only to find that I had to have long distance service to get dial the number. How ironic.
Congratulations, you do not know what you are talking about. The expressed written policy by Clemson University does NOT have a clause saying that they can block individual sites. I know the full story because I'm a student here and I've taken it upon myself to find out all about this problem, and even how to get around it. It's cencorship up and down and it smells to high heaven. Plus, if they were going to block a site "for any reason" (as you put it), that means they'd have to have a reason, and so far the administration hasn't come through on that one. Also, this is not a private network in the traditional sense. Much like Clemson's monopoly on their phone services, they have a monopoly on internet service too. If you live on campus, and at least 30% of the student body does, you have to use the Clemson network. You also have to pay for that network. That ought to mean you're not supposed to get screwed by that network too. No, the students here don't like it, but no we cant go pay for another T1 service.
My name is Brandon and I'm a sophomore at Clemson University. I have used dialpad quite a lot while I've been here at school, and then one infamous Friday, I wasn't able to call my parents or family anymore.
WHY THEY SHUT IT DOWN Many of you who do not live at Clemson may not know this, but the University has a monopoly on the long distance services here. They run businesses such as Tiger Tel whose profits pay for different campus services. This is the single reason for their shutting Dialpad down. There have been other excuses produced by the University such as "evaluating the legal and academic nature of the site." First of all, there is NO clause in the terms of use for the Clemson network that call for "strictly acedemic use," despite the fact that Dialpad is indeed used for academic purposes. Secondly, there is NO legal question concerning Dialpad. The Clemson network has made no effort to block illegal sites in the past, illegal pornography, illegal pirating, etc. And of course, Dialpad doesn't even begin to rival these sites in its illicit nature.
THEY DON'T WANT US TO KNOW Not only has Clemson made a rather socialist move by blocking Dialpad to maintain their monopoly over long distance service, they also betrayed the trust of their student body. The same Friday that Dialpad access was terminated, an email went out to all the employees of the computer help desk that read:
"Access to the dialpad.com website has been blocked until the university can access the situation. We are studying the impact of Dialpad's exploding use on our Internet connection. The Internet connection exists for academic use."
That's all it said. That's all anyone at the University knew for the longest time. And of course the bandwidth problem was quoted as "negligible" in THE TIGER. So what was going on? Many students here would call DCIT, (Department of Communications and Information Technology, here at Clemson) and ask what was going on. I myself called on multiple occasions. Each time I was given a different reason. At first it was that they were "assessing the impact on the university," then it was "it's affecting the bandwidth," then "it's only for academic use." Finally, I was referred to the curator of the Help Desk. I wanted to know who had issued the decision to block Dialpad. She absolutely refused to tell me, citing that she was "not allowed to distribute that information."--I told her it sounded like we were being blocked by the illuminadi. This does not sound like a University that supports the will of its students, nor is it conducive to good student relations. The computer department made no effort to inform students of their decision, and conversely tried to cover it up.
WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO ABOUT IT Whereas DCIT may do a good job of keeping secrets, they do a sorry job of blocking Dialpad. There is a simple click and type process that any student at Clemson can use to get Dialpad back on their browsers as if it had never been blocked. Please visit DownWithDCIT for simple and very detailed instructions on how to do this. Also, take other's advice and mail the President of the University at:
President JAMES F. BARKER, 210 Highland Drive Clemson, SC 29631 Telephone: (864) 654-6066
Slashdot Mirror
Well, i just got an email from DCIT here at Clemson, and they've given us back our access to Dialpad - just two days after the story broke.
Yeah, that'd be nice. Not. We pay for internet access, we have a right to it. Cars are a priveledge too, that's why we pay for them. This talk about "priveledges" as opposed to "rights" makes the University sound like our mommies taking away a rattle or something. The bottom line is that an "intranet," or whatever jazzy lingo you want to use, would offer no sources of research. Say goodbye to Lexis, and Slashdot for that matter.
Everybody at Clemson needs to know their are ways to foil the Universities plan. This site shows users how to easily set a proxy in order to reach Dialpad to spite DCIT's wishes. Real computer geeky stuff in the spirit of Slashdot!
EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO GET AROUND DCIT's BLOCK OF DIALPAD ARE POSTED AT DownWithDCIT. GET DIALPAD BACK AS IF IT HAD NEVER BEEN BLOCKED!!!!
I got in contact with the university, and the money generated by the long distance companies is funneled into services like the local phone switchboard, and campus 911 and the like. That still doesn't mean they have the right to ban their students from Dialpad. And, they abso-freaking-lutely have a monopoly over long distance service.
As far as ISP monopolies, I live in a dorm on campus and there is no way in the world I'm going to sign up for AOL (aka AOHell), in fact, most of the ISPs are long distance if you live in the heart of Clemson. When I heard that Dialpad was blocked, I immediately ran to the arms of my MSN account, only to find that I had to have long distance service to get dial the number. How ironic.
Congratulations, you do not know what you are talking about. The expressed written policy by Clemson University does NOT have a clause saying that they can block individual sites. I know the full story because I'm a student here and I've taken it upon myself to find out all about this problem, and even how to get around it. It's cencorship up and down and it smells to high heaven. Plus, if they were going to block a site "for any reason" (as you put it), that means they'd have to have a reason, and so far the administration hasn't come through on that one. Also, this is not a private network in the traditional sense. Much like Clemson's monopoly on their phone services, they have a monopoly on internet service too. If you live on campus, and at least 30% of the student body does, you have to use the Clemson network. You also have to pay for that network. That ought to mean you're not supposed to get screwed by that network too. No, the students here don't like it, but no we cant go pay for another T1 service.
My name is Brandon and I'm a sophomore at Clemson University. I have used dialpad quite a lot while I've been here at school, and then one infamous Friday, I wasn't able to call my parents or family anymore.
WHY THEY SHUT IT DOWN
Many of you who do not live at Clemson may not know this, but the University has a monopoly on the long distance services here. They run businesses such as Tiger Tel whose profits pay for different campus services. This is the single reason for their shutting Dialpad down. There have been other excuses produced by the University such as "evaluating the legal and academic nature of the site." First of all, there is NO clause in the terms of use for the Clemson network that call for "strictly acedemic use," despite the fact that Dialpad is indeed used for academic purposes. Secondly, there is NO legal question concerning Dialpad. The Clemson network has made no effort to block illegal sites in the past, illegal pornography, illegal pirating, etc. And of course, Dialpad doesn't even begin to rival these sites in its illicit nature.
THEY DON'T WANT US TO KNOW
Not only has Clemson made a rather socialist move by blocking Dialpad to maintain their monopoly over long distance service, they also betrayed the trust of their student body. The same Friday that Dialpad access was terminated, an email went out to all the employees of the computer help desk that read:
"Access to the dialpad.com website has been blocked until the university can access the situation. We are studying the impact of Dialpad's exploding use on our Internet connection. The Internet connection exists for academic use."
That's all it said. That's all anyone at the University knew for the longest time. And of course the bandwidth problem was quoted as "negligible" in THE TIGER. So what was going on? Many students here would call DCIT, (Department of Communications and Information Technology, here at Clemson) and ask what was going on. I myself called on multiple occasions. Each time I was given a different reason. At first it was that they were "assessing the impact on the university," then it was "it's affecting the bandwidth," then "it's only for academic use." Finally, I was referred to the curator of the Help Desk. I wanted to know who had issued the decision to block Dialpad. She absolutely refused to tell me, citing that she was "not allowed to distribute that information."--I told her it sounded like we were being blocked by the illuminadi. This does not sound like a University that supports the will of its students, nor is it conducive to good student relations. The computer department made no effort to inform students of their decision, and conversely tried to cover it up.
WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO ABOUT IT
Whereas DCIT may do a good job of keeping secrets, they do a sorry job of blocking Dialpad. There is a simple click and type process that any student at Clemson can use to get Dialpad back on their browsers as if it had never been blocked. Please visit DownWithDCIT for simple and very detailed instructions on how to do this. Also, take other's advice and mail the President of the University at:
President JAMES F. BARKER,
210 Highland Drive
Clemson, SC 29631
Telephone: (864) 654-6066