Re: [asterisk-users] FWD $30 membership-fee

[Alex Robar]

I stand corrected, I finally received a few of these yesterday. They're not
unclear about the process; The $30 yearly charge is mandatory. The messages
do state that you can link as many accounts to one payment as you'd like
though.
-- 
Alex Robar
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Alex Robar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> FWD has had paid membership options for years. The paid memberships help to
> improve the network and increase it's reach. As far as I've heard (and as
> far as the site mentions), paid membership is not a requirement. That would
> sort of go against the "talk... for free... for good" slogan.
>
> AR
>
> --
> Alex Robar
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 2:48 PM, SIP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>>
>>  From what I can ascertain, this is a way to essentially fund Jeff
>> Pulver's political agenda. I remember writing something a couple of
>> years back (
>>
>> http://neil.ideasip.com/2006/03/08/von-coalition-and-the-ideals-of-the-little-guy/
>> ) about how the VON Coalition, which is meant to be a political action
>> committee to help foster new communications, has a somewhat high barrier
>> to entry (minimum $10,000 per year).
>>
>> As far as I can tell, this FWD membership is a less expensive way for
>> people to put their money behind a similar agenda (well... okay, Jeff's
>> agenda, whatever that may be).
>>
>> The only real issue I see with it is that, a political action committee
>> is a committee. The FWD membership seems a little less transparent. It
>> could very well be a way to fund Jeff Pulver's personal vision. While
>> he's done some great things in the community, I still feel awkward with
>> the idea of funding the whole "One man. One voice. One decision. No
>> oversight" idea.
>>
>> I'm eager to see how it pans out, though.
>>
>>
>> N.
>
>
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[asterisk-users] FWD $30 membership-fee

[Dave Platt]

> I just received an email notice from FWD about $30 membership fee.
> My question: Is the email genuine? Did anybody else receive it?
> 
> I'm just trying to be sure that it is real and not a scam.
> The (FWD) does not do anything to authenticate such emails (implementing 
> GPG/PGP signature etc.)
> 
> If the email is genuine, I hope they will improve their service; as of now 
> their IAX server is not working.

I received the same email.  It was sent to a tagged email address that
I had used only when signing up for FWD last month, and never gave to
anyone else.

It seems to have been sent out through a mass-mailing service (MagnetMail)...
they feel slightly on the "this might possibly be an outfit whose
service could be used for spamming" side of things but are not overtly
crooked or bogus as far as I can tell.

My guess is that the email is probably legitimate.  Although there's
nothing new on the FWD website to confirm that free accounts are
going away (as the email implies), the statements in the email seem
consistent with the info on the FWD website about a "re-launch" and
"spin-off".

Any service such as FWD is going to need a source of revenue in order
to keep their servers running.  I don't think FWD ever got around
to launching an FWD-based "dial out onto the PSTN" service with
a per-minute charge from which they could earn revenue... and the
VOIP market for such things seems to be extremely competitive and
perhaps cut-throat.  Since FWD seems to be spinning off and will need
independent revenue, they're likely to have to do *something* to keep
the lights on!

The interesting thing will be to see if people find it worthwhile
to pay $30/year, primarily for a SIP registration service that doesn't
provide either outdial-to-PSTN or indial-from-PSTN.  If not, FWD might
cease to exist.

If the email is legit, I do think that FWD really ought to update their
web site Real Soon Now, to reflect that the services now available
"for free" will no longer be free.



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Re: [asterisk-users] FWD $30 membership-fee

[Steve Totaro]

Without TICC Capital investing in Pulvermedia/VON, maybe he/they need
another revenue source to pay the bills.

Thanks,
Steve T

On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Alex Robar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> FWD has had paid membership options for years. The paid memberships help to
> improve the network and increase it's reach. As far as I've heard (and as
> far as the site mentions), paid membership is not a requirement. That would
> sort of go against the "talk... for free... for good" slogan.
>
> AR
>
> --
> Alex Robar
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 2:48 PM, SIP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>
>>  From what I can ascertain, this is a way to essentially fund Jeff
>> Pulver's political agenda. I remember writing something a couple of
>> years back (
>>
>> http://neil.ideasip.com/2006/03/08/von-coalition-and-the-ideals-of-the-little-guy/
>> ) about how the VON Coalition, which is meant to be a political action
>> committee to help foster new communications, has a somewhat high barrier
>> to entry (minimum $10,000 per year).
>>
>> As far as I can tell, this FWD membership is a less expensive way for
>> people to put their money behind a similar agenda (well... okay, Jeff's
>> agenda, whatever that may be).
>>
>> The only real issue I see with it is that, a political action committee
>> is a committee. The FWD membership seems a little less transparent. It
>> could very well be a way to fund Jeff Pulver's personal vision. While
>> he's done some great things in the community, I still feel awkward with
>> the idea of funding the whole "One man. One voice. One decision. No
>> oversight" idea.
>>
>> I'm eager to see how it pans out, though.
>>
>>
>> N.
>
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Re: [asterisk-users] FWD $30 membership-fee

[Alex Robar]

FWD has had paid membership options for years. The paid memberships help to
improve the network and increase it's reach. As far as I've heard (and as
far as the site mentions), paid membership is not a requirement. That would
sort of go against the "talk... for free... for good" slogan.

AR

-- 
Alex Robar
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 2:48 PM, SIP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>
>  From what I can ascertain, this is a way to essentially fund Jeff
> Pulver's political agenda. I remember writing something a couple of
> years back (
>
> http://neil.ideasip.com/2006/03/08/von-coalition-and-the-ideals-of-the-little-guy/
> ) about how the VON Coalition, which is meant to be a political action
> committee to help foster new communications, has a somewhat high barrier
> to entry (minimum $10,000 per year).
>
> As far as I can tell, this FWD membership is a less expensive way for
> people to put their money behind a similar agenda (well... okay, Jeff's
> agenda, whatever that may be).
>
> The only real issue I see with it is that, a political action committee
> is a committee. The FWD membership seems a little less transparent. It
> could very well be a way to fund Jeff Pulver's personal vision. While
> he's done some great things in the community, I still feel awkward with
> the idea of funding the whole "One man. One voice. One decision. No
> oversight" idea.
>
> I'm eager to see how it pans out, though.
>
>
> N.
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Re: [asterisk-users] FWD $30 membership-fee

[SIP]

Gonzalo Servat wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 2:04 PM, Joseph <[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> > wrote:
>
> I just received an email notice from FWD about $30 membership fee.
> My question: Is the email genuine? Did anybody else receive it?
>
> I'm just trying to be sure that it is real and not a scam.
> The (FWD) does not do anything to authenticate such emails
> (implementing GPG/PGP signature etc.)
>
> If the email is genuine, I hope they will improve their service;
> as of now their IAX server is not working.
>
>
> I just went to www.freeworlddialup.com 
>  and the top banner says something 
> about Paid Membership which links to:
>
> http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=138192
>
> I'm not sure whether they will discontinue offering the "free" 
> accounts. I sure hope not, they would have to consider a name change 
> too. I don't really use FWD but I'm sure a lot of users would be affected.
>
> - Gonzalo

 From what I can ascertain, this is a way to essentially fund Jeff 
Pulver's political agenda. I remember writing something a couple of 
years back ( 
http://neil.ideasip.com/2006/03/08/von-coalition-and-the-ideals-of-the-little-guy/
 
) about how the VON Coalition, which is meant to be a political action 
committee to help foster new communications, has a somewhat high barrier 
to entry (minimum $10,000 per year).

As far as I can tell, this FWD membership is a less expensive way for 
people to put their money behind a similar agenda (well... okay, Jeff's 
agenda, whatever that may be).

The only real issue I see with it is that, a political action committee 
is a committee. The FWD membership seems a little less transparent. It 
could very well be a way to fund Jeff Pulver's personal vision. While 
he's done some great things in the community, I still feel awkward with 
the idea of funding the whole "One man. One voice. One decision. No 
oversight" idea.

I'm eager to see how it pans out, though.


N.

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Re: [asterisk-users] FWD $30 membership-fee

[Gonzalo Servat]

On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 2:04 PM, Joseph <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> I just received an email notice from FWD about $30 membership fee.
> My question: Is the email genuine? Did anybody else receive it?
>
> I'm just trying to be sure that it is real and not a scam.
> The (FWD) does not do anything to authenticate such emails (implementing
> GPG/PGP signature etc.)
>
> If the email is genuine, I hope they will improve their service; as of now
> their IAX server is not working.
>

I just went to www.freeworlddialup.com and the top banner says something
about Paid Membership which links to:

http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=138192

I'm not sure whether they will discontinue offering the "free" accounts. I
sure hope not, they would have to consider a name change too. I don't really
use FWD but I'm sure a lot of users would be affected.

- Gonzalo
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[asterisk-users] FWD $30 membership-fee

[Joseph]

I just received an email notice from FWD about $30 membership fee.
My question: Is the email genuine? Did anybody else receive it?

I'm just trying to be sure that it is real and not a scam.
The (FWD) does not do anything to authenticate such emails (implementing 
GPG/PGP signature etc.)

If the email is genuine, I hope they will improve their service; as of now 
their IAX server is not working.

-- 
#Joseph
GPG KeyID: ED0E1FB7

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