HX-Sender: danny@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 22:47:32 +0200
From: Danny Holman <danny@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: FAIR4ALL Net.Jam'99   22-24 April

---------------FWD:


PRAGUE 19.4.1999

PRESS RELEASE

TUNE IN...
LOG ON...
SPEAK OUT!

FAIR4ALL Net.Jam'99   22-24 April
http://FAIR4ALL.terminal.cz

 in association with: Internet Against Monopoly

A 40-hour non-stop action in protest of SPT Telecom's unfair business
practices and a celebration of music and internet culture.

	Czech citizens, local and international companies and ISP's are fed
up with the unfair business practices of SPT Telecom - currently locking
the Czech Republic in an unpopular telecommunications monopoly.
	After raising fixed-line telephone connection fees by a massive
62.5% last November, SPT seems intent on hindering economic growth and
limiting the Czech Republic's skyrocketing internet usage by charging
customers telephone rates that, per capita income,  are among the highest
in Europe.
	Reuters reported in March that - "Deputy Prime Minister Pavel
Mertlik said the Czech Government wanted to give all citizens access to
data through the internet, bringing the country more in line with it's
western neighbors." This seems unlikely to happen under the present
conditions.

Citizens Fight Back:
	Enraged by paying so much for a telephone connection, Internet
Against Monopoly was formed- a group organized to protest SPT's unfair
pricing policy . During it's campaign last November, the group collected
104,802 signatures demanding a Telecom rate reduction. At the same time,
several thousand people took to the streets in rallies opposing local rate
hikes in Brno and Prague.
	Most of the signatures, representing more that 1% of the country's
population of 10 million, were gathered via the internet - the group's
website www.bojkot.cz logged more than 100,000 hits in the first day of the
boycott, making it the most popular site in the brief history of the Czech
Web.
	The strength of the protest took SPT by surprise as they themselves
admitted. The company reacted with a new pricing scheme called Internet 99,
aimed at providing special rates for internet users. But internet users
remain angry because with the new scheme, users are charged an initial
connection fee equal to the cost of a single impulse, or Kc 2.60 ($0.07 )
Short calls lasting less than 8 minutes can therefore be more expensive
than before the scheme was first introduced.
	SPT have given no indication what will happen to prices when
Internet 99 finishes at the end of the year. Customers could wake up to the
millenium faced with yet another price hike.

A New Kind of Civil Protest:
	10:00am April 22 through 2:00am April 24, The Fair4All Net.Jam '99
will go on-line. 40 of the country's most prominent DJ's and promoters will
participate in a 40 hour non-stop anti-monopoly marathon - broadcast in
Live Audio over the internet to listeners on the Web. During the media
festival, individuals and organizations around the world will be urged to
show their support for SPT's unfair business practices and disregard for
it's customers - by placing anti-monopoly icons on their sites while
linking to http://fair4all.terminal.cz. There, webmasters can stream live
music and video for free on their own homepages from the Fair4All Net Jam.
Discussion groups, email links and anti-monolpoly news will be also be
available on the web site.
	The action is aiming to gather the maximum possible amount of
public support- keeping the debate in the media spotlight and keeping the
pressure on SPT Telecom.

Principle Aims of the Action:
1. To campaign for an improvement in the telecommunications infrastructure
of the Czech
Republic.
2. To protest against SPT Telecom for repressing the growth of internet in
the Czech Republic.
3. To recognize and highlight the potential of the internet - as an
affordable and effective mode of communication and a flourishing cultural
medium.
4. To launch a Citizen's Internet-User Manifesto- laying out what kind of
service the paying customers want and expect

FAIR4ALL Net-Jam '99 will take place at Terminal Bar, Soukenicka 6 Praha 1.
The event will kick off with a press conference at 9.30. Throughout the
duration of the action, the public and press are openly invited to come to
the action

Media Contacts:
General 	-  fair4all@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Czech   	-  ·arka Hala?tová 	 -	sharka@xxxxxxxxxxx
	4202/2187.1999
English 	-  Danny Holman 	 - 	danny@xxxxxxxxxxx
	4202/2187.1711
	    David Henderson  - 	david@xxxxxxxxxxx 		4202/90057017

Please call for a full press pack and further details.


Mail Address;
TERMINAL FOUNDATION C/O TERMINAL BAR
SOUKENICKÁ 6
PRAHA 110 00
CZECH REPUBLIC

Organized by the Terminal Foundation




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