Prodigy Service Cut Is Censorship, Subscribers Say

Some subscribers to the Prodigy on-line computer network asserted Tuesday that they had their service terminated because they launched a nationwide protest of the company’s decision to charge for electronic mail.

But Prodigy officials defended their fees and their decision to cut off the angry subscribers--including some Southern Californians--saying their computerized solicitations of thousands of other users had constituted an abuse of their system.

The complaints erupted after Prodigy Services Co., a joint venture of International Business Machines Corp. and Sears, Roebuck & Co., announced that it would raise monthly subscription rates 30% and begin charging for some messages.

With Prodigy software, personal computer owners in two dozen metropolitan regions can use telephone lines and modems to access an array of electronic communications services, such as airline reservations and home shopping networks.

The service, which began in late 1988, is popular because of its low flat rate--the charge remains the same regardless of use.

But in September, Prodigy said it would increase monthly rates from $9.95 to $12.95 beginning Jan. 1. It also said it would begin charging 25 cents for each electronic message above a monthly allotment of 30 free messages. There had not been a charge for messages.

Some subscribers were angered by the changes, particularly in the electronic mail feature. It had been promoted in Prodigy’s advertising and had drawn many to the service. Critics said changing Prodigy’s costs now amounts to deceptive advertising.

Russ Singer, a Huntington Beach resident and protest coordinator, said his account and nine others were disconnected Oct. 30 without notice. The protesters had used Prodigy’s electronic mail service to disseminate their complaints.

Singer said the termination of service amounts to censorship: “They’re stifling the expression of ideas and promoting the service as a communications system for expressing ideas.”

Brian Ek, a spokesman for White Plains, N.Y.-based Prodigy, disagreed. He said the company does not disconnect subscribers for belonging to a group or disagreeing with its policies.

But he acknowledged that some subscribers were cut off because, he said, they had violated Prodigy’s policies--which members agree to comply with they when they sign up--on harassing other members.

He said the service, with more than 200,000 subscribers, retains the right to refuse service to anyone who fails to pay a bill or uses electronic mail for solicitation, obscenities, illegal activities or harassment.

Ek said Prodigy decided that subscribers crossed the line from advocacy to harassment by, for example, sending mass mailings to thousands of members--which the service does not allow--and by sending others unsolicited chain letters to enlist support.

“We received a lot of complaints from people because 90% of our membership is not affected by the changes,” Ek said. “We had a free discussion of this for two months in which people could state their opinions. But you cannot bombard people with thousands of these messages.”

Penny Hay, a Brentwood protester who was cut off by Prodigy, said she did not harass anyone or disseminate mass messages on the system. She said she and other subscribers were upset because the changes affect Prodigy’s most active users.

Singer said the protesters had recruited politely, sending a single initial message and one follow-up to each user.

“I have no problem with them eliminating obscenities or solicitations,” he said. “My problem is they are editing the letters on the public bulletin board for content. I challenge them to point out any harassment in our letters.”

He said protesters were cut off shortly after informing Prodigy that they had the support of 19,000 subscribers and had contacted the service’s on-line merchants and advertisers to let them know about the opposition to the fee changes.

“We hit a nerve,” Singer said. “Prodigy finally realized how big we are, how fast we are growing and our arguments were obviously too compelling . . . for Prodigy to dismiss any longer.”

Ek, however, insisted that the protests have been stirred by a small group of users: “It costs us millions of dollars a year to provide service for these people. We cannot continue to subsidize them at the rate the service is being used.”