Bruce Cohen
THEY surfed in by the score. Shyguy, DarkFlame, Chops, Porky, Jack Frost … and they proved that cyberspace can be an anarchic place indeed.
Poor Post and Telecommunications Minister Pallo Jordan was swept along in the chaos of Wednesday’s Internet chat show on the Green Paper on telecommunications.
The questions came like bullets out of nowhere as the minister battled to keep up. The screen kept filling up with the names of people entering and leaving the site, adding to the confusion. It looked like this:
*** VonRico ([email protected]. ac.za) parts channel #telecomms point by dynamiq: Mode change: BeamJack sets +v dynamiq on #telecomms Why then ask the question in the Green paper? Offer your view if you have an alternative will the equipment supply industry be …Signoff by Maltloaf (Connection reset by peer) won’t be obliged, but surely it’s in its interest … point by gregm: is telkom efficient enough? he believes not. (6 weeks for a phone) is telkom then not hampering development in SA
“BeamJack”, the self-appointed chat moderator who was meant to bring some order to the show, was simply
Ecna reports that staff at Rhodes University said “BeamJack” was in fact a computer science student who had failed his first year three times. Others described him as a seasoned hacker.
The hyperactive chat slowed mometarily when the following message flashed on the screen: *** Tokolosh ([email protected]) joins Channel #telecomms… but it was soon buzzing again with more questions hurled at the minister, mainly concerning Telkom’s monopoly and its inefficiency.
A highpoint was when the minister cloned himself to deal with the flood of questions and accusations. He was reduced to monosyllabic responses and his typing was lousy.
All in all it was a brave — if somewhat futile — attempt to face the new frontiers of the information