DATE: Friday, September 26, 1997            TAG: 9709260798

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   76 lines

WEB PAGE CAUSES SPARKS TO FLY

Steve Haynes admits that he finds the Web page that his computers are hosting ``a little offensive.'' But Haynes, CEO of Virginia Beach Internet Service Provider ExisNet, didn't create the page - one of his customers did.

And Haynes, who has his own disputes with Bell Atlantic, sees no reason to get in the way of the First Amendment.

Bell Atlantic, whose executives are targeted on the Web page, wants it ``permanently removed,'' according to an e-mail an executive sent to Haynes. He vowed to ``pursue every legal means possible'' to have the page removed.

The Web page in question uses Bell Atlantic Corp.'s logo, lists the names, addresses and phone numbers of three of the company's executives and suggests that people ``annoy, harass or just send NUMEROUS subscriptions to various magazines to them.''

Haynes says he doesn't find the page as offensive as he finds Bell Atlantic's demands.

Haynes' company has a long-running feud with Bell Atlantic-Virginia over the quality of its service.

Haynes has been arguing for more than a year that Bell Atlantic, the company that customers of ExisNet and other ISPs use to connect to the Internet, has a potential conflict of interest in offering its own Internet services. He says the demanding e-mail and several phone calls he received from Bell Atlantic representatives regarding the Web page were merely the last straw.

He says the Web page will stay put and that he plans to pursue Bell Atlantic's demands with state and federal regulators.

The customer's page protests Bell Atlantic's stance on a complicated phone system issue dating to the 1984 breakup of AT&T. Bell Atlantic wants the Federal Communications Commission to revisit rules that exempt Internet Service Providers from paying per-minute charges for access to its network.

``There are First Amendment rights that people have,'' Haynes says. ``That page was a little rough the way he did it, but the reality is he probably hit the nail on the head.''

Haynes intends to create his own Web site that will contain Bell Atlantic's e-mail and Haynes' response.

A Bell Atlantic Internet services spokesman said that he apologizes to Haynes and ExisNet and that he was trying to enlist Haynes' aid in solving the problem. He says the Web page creator has essentially misrepresented the issue. The page's creator was unavailable to comment.

``Why is it when you're on your computer there is no charge, when you're calling your grandmother there is a charge?'' spokesman Larry Plumb said of Bell's stand. ``As you can imagine, this whole issue has inflamed the Internet community.''

``The Bell Atlantic executive who sent the original e-mail may have exceeded his authority in implying that there was some legal action contemplated,'' Plumb said.

Bell Atlantic is not asking that it be allowed to charge per-minute access rates that would boost an Internet user's bill to ``$200 a month,'' Plumb said. The Maine-to-Virginia phone company just wants some equity now that the company's phone network is handling so much Internet traffic, he said.

On another matter, the State Corporation Commission, which regulates phone service, is familiar with another of Haynes' long-standing complaints about Bell Atlantic, said Ken Schrad, SCC spokesman.

ExisNet has complained that Bell Atlantic's switching system is to blame for Haynes' customers getting disconnected. Phone service is regulated, data services such as the Internet are not, Schrad said. The SCC has checked out Haynes' complaints, but has taken no action.

With no notice, Bell Atlantic last August changed the phone number that hundreds of ExisNet customers dial to connect their modems to the Internet. Bell Atlantic said the change was a mistake.

Schrad said the SCC can't help ExisNet this time, either. But nor can it side with Bell Atlantic.

``The thing that comes into play is he (Haynes) is just the provider for a client that puts that out,'' Schrad said. ``That's like trying to hold Bell Atlantic for me making harassing calls to you.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color FILE PHOTO

Steve Haynes, CEO of Virginia Beach Internet Service Provider

ExisNet, sees no reason to get in the way of the First Amendment.

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