Private Line
    A Journal of Inquiry Into the Telephone System    

Introduction

Private Line was an alternative magazine about the telephone system.  By alternative, they meant a non-corporate, hacker-friendly publication focused on explaining how telecom worked.  It ran in hardcopy from June 1994 to January 1996.  It then published two electronic or ezine issues on the Internet after the magazine shut down.  Private Line was a critical success but a commercial failure.  Lack of advertiser support and the bankruptcy of my main distributor contributed to its doom.  For details about the magazine's demise consult the below section "What Happened to Private Line?"

From Tom Farley  (August 3, 1996)

Greetings from Isleton!  This lengthy post discusses what happened to Private Line, what happens now and what I hope will happen later.

Briefly, the hardcopy version is dead, an e-mail version is coming soon and subscribers requesting refunds will be mailed checks or back issues.  Another publisher will be solicited for the hardcopy version.  Excuse the bandwidth but I need to discuss many points.  Please repost and re-distribute this message.

  • What's happened with Private Line?  (The last six months)
    1. An explanation
    2. Original letter to subscribers
  • What happens now with Private Line?  (The next two months)
    1. The e-mail version
    2. The web site
    3. Subscriber refunds
    4. Back issue availability
    5. Catching up on written correspondence
    6. Near term time line
  • What will happen with Private Line?  (Three months from now and beyond)
    1. Appeal for a publisher
  • How to contact me
    1. Telephone hours
    2. Addresses

What Happened to Private Line?  (The Last Six Months)

1.)  An explanation.

Private Line in hardcopy is dead.  An electronic version will soon appear.  What happened?  It was too expensive to continue.  I lost over $4,000 on the project.  Syntel Vista agreed in February to continue the magazine under their control.  They also agreed to fulfil all subscriptions or cut checks for those who didn't like the new Private Line.  It was a gentlemen's agreement with no money changing hands.  I forwarded numerous articles and letters to help them develop their first issue.  But after six months, dozens of excuses, 10 unreturned phone calls in the last two weeks alone, and still no new Private Line, I have decided to step back in to pick up the pieces.

Firstly, let me apologize for not keeping you all informed.  I was waiting for Adam and Syntel to come out with the new magazine.  It would have contained all the transition information and thus there would be no need for a separate mailing.  Every contact with Syntel Vista, by the way, was friendly and I thought in good faith.  We had a cordial, cross promoting relation in the past and I had no doubt that things would be fine in the future.  There was no indication until two weeks ago that they would abandon the magazine and all its subscribers and readers, indeed, Syntel publicly stated in the last issue of Blacklisted! 411 that they were taking over the magazine.  Yet nothing has happened.

For my part, and I am culpable in all of this, I should have kept track of the process more closely and not been so easily deceived.  In any case, read the letter below for more details.  The problem now is recovery, though I do encourage you to call them, if you like.  Maybe they'll send me back all the material I sent them if there is enough pressure: (714) 899-8853.  Pulling their line or messing with their Bogen answering machine is mildly discouraged.

2.)  Original subscriber letter that would have appeared in the new issue:

March 1, 1996

Dear Private Line subscriber:

Hello. I regret to inform you that Private Line Number 10 was the last issue I 
will produce. I have lost over $4,000 dollars with the magazine and my 
finance person informs me that he will not pay another printing bill. So it 
ends. At least for me. The Blacklisted! 411 folks will take it over, produce it 
quarterly, sell the back issues and honor all requests for subscription 
refunds in case you don't like the new product. I will still be around on the 
edges, producing and assisting with articles on an intermittent basis.

I was never able to turn critical success into commercial success. My last 
print run was only 750 copies since I cut off Fine Print for non-payment. 
They owe me over a thousand dollars, haven't paid me at all for eight months 
and their bill is in collection. Per unit costs, consequently, have skyrocketed
because of this small print run. Let's run through the numbers.

The last issue cost $1.73 per magazine to produce. Distribution costs was 
from $2.25 to $3.15 an issue. These costs alone came close to or exceeded 
the cover price. In addition, I am now averaging forty percent returns, 
typical for a nationally distributed magazine. That means 40 percent of my 
print run doesn't sell, although I have to pay, of course, for 100% of the run.
Costs at this point exceed the cover price. Even raising the cover price to 
five or six dollars wouldn't help that much. Those forty percent returns, by 
the way, are most often not returned by the distributor, just shredded. I 
can't use them for anything. 

Adam at Blacklisted! 411 is very enthusiastic about taking over the 
magazine. Other people have expressed interest but none of them have any 
'zine experience. I am not eager for anyone who has not experienced this 
house of cards industry to take on Private Line -- I feel that loosing money 
is all they will get for their effort. True to the hacker tradition, there is no
money involved in this transition, just the assumption by Adam that he 
will fulfil existing subscriptions and honor back issue requests.

There has been no advertiser interest and I do not see any way of making the 
magazine break even without such support. The only other way is to get 
bigger print runs done.  Printing 20,000 copies, for example, would lower 
per unit costs to less than fifty cents. But then you have to deal with 
distributors who take 45 to 120 days to pay after you submit your first 
issue. If they pay at all. I do not see any way for a company to make any 
money on this unless they are willing to bleed money for a long time. And 
I've bled all I can.

I question, of course, whether the Syntel Vista folks can come up with 
anything like what I produced every two months. I think, though, that you 
should wait to see what happens. Several articles in the next issue 
originated with me or with Private Line readers. In particular, there is an 
explanatory piece on encryption which is the simplest, most concise piece 
of writing on this difficult subject I've seen. Written especially for Private 
Line, I am presently adding graphics to it and I think you will be pleased. 
There is also a great hacker article and a reader report on an east coast 
cable station. Please have faith and hang in there for the new Private Line, 
which should be out around April. As for me, I am taking a year off to do art 
related things. Thank you for all your support and I will see you on the net!

Tom Farley

What Happens Now With Private Line?  (The Next Two Months)

I will do an e-mail version for a year.  Send me your e-mail address now if you want to get it.  You can request it in the subject line or in the body of the message, either way.  Send the request to privateline@delphi.com.  This version will, I hope, give Private Line readers and subscribers something to read in lieu of the hardcopy version until I can find another publisher.  The publication schedule isn't fixed since I'm working out the details.  It will be free while I control it and it will probably go out when I get 100k or so of stuff developed.  That could be every week or every few weeks.  I expect it will take two to six weeks to get an e- mail delivery system up and going.  The mail responder will probably be through Damien Thorn's digicity.net, where privateline.com resides.  I'll let you know.  The e-mail version will be quite a different beast than the old magazine.

There will be quite a few letters, a lot of reproduced articles (from obscure sources) and little in-depth research until I do a month of housekeeping and take care of subscriber letters and refunds.  I'll be scrambling, as well, to get re-oriented with the hacker/telecom scene in the upcoming months.  Anything original you can submit will be greatly appreciated.  Coming articles include one on encryption and a fairly comprehensive look at the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Inmate Telephone System.  But I'll need some time to get back going.  Give me a little slack on responding to your e-mail and I will appreciate it.

It's my hope that someone will come along in the next year who can do a hardcopy version of Private Line, in which case I will probably step back once again.  I simply don't have the time or the money anymore to really further the project.  A an electronic version is fine but their has to be a hardcopy equivalent, something that is indexed and consecutively paged.

3.)  The Coming Web Site

The possibilities are endless and I get tired just thinking about it.  It may be just textually based or it may include every illustration and piece of line art that ever appeared in the old magazine.  Let me know if you want your site linked to it and I will try to accommodate you.  I'll prioritize on the e-mail version of Private Line first but you should check in with privateline.com now and then to see what's going on.

4.)  Refunds

Send me a note by snail mail.  Tell me how much you think I owe you for the balance of your subscription and I will send you a check the first week of September.  Or let me pay you off in back issues.  How does that work?  I'll send you five back issues of your choice to clear your account.  That includes numbers one through four which have been out of print.  I would prefer, of course, that you not send in any request and instead put up with the e-mail version or simply let me slide.  Please, please, please?

This is important: you have until September 6th to get your refund or back order request in.  I'm cutting off people at that point so I can move forward.  Essentially, I'll total up the amount of money I owe at that time and then I'll get a loan to pay it off.  I'll also be totaling up the number of back issue requests I need to make up or mail.  The second week of September, then, will see both checks and copies mailed off.  Remember, send me a note in the mail -- I need it for my records and I'll just loose e- mail requests in all this commotion.

5.)  Back Issue Availability

Issues five through ten are still in good supply.  Issues one through four are sold out but I will be making up more copies this month to satisfy subscriber requests.  This is your best time to get the back issues while I am working on them, however, I will probably mail your order in the second week of September when I do the subscriber mailing.  Issues are five dollars apiece, checks to Private Line.

6.)  Catching Up on Written Correspondence

Endless apologies once again!  I am two months behind with the snail mail and I will be working hard to get on top of this problem in the next month.  You're not being ignored, you're just being, uh, well, okay, okay, you are being ignored for now.  But not much longer.

6.)  Near Term Timeline (Importante!)

August 5-9, 1996: A copy of this post gets mailed to every subscriber of Private Line.

September 6, 1996: Deadline for subscribers to request subscription refunds or backorders.

September 7-14 1996: Mailing week for refund checks and back issues.

What Will Happen With Private Line?  (Three Months From Now and Beyond)

1.)  Appeal for a publisher

Nuff said?  No more friendly agreements, though, because I can't go through this process again.  I'll need a contract and some money.  Next month will see an outflow of another $1500 to $2000 dollars to cash out subscribers.  They're owed, of course, so I'm not complaining and I have to do what's right.  But someone taking over the hardcopy version could go a long way to making me happy by putting some money on the table.  You have my numbers.

How to Contact Me

1.)  Telephone hours

It's best to call when I'm around.  Messages get lost.  Reach me are at these times and on these days.  I don't screen calls during these times.  I'm around otherwise but I'm probably working on the magazine or off in the Delta:

9: a.m. to 12:00 p.m (P.D.T.) M, Tues, Th, Fri. - (916) 777-4420 voice and fax

2.)  Addresses

Private Line
P.O. Box 1059
Isleton, CA 95641-1059 USA

THANKS FOR THE BANDWIDTH!  Tom Farley


Download Back Issues

  Private Line - Vol. 1, No. 1 (Issue #1)  (June/July 1994)


  Private Line - Vol. 1, No. 2 (Issue #2)  (August/September 1994)


  Private Line - Vol. 1, No. 3 (Issue #3)  (October/November/December 1994)


  Private Line - Vol. 2, No. 1 (Issue #4)  (January/February 1995)


  Private Line - Vol. 2, No. 2 (Issue #5)  (March/April 1995)


  Private Line - Vol. 2, No. 3 (Issue #6)  (May/June 1995)


  Private Line - Vol. 2, No. 4 (Issue #7)  (July/August 1995)


  Private Line - Vol. 2, No. 5 (Issue #8)  (September/October 1995)


  Private Line - Vol. 2, No. 6 (Issue #9)  (November/December 1995)


  Private Line - Vol. 3, No. 1 (Issue #10)  (January/February 1996 - Missing)


Private Line - Vol. 3, No. 2 (Issue #11)  (1996)


Private Line - Vol. 3, No. 3 (Issue #12)  (October 1996)



The Old Private Line Newsletters



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