(E-mail and Historians in Germany) Date Fri, 2 Sep 1994 18 54 12 -0500 Reply-To: German History list Sender: German History list From: H-GERMAN MODERATOR Dan Rogers Subject: No e-mail in Germany Submitted by: Angelika Meyer The problem is not a general reluctance to embrace new technology, but economics. I recently spent half a year in Germany, and that's what I observed regarding Germany and the net: Getting an email account is still difficult in Germany. Unlike in the US, universities don't provide them to any student/staff/faculty member who asks. Someone has to sponsor the account. For students, it is next to impossible to get accounts through the university. Many faculty have never even heard of email - keep in mind that the internet domain .de is just a year old. What about getting an account from the private sector? The postal service is pushing its Datex service, but it is pay per minute, has a clumsy interface, and lacks full internet access. Modems over there are VERY expensive. There is a law on the books that people can only use modems approved by the German equivalent of the FCC. Such a modem (with the appropriate stamp of approval) costs at least twice as much as the same modem (i.e. same make and manufacturer) without this stamp. There is a huge market for illegal (US) modems, but if you hang such a thing on your German phone line, you are committing a felony, punishable by up to five years in jail. (This applies equally to built-in modems in laptops. So much for the portable international office. The German police could legally arrest dozens of unsuspecting American businesspeople every day for this "crime", but I guess this would not be good for international relations.) Also, would you use a modem in a place where every LOCAL call costs money? Every 4 minutes, another "unit" (30 Pf.) is added to your phone bill. So, the fancier internet tools like ftp and gopher are pretty much off limits. I hope this gives you an idea why email is so slow in catching on there. Angelika Meyer Information provider: Unit: H-Net program at UIC History Department Email: H-Net@uicvm.uic.edu Posted: 10 Sep 1994 .