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North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical fyi: an example individual response to Verisign spin
Subject: [IP] Yesterdays WJS article on Versign http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200310/msg00057.h tml ------- Forwarded Message Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 04:45:48 -0400 To: [email protected] From: Dave Farber <[email protected]> Subject: [IP] Yesterdays WJS article on Versign >Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2003 15:17:34 -0700 >From: Dave Crocker <[email protected]> >Subject: Today's WJS article on Versign >To: [email protected] >Cc: Nick Wingfield <[email protected]>, Dave Farber <[email protected]> > >Re: Nick Wingfield's article ><http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106519977252395300,00.html?mod=dartTechtod ay> > > >Hello, > >"VeriSign's critics, of course, see it differently, accusing VeriSign of >undermining the collectivist culture of the Internet, through which engineers >hash out key changes to the network through standards groups. Unlike the Web >and e-mail, which have become thoroughly commercialized through advertising, >the low-level Internet routing software that VeriSign altered with its new >service has remained relatively insulated from efforts to make a profit." ... > >Although notably better than most of the articles on this topic, Mr. Wingfield >still managed to buy Verisign's spin, both its erroneous facts and its >erroneous perspective. > >First of all, the service that Verisign runs has been for profit for as long >as it has run it. That's roughly ten years. In addition the problems caused by >Verisign were not just in the eyes of "technologists". > >Second of all, consider the service they suddenly changed in terms of its >equivalent in the world of telephone. Imagine dialing a non-existent number or >asking 411 for the number of a non-existent entry, and not being told that >there is no listing. Instead, you are given a phone number that feeds you >advertising. Would you view this as "a valuable navigational aid for users who >might otherwise hit an online dead-end?" Probably not. > >The problem, here, is not a culture-clash between commercial ventures and >naive technologists. Verisign contracted to provide a critical infrastructure >service that maps domain names to Internet addresses. The only "clash" is >between responsible and irresponsible approaches to providing that service. If >Verisign cannot operate it at a profit, without breaking it, there are others >quite willing and able to do the job. > >d/ >-- > Dave Crocker <dcrocker-at-brandenburg-dot-com> > Brandenburg InternetWorking <www.brandenburg.com> > Sunnyvale, CA USA <tel:+1.408.246.8253> -------------------------------------- Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ------- End of Forwarded Message
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