Re: an example individual response to Verisign spin

["Brian Bruns" <bruns () 2mbit com>]

Ok, I've been working on this for a while, its still v1.1 of the document,
so it needs some more work including references and stuff like that.  I
wrote it in AbiWord, but it didn't translate to HTML so well, will work on
getting it better later on tonight.  Comments are welcome.

http://www.sosdg.org/papers/VSGNWCD.html

I tried to write it as simple as I could in the hopes it might help end
users understand the issues created by the SiteFinder 'service'.

--------------------------
Brian Bruns
The Summit Open Source Development Group
Open Solutions For A Closed World / Anti-Spam Resources
http://www.2mbit.com
ICQ: 8077511
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Jeff.Hodges () KingsMountain com>
To: <nanog () merit edu>
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 2:02 PM
Subject: 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: ip () v2 listbox com
> From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: [IP] Yesterdays WJS article on Versign
>
> > Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2003 15:17:34 -0700
> > From: Dave Crocker <dcrocker () brandenburg com>
> > Subject: Today's WJS article on Versign
> > To: newseditors () wsj com
> > Cc: Nick Wingfield <nick.wingfield () wsj com>, Dave Farber
<dave () farber net>
> > Re:  Nick Wingfield's article
>
> <http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106519977252395300,00.html?mod=dartTech
tod
> 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>
>
> --------------------------------------
>
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> ------- End of Forwarded Message