Re: different views -3

["Marty Modell" <ir001264@mindspring.com>]

From:             Jim Fleming <JimFleming@unety.net>
To:               "'Marty Modell'" <ir001264@mindspring.com>
Subject:          FW: What will you do ?
Date sent:        Sun, 8 Dec 1996 19:47:34 -0600

----------
From: 	Jim Fleming[SMTP:JimFleming@unety.net.]
Sent: 	Saturday, December 07, 1996 5:08 PM
To: 	'Multiple recipients of list DOMAIN-POLICY'
Cc: 	'New Newdom'
Subject: 	What will you do ?

The following message is intended to ask you to stop for a moment, and
consider..."What will you do?"

The posting of this message does not represent an endorsement, one way
or the other, on future policies.

It is simply meant to provoke thought and discussion.

Please take a moment and consider what your company will do, IF you
receive one of the following letters. Will you send the $50 and other
papers ?

============= Letter #1 ==================

Dear <fill in>.COM Domain Owner:

I represent <fill in name>, one of the largest Internet Service
Providers in the world. We currently have several million customers
and a diverse base of corporate and consumer users. At the present
time all of our users have easy access to your domain name, <fill
in>.COM and we provide this access at no charge.

Because of the increasing commercial orientation of the Internet, our
company has invested substantial sums to provide advanced domain name
services to our customers. We have also deployed our own version of
the .COM Top Level Domain name servers where we have automatically
registered your .COM domain name. 

In the future, to remain active in our .COM registry, please remit $50
per year to our domain registrar using the enclosed envelope or via
our on-line credit card system.  This will help to ensure that our
millions of customers will continue to be able to easily reach your
company's e-mail addresses and web sites. These funds will be used to
help defray the costs of our registry and to continue to provide the
high quality service that our customers have learned to enjoy.

Sincerely,


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Vice President
Domain Registrations


============= Letter #2 ==================


Dear <fill in>.COM Domain Owner:

The State of <fill in> has experienced significant growth in Internet
users over the past few years. At the present time all of our citizens
have easy access to your domain name, <fill in>.COM and ISPs doing
business in the State of <fill in> provide this access at no charge.

Because of the increasing commercial orientation of the Internet, our
State Government has invested substantial sums to provide advanced
domain name services to our citizens. Several new laws have been
passed and we have deployed our own version of the .COM Top Level
Domain name servers where we have automatically registered your .COM
domain name. ISPs in the State of <fill in> are now required, by law,
to use the State supported .COM name servers.

In the future, to remain active in our .COM registry, please remit $50
per year to our domain registrar using the enclosed envelope. Please
include with that registration a copy of your Certificate of
Incorporation in the State of <fill in>. This will help to ensure that
our millions of citizens and businesses will continue to be able to
easily reach your company's e-mail addresses and web sites while you
do business in the State of <fill in>.

If you need further assistance in obtaining a Certificate of
Incorporation or in registering as a Foreign Corporation in the State
of <fill in>, please do not hesitate to contact my office.

Sincerely,


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<fill in> Secretary of State

=============================================

Again..."What will you do ?"

1. Get mad ? - probably more like annoyed - like I did when my free
credit card company decided to impose an annual fee for being a good
customer. 2. Send the $50 ? - yes 3. Find another TLD to register in
besides .COM ? - no 4. Write to your elected representatives ? - and
ask them to do what?  Better they should stay out of it. 5. Complain
to the IANA, the ISOC, and/or the InterNIC ? and complain about what?
6. Terminate your company's Internet connection ? - that's cutting off
my nose to spite my face!!! 7. Hire a "dream team" of lawyers ? - much
more expensive than $50 per year, and besides this is a contractual
matter with very clearly defined terms.  Most of the complainers just
forgot to read the fine print. - caveat emptor!!! 8. Do nothing ? - no
- I will get annoyed and send in the $50 9.  Send $100 for 2 years in
advance to avoid being late ? - maybe, but I do that a lot  with other
annual bills

Seriously  While I understand your annoyance at having to pay for
something that was once free, I also understand that things that start
out free don't always stay that way.  Witness my health benefits, the
lack of income tax in my state, "freeware" that becomes "shareware" to
name but a few.

I agree that NSI probably handled the imposition of fees badly, but
then they are not the only ones to do so.  I agree that you have a
right to be annoyed that what was once free now costs, but face it,
everything costs, or costs more these days.  Even the "renegade
registries" advocate charging.  The only difference being that they
want the fees to go in their pockets instead of into NSI's

The NSI contract ends in one year.  It would take longer than that to
redress the supposed grievances that people have.

Lets move on and correct the problems for the future instead of
complaining about the past. -- Jim Fleming UNETY Systems, Inc.
Naperville, IL

e-mail:
JimFleming@unety.net
JimFleming@unety.net.s0.g0 (EDNS/IPv8)


--  
Marty Modell                     e-mail: ir001264@mindspring.com 
      http://www.mindspring.com/~ir001264/Home.htm         
                  author of 
      A Professional's Guide to Systems Analysis
         Second Edition - McGraw Hill - 1996