David Iyoha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
> Not exactly true. You do not know their business plan thus you do not know
> their plans for all the "funds" that they have. They may decide to purchase
> more servers, bandwidth, get more programmers, more Advertisements, a bigger
> office, or even make a profit ;). We do not know anything, so people should
> be careful with making assumptions and then passing them off as truths.
>
People should also be careful putting words like "funds" in quotation marks,
or making statements like "or even make a profit" followed by smilies,
implying that OpenSRS aren't making a profit. If Tucows aren't making a
profit out of OpenSRS, my granny's a wrestler.
The constant implications by a small number of subscribers to this list that
Tucows are only doing this for the good of their health is really starting to
get on my wick - just because there's "open" and ".org" in the titles doesn't
mean this is a non-profit organisation.
Tucows has a very healthy 66% markup on domains, and even taking into account
the ICANN accreditaion fees and other costs, I very much doubt that they're
suffering for running OpenSRS. Other ICANN-accredited end-user registrars are
selling at a lower markup and still making a profit.
And then there's the suggestion that OpenSRS should have the right to charge
RSP's more because of the API and client, however they never seem to mention
the value-added services of other registrars, and *their* clients, which,
although internal, still have to be developed. And of course there's the
administrative and support costs - do other registrars not have these also?
Again, this is not a stab at OpenSRS - I have great respect for their support
(usually, see below), their candour and their system. This is a stab at the
people who, if I was an American, I would be calling "pinko subversives",
and "commies". Their constant support of OpenSRS pricing policy is pathetic
at best, suspicious at worst.
And once again, this is not a direct attack on OpenSRS about pricing - I have
already make my *suggestions* about this, and they were made with economics
in mind, rather than general bitching. I *believe* that the price should come
down. I think that it makes economic sense to bring prices down now, before
the revenues start to drop, rather than later when RSP's will have to fight
to get them back.
This is of course aside from my comments about .*.uk pricing, which, like it
or not, is overpriced and not competitive by any manner of means,
particularly to RSP's in Europe.
> It is if it serves no purpose. What would be the point of having the 24/7
> coverage if it only gets used once or twice a month? (at the times not
> currently covered)
>
How do you know it will only be used once or twice a month?
> That is a true statement in general. But I am not sure how that supports the
> idea of getting 24/7 support. My perspective is very simple. If there is a
> *need* for 24/7 support then I think OpenSRS should get it. If not then just
> because they are getting more business does not lead to any logical
> conclusion that since *it seems like they can afford it* they should.
>
> I believe this discussion should be focused on proving such a need as
> opposed to worrying about OpenSRS's finances. I am positive if they felt it
> was necessary we would not be having this discussion ;)
>
Ok, well here's a need - Scott Allan posted an excerpt from the docs here
last Wednesday (17th) about .*.uk transfers, saying that enquiries should be
sent to support - "So, you can contact support and we will do it manually."
Which I did, the same day. This is the Monday afterwards, and I still haven't
received a reply, bar the automated ticketing system.
Maybe we shouldn't be asking for 24/7 support - maybe we should be asking
that OpenSRS follow through on their current support promises of 24 hours
during the week and 48 hours at the weekend. I'm not going to go into attack
mode here, because OpenSRS are no doubt under pressure with the transfer
offer.
But I will make the suggestion that maybe they should have taken on extra
staff to deal with this? I put through seven transfers on the 15th, and
they're still sitting in my control panel, awaiting registry approval. Will
these domains qualify under the offer? I hope so.
I also hope that the slowness to respond to my support and transfer requests
actually does stem from the transfer offer, and not my frankness on this
list...
adam
