> I could offer other reasons for ml.org's downfall. For example, the
> advertising model for ISP services has shown to be less successful
> than the subscription model. A local ISP (biggernet) that funded its
The difference is that those companies were trying to make a profit, rather
than paying for the colocation a few servers running free and OSS software.
That had nothing to do with it. It was strictly a management problem.
> operation primarily on advertising went out of business recently. It
> was also my understanding that much of ml.org's problems had to do
> with hardware failures. I could speculate that more reliable (but
> expensive) hardware, and a full-time staff of system and software
> support (not to mention better management) would have kept them
> going longer. But they would have had to charge for registrations,
> because the money from advertising and sponsorships wasn't enough.
Actually, the hardware failure was the factor that caused it to happen when it
did rather than 6 months later, but the course had already been laid out by the
board. The hardware failure just moved it up faster, since they saw little
point in fixing the hardware for a service that would not be around much longer.
Their plan was working, and working fine, but they lacked a coherent management
structure, and there was too many people with a hand in the decision making
process after Aveek Datta removed himself from the executive position he was in
after he was employed by IBM.
The simple fact is that a registry can be operated seamlessly if it is down
right, and for an existing ISP with the infrastructure, a dedicated server or
two on the existing network, and a little man hours to write the interfaces,
and they can easily have a registry up and running, with little to no required
human interaction. Again, all this is provided the intent is not to be making
profits off the registry service.
> Another example -- the biggest registry (NSI) did not seem to be able
> to survive on the "sponsorship" of the US taxpayers ...
NSI was trying to make a profit, and was running with paid staff, etc.
> At any rate, since the registry business is still in its infancy, I
> guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.
Or not. I don't plan to wait, and I am sure I am not alone.
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E-Mail: William X. Walsh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 19-Feb-99
Time: 17:24:26
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"We may well be on our way to a society overrun by hordes
of lawyers, hungry as locusts."
- Chief Justice Warren Burger, US Supreme Court, 1977
