On Sun, 10 Oct 1999, Greg Skinner wrote:
> I imagine if there were some sort of investigation, it would reveal
> that the alternative root movement is not yet organized enough to
> deliver the quality of service delivered by the established root
> movement. If the alternative root movement wants to gain some sort of
> legitimacy with the Internet community at large, I would suggest they
> establish a strong, organized, documented effort. This would be more
> likely to win them some sympathy with the courts, who would have more
> grounds to establish that the existing setup is a barrier to
> competition.
I agree, that's one avenue, an if any of the alternate roots want to
pursue that and land vixie in court, then god bless them. But in my
opinion the courts - US or otherwise are a complete waste of time.
The alternate roots should focus as you said on their viability and spend
more time in the process of education and marketing (interchangable
concepts here).
>
> > I didn't make that claim. The claim was established in a prior tread by
> > someone who was arguing Vixie was an activist and later admitted Vixie was
> > like everyone else a victim of the money trail.
>
> ISC, distributors of BIND, are sponsored by various companies. You
> can obtain a list at their web site (www.isc.org). As for Vixie's
> activism, I argued that he can be an activist for issues he feels are
> important, and that he has proven he can gain some support for his
> movements. My general opinion is that the RBL movement is much more
> open, organized, documented, and effective than any of the alternative
> root movements, which is most likely why they are having success in
> the Internet community. IMHO, it is unfortunate that neither ICANN
> nor the alternative root movements have gained as much trust.
I did have a look some time ago in respect of his sponsors and yes he is
funded by the very people who want control of the net. This does not in
any way imply vixie is tainted. But it clearly shows Vixie is in no
position to make waves or push the activist dns front. If he does he'll
run the risk of loosing his support, which is clearly tied and dependent
on corporate support.
The one unfortunate aspects of the Vixie ISC gang is that they have no
means of self support. They rely on the kindness of other to give them
the bucks. i speak of course only in relation to dns issues.
As for RBL - it's not the success story we are all being lead to believe.
In my opinion the anti-spam and pro spam people both represent the lunatic
fringe. If people knew what was going on in both camps they would cringe
at the insanity of it all.
There are better options then RBL. The dot.MLM people are one example of
such an option widely supported by system administrators everywhere and
law makers. The same can be said of top level domains for the "erotic
entertainment crowd. TLD's that define content are one of the best
methods of protecting people from unwanted sexually explicit content or
UCE (unsolicited commercial email).
Cheers
Joe Baptista
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