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: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 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: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: Dave Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [IP] Yesterdays WJS article on Versign > > >Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2003 15:17:34 -0700 > >From: Dave Crocker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Subject: Today's WJS article on Versign > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Cc: Nick Wingfield <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Dave Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > >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> > > -------------------------------------- > > Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ > > ------- End of Forwarded Message > > > >