On Thu, 09 March 2000, Randy Bush wrote:
> actually, in working with the other large providers, i have not found this
> to be the case. and most smallish folk seem cooperative. it is usually the
> middle sized folk who have not scaled to meet the problems, and occasionally
> let things fall through the cracks.
The key is the ability to reach the right person. In a small provider
its easy because the boss answers the phone, or someone who knows the boss
answers the phone.
In a large provider, you might know a "famous" person. And even though they
won't be the right person, they'll know the right person. If AT&T does
something stupid, Randy might call Steve Bellovin (the wrong person) who
in turn could hit the right manager over the head with the clue-by-four.
Replace with the appropriate provider/person UUNET/Mike O'Dell, Verio/Randy
Bush, etc.
The problem is with providers without famous people and too many people,
so they don't know each other. If you don't already know someone at, for
example, NTT or BT or Qwest, navigating through their public contacts
usually doesn't get you too far.
What may be interesting is looking at how other industries handle the
problem.
In the banking industry, where failure to contact another bank can result
in millions of losses, Thompson Publishing has an extensive directory of
the security contacts for essentially every bank in the world. Thompson
actively verifies the contact information, and banks pay a bunch of money
for current copies of the directories.
In the chemical industry, where failure to respond to a leak can result in
millions in liability, the chemical manufactures' association maintains a
24-hour number which will contact the appropriate company's response group.
Again, the contact information is actively verified.
