On Fri, 25 Oct 1996, Bradley Dunn wrote:
* we (a backbone ISP) * charge customer ISPs whose primary business is dialup * (net consumers of benefit) * more than those whose business is selling Web space or who operate a Web server * (net producers of benefit)
That is an interesting justification for additional "reseller" charges. I am not convinced it is valid, though. Most of the sites that provide half way decent content these days either charge directly for it, or charge indirectly by making you wade through advertisements. In this manner the sites are being compensated in a much more efficient manner, determined by the market.
This is not a moral argument, it's simply a description of our policy. And this is just a price differential; you could equally well see it as a discount to those who are net sources of content.
Do you really think it is our job as network providers to decide who is a net consumer and who is a net producer? I think not, I think it is our job to deliver bits. Let the net consumers and the net producers themselves negotiate the terms of their transaction.
You seem to be saying that we should not ourselves negotiate. We look at our pipes and notice that they are relatively full in one direction and relatively empty in the other. We adjust our prices so that usage is more uniform. That's just good business practice. -- Jim Dixon VBCnet GB Ltd +44 117 929 1316 fax +44 117 927 2015 http://www.uk.vbc.net VBCnet West +1 408 971 2682 fax +1 408 971 2684