Subject: [IP] Yesterdays WJS article on Versign http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200310/msg0005... tml ------- Forwarded Message Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 04:45:48 -0400 To: ip@v2.listbox.com From: Dave Farber <dave@farber.net> Subject: [IP] Yesterdays WJS article on Versign
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2003 15:17:34 -0700 From: Dave Crocker <dcrocker@brandenburg.com> Subject: Today's WJS article on Versign To: newseditors@wsj.com Cc: Nick Wingfield <nick.wingfield@wsj.com>, Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>
Re: Nick Wingfield's article <http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106519977252395300,00.html?mod=dartTechto... 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>
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