--On 12 August 2008 08:32 -0400 "Patrick W. Gilmore" <patrick@ianai.net> wrote:
People are. I (and others) mentioned SIX & TorIX, plus I mentioned PaNAP. Then there's AtlantaIX, although that recently got slurped by TelX. (Hrmmm, could one of the "dangers" of a coop be "borg'ed by for-profit entity looking to rip out every cent they can"? :)
Interesting point. Speaking from experience for a minute, firstly one would hope that the co-op members would have to majority vote (hopefully with a reasonable margin) in favour of the borging to happen. If the members of the co-op value it's existence and the services they get from the co-op, they won't vote in favour of a blatantly commercial offer. There is always the threat of the wolf in sheep's clothing, though. One option to avoid that situation, or one where "Turkeys vote for Christmas" (or Thanksgiving, given this is NANOG) could be to put a "poison pill" into whatever legal basis the co-op has, e.g. in the Mem & Arts, to basically kill the thing off if someone tries to carpetbag it. I remember Kurtis telling me about some similar provision in the Foundation which runs Netnod in Sweden, to avoid capture of the organisation. Mike (no hat)