Because loss of connectivity for a day costs 10's of thousands of dollars and, evidently, even the "big" companies are not immune from "acts of god" like what happened today.

Don't forget to submit those claims for credit under BBNplanet's 99.9% connectivity guarantee announced on September 24, 1996 within seven days by electronic mail. How you send electronic mail when your network is down isn't known. There seems to be a pattern forming here, AOL went off the air shortly after their provider announced their backbone availability guarantee too. Yes, its funny if it wasn't so serious. Every provider has problems, and their problems effect other people and providers. Hopefully providers will learn people notice when their network disappears. Maybe they just like getting lots of phone calls to their NOC. But it would be nice if there was a way providers could keep a broader audience informed rather than waiting for people to call. Am I really that unusual? I expect the worst to happen, and am always pleasently surprised when it doesn't. -- Sean Donelan, Data Research Associates, Inc, St. Louis, MO Affiliation given for identification not representation