Since a thread related to nondisclosure agreements has been brought up and I have been mulling over this topic lately, I'd like to know your opinions on whether or not the practice of requiring NDAs will continue. Are free market pressures working against such a model? Can secretive pricing really be sustained over a long period of time? It makes me think of when market economies first began. A lot of haggling took place, and buyers didn't always know what prices others were buying at. Some might buy the chicken for a quart of milk, others might have to hand over a whole cow. As the market matured, fixed pricing became more the rule of thumb for efficiency and expediency reasons. Bargaining still takes place but mainly with small "mom-and-pop" sort of shops and in more informal markets. A haggled down discount at Barnes & Nobles seems inconceivable. (Of course, a customer can haggle down a car salesman--or at least think he is--and individual car lots might receive periodic discounts from the factories...) An effective marketing strategy for a competitor of WorldCom might be open pricing. Am I right? Wrong? I'd like to see pricing become open, but I don't want the government outlawing NDAs. Perhaps NDAs are a market experiment that won't hold up? Thanks, Jennifer At 10:41 AM 9/16/98 -0400, you wrote:
last i checked www.spicegirls.com wasn't on the exodus network.
i think it's on netkonect.net
whitehouse.com is on exodus though... ;)
as per the contractual issues, all they told lowly engineers like myself was that we could disclose publicly the fact:
1. we have reached a solution with GTEi 2. it includes expanding ds3's with them 3. we're not buying transit or paying for peering 4. we're like friends and stuff now... ;)
i'm sure when bowman gets up, he'll have something to say. he probably has a LOT more insight into #3
-dhiraj sr. systems engineer, exodus communications
On Tue, 15 Sep 1998, Adam Rothschild wrote:
Hmm.. not to start another massive thread here, but I wonder if this means that Exodus is now paying for transit and/or peering?
Disclosure of this information is probally violation of the agreement, so unless you work for one of them, or know someone who does, you won't find out.
Indeed. Point well taken.
Still, I have a funny feeling that GTEI/BBN is being compensated royally for this. This would have never happened otherwise, methinks.
I doubt Mr. Curran is doing this simply to allow himself and his customers to continue accesssing quality Exodus-hosted content, such as the Spice Girls and whitehouse.com. Then again, I could be mistaken! :-)
***************************** After September 25, please respond to jdepalma@alumni.princeton.edu Jennifer A. DePalma 202.789.5226 202.842.3490 (fax) Research Analyst Telecommunications and Technology Studies Cato Institute 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20001
I'd like to see pricing become open, but I don't want the government outlawing NDAs. Perhaps NDAs are a market experiment that won't hold up?
Just a guess, but ... if you publish your price list and charge all customers the same for a given servce, doesn't the FCC develop an interest in setting tariffs and regulating you? Stephen - ----- Stephen Stuart <stuart@tech.org>
Did a little research on this one. ;) It's not so much about publishing the price list as much as it is about saying ANYONE can get those prices. For example, you could publish a price list and then disclaim it by saying "Subject to Negotiation" or something like that. The key is not to be perceived as non-discriminatory. If you let anyone buy the service at the same price (non-discriminatory) you might be confused for a "public utility" or "carrier," which gets you regulated. We don't publish our prices but will send them to anyone who asks, just to be sure there is no confusion on this issue. We can't, to stay unregulated, open the doors to ANYONE who asks for space...we need to enforce certain "guidelines" for being eligible for participation, or we get regulated. I know it sounds kind of backwards, but thats the way it works! -J
I'd like to see pricing become open, but I don't want the government outlawing NDAs. Perhaps NDAs are a market experiment that won't hold up?
Just a guess, but ... if you publish your price list and charge all customers the same for a given servce, doesn't the FCC develop an interest in setting tariffs and regulating you?
Stephen - ----- Stephen Stuart <stuart@tech.org>
participants (3)
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Jay Adelson -
Jennifer DePalma -
Stephen Stuart