IP: Re:: TheStreet.com: The Bizarro World of Network Solutions

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 11:22:03 -0400
>To: farber@cis.upenn.edu
>From: Dave Crocker <dcrocker@brandenburg.com>
>
>
>At 12:22 AM 4/23/99 -0400, Dave Farber wrote:
>>>First, Network
>>>                   Solutions will charge the competing registrars a $9 fee
>>>for each
>>>                   domain name that it enters into the registry database.
>
>By contrast, CORE worked out a fee with their software contractor for something like US$ 0.25 per entry.  Now, that is just he data processing fee, and not a fee intended to cover the entire registry operations.
>
>A number of us have separately and repeatedly tried to assess the reasonable cost for a non-profit registry and believe the fee should be US$ 0.50 - 2.00.
>
>Hence, the fee to NSI is around 5 to 9 times higher than it should be.
>
>As usual, NSI has gotten a guarantee of much higher fees that are warranted, and one could argue that that accounts for the favorable stock market reaction.
>
>>>                   Sigmond also breathed a sigh of relief over the $9
>>>registry fee.
>>>                   "Nine dollars was a lot better than some of the
>>>assumptions that
>>>                   other folks were making," says Sigmond. While Network
>
>Exactly.
>
>That's why it is so strange to refer to any of this as creating "competition".
>
>NSI maintains its for-profit monopoly position.
>
>d/
>
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>Dave Crocker                                         Tel: +1 408 246 8253
>Brandenburg Consulting                               Fax: +1 408 273 6464
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>