Oppose more ISP fees

Mon Jan 27 19:03:50 EST 1997

Greetings to all on the internic mailer, especially to those who were kind 
enough to contact me!

I have pasted below the message which I received which led to my writing my 
comments, sent several days ago.  I did not know that I was sending them to a 
mailing list, nor did I realize that a continuing discussion had been taking 
place among you all.  My comments were based solely on the attached message!

One respondent accused me of bad manners in commenting without checking out 
the list - of which I was blissfully unaware.  I will apologize for my 
ignorance.  If it turns out I have bad manners, then I'll apologize for 
them, too! 

However, except for a couple of VERY WELCOME constructive comments I have 
received primarily a number of seemingly overheated criticisms of my message, 
with little information leading me to other conclusions.  

I stand behind my underlying intent of supporting the lowest possible cost 
for access to the internet and for registration of domain names, both for 
users and for ISP's.  If my comment was inappropriate, I apologize, but it 
was based on what I learned in the attached message.

One respondent indicated he felt that the volunteer groups I work with must 
be pretty marginal if they can't afford the costs of registering a domain, 
and he quoted a very low figure for the cost ($50/year).  

However, several days ago a local ISP quoted me $150 setup charge plus 
$25/month maintenance to register a domain name for a nonprofit, all 
volunteer group which helps organize communities following disasters.  This 
$450 for the first year was on top of the actual dialup access charges.  I 
was told that almost all that cost was simply being passed on from the powers 
that be that are in charge of domain registration.  If this was BS, then I 
was acting on false info and would be pleased to know what ISP's are really 
charged for domain name registration and maintenance.

That respondent also seemed to question the value of the service provided by 
groups that have such budget restraints.  Actually, while there are a few 
exceptions, most of the groups are composed entirely of volunteers paying for 
the group's expenses out of their own pockets and avoiding extensive
fund-raising efforts and paid staffs.  Every penny counts.  The services they 
provide include arranging airplane transportation for needy patients who 
can't afford air charter and can't travel long distances by auto, but who may 
live in rural areas and need transport to large medical facilities in the 
cities for diagnosis or treatment.  Other missions include emergency organ 
and tissue transport from areas without air service, disaster relief, and 
animal counts for nonprofit agencies.  The air transport itself is likewise 
provided by volunteer pilots who donate their time and their planes, or the 
costs to rent a plane, out of their own pockets.

The transportation aids thousands of patients a year and many others needing 
these services.  I think keeping the costs down for and promoting the work of 
these worthy and caring folks are perfectly reasonable objectives.

The attached message seems to indicate some hefty new, additional charges for 
ISP's.  My comment was meant to oppose them and I was trying to support the 
small providers.  Sorry if my good intents were misdirected.

That message follows FYI.  Please don't send me any more direct email 
messages.  I will check out the site and comment further if needed.  If you 
want to learn more about the Air Care Alliance, please check out our web page 
maintained by Angel Flight of Florida, at 

      http://www.angelflightfla.org/aircareall.org/acahome.html

The site provides links to several of the groups which have their own web 
sites, too, and to the national 800 number we use to direct inquiries.

I would be very happy to hear of any suggestions to help get more of these 
groups online and up and running with their own sites at minimum possible 
cost, and regarding the least expensive way of getting a domain name 
registered.

Thanks and best wishes to you all,

     Rol Murrow,  Chairman, Air Care Alliance      Storrs, CT

-------------Forwarded Message-----------------

>From   "Mark Wexler", INTERNET:mwexler at interaccess.net

Date   1/16/97  5:50 PM

RE     Fw ISP assigned number fees

> >
> >=============================================================
> >AOP Alert                         Wednesday, January 15, 1997
> >=============================================================
> >
> >The following is a legislative alert from the Association of
> >Online Professionals, the leading association of Internet
> >Service Providers and other professionals who manage online
> >services.
> >
> >Please give it the widest possible distribution:
> >
> >=============================================================
> >AOP Opposes Network Solutions ARIN Proposal
> >=============================================================
> >
> >This week, Network Solutions, Inc. proposed the formation of a
> >new entity that would charge ISPs from $2,500 to $20,000 per year for
> >registration of Internet IP addresses.  This fee would be in addition
> >to fees already charged for registration of domain names.
> >
> >Under the proposal, an American Registry for Internet Numbers would be
> >created as a non-profit entity to collect the fees and assign the
> >addresses.  The new entity would replace the government- sponsored
> >InterNIC IP group.  Companies who wish to participate in policy-making
> >as members of the group would pay an additional $1,000 per year.
> >
> >Information regarding the proposal may be found at
> >http://www.arin.net.
> >
> >The Association of Online Professionals has serious concerns about the
> >proposal, and urges all North American Internet service providers and
> >their subscribers to oppose the measure until these concerns are
> >addressed:
> >
> >**  There is no indication in the proposal as to why the fees are
> >    needed.
> >
> >**  The proposed non-profit has no published goals, mission or other
> >    information beyond its structure and fees.
> >
> >**  The fee structure will cost the industry millions of dollars,
> >    yet there is no information as to how the money will be spent or
> >    how it will benefit the Internet.
> >
> >**  The assertions that the fees would not affect subscribers are
> >    incorrect, as these fees would have to be passed on to consumers.
> >
> >**  The assertions that ISPs can afford the fees as a cost of
> >    doing business reflects a poor understanding of the current
> >    economics of Internet access services.  The proposed fee structure
> >    would have a devastating effect on small ISPs as well as non-
> >    profit, hobbyist and public access providers.
> >
> >**  It is unclear under what authority Network Solutions would impose
> >    the fees.  The Internet exists as a public resource, and as such
> >    should not be subjected to the arbitrary control of any small
> >    group of individuals or entities.
> >
> >AOP has generally supported efforts to bring organization and
> >structure to the Internet, including the imposition of fees to cover
> >the cost of assigning and maintaining domain names.
> >
> >However, AOP cannot support the current proposal until more
> >information is provided and a meaningful dialogue established to
> >ensure that the proposal is more than an attempt to wrest control of
> >the Internet for a select group of self-proclaimed authorities.
> >
> >Please do the following immediately:
> >
> >1)  Contact InterNIC with a request that the proposal not be
> >implemented.
> >    Send the comments to naipr at internic.net.
> >
> >2)  Urge your subscribers and business associates to reject the
> >proposal.
> >
> >
> >AOP will make every effort to obtain answers to the questions raised,
> >and will strive for meaningful conversations with Network Solutions on
> >these issues.  If you have comments that would help us build a
> >consensus for these discussions, please direct them to exec at aop.org.
> >
> >======================================================================
> >Dave McClure                       (703) 924-9692   (703) 924-9594 Fax
> >Executive Director                 (703) 264-1750 BBS   Telnet aop.org
> >Assn of Online Professionals       http://www.aop.org     info at aop.org
> >======================================================================
> >
> 
> ________________________________
> Dale A. Mulert      813-949-9211
> http://www.reddesign.com
> Dale at reddesign.com
> ________________________________
> "sorry no cool quote"
> 
> 

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