[9344] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Cost vs benefit of internet services
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Matthew Kaufman)
Wed Dec 29 20:25:48 1993
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1993 17:14:54 -0800
From: matthew@echo.com (Matthew Kaufman)
To: karl@mcs.com, stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com
Cc: com-priv@psi.com, martinea@hawk.nstn.ns.ca
I don't think that the CIX charges too much for what they sell.
I _do_ think that the unwritten "rules" about not being able
to resell CIX routing to anybody who's acting as a "provider"
are not reasonable.
I would like to see the actual reason why a network provider is
PROHIBITED from allowing subsidiary providers to have CIX routing.
I would also like to know why I can't just get around it by
charging each of the end networks a dollar a year for CIX routing,
thus making all of the sites who are "customers of my wholesale
customers" actually become "my direct customers"
Setting up an organization which you "must" be a member of in
order to resell IP access, and which has prices which are
fixed arbitrarily, which causes there to be an artificial,
fixed-price barrier to entry, is called restraint of trade.
I don't think I'd _want_ to be a "member" of a "trade organization"
that was involved in this... especially given the legal
liabilities.
Is the "prohibition" not in writing just to try to keep
the FTC away?
-matthew
