My only response to this is that in all wholesale models, when customers
get big enough, they tend to go direct to the supplier. This is inherent
in the model and certainly not something that we have ever attempted to
hide or gloss over.
On the other hand, we are very up front about what we won't consciously do
- directly go after your bread and butter customers. We do make every
effort to grow our reseller channel, but at the end of the day, we have
very little control over who becomes a reseller and who buys from an RSP.
I used to buy computer monitors directly from Ingram Micro. One-sies and
two-sies. Ingram didn't make it a point to solicit my business, but I was
smart enough to realize that if I jumped through their hoops and became a
"VAR" I could get computer equipment cheaper from them than if I bought
from Future Shop.
> This is not quite true. You already compete for our clients by making it so
> easy to become an RSP and allow non-RSPs input to these discussion lists.
> When one of our clients visit your site they are immediately told how easy
> it is to become an RSP themselves. We have lost several large clients to
> you this way.
>
> Many that remain do so because of the services that we offer that they can
> not get from you as an RSP. Once you start offering these same type of
> services to RSPs that I currently offer to my clients, we expect to lose
> many more to you. This is why we say no in every survey.
>
> We also expect to more to you once you may it easy for RSP to RSP transfers.
> Many have register domains with us and are now RSPs themselves. We expect
> that they will transfer those domains to their own account once you make
> such transfers easy to do.
>
> So you are directly competing with your RSPs who make the public aware of
> OpenSRS now and will compete even more directly as you make these additional
> services available to RSPs.
>
> So for once William is correct. Does not happen very often, but in this
> case he is correct and you are expanding the ways that you will directly
> compete with your RSPs once you make these additional services available.
>
> You may knock these other Registrars, but you are doing the same thing in a
> more subtle way. How do you think you expanded the number of RSPs so
> rapidly, had it not been for the clients of your RSPs discovering OpenSRS
> through your RSPs' selling actions and then discovering from your site and
> these discussion lists how easy it was to become an RSP themselves and
> bypass the RSP that introduce them to your service?
>
> So you have always competed with your RSPs for the clients that the RSPs
> introduced to your company. And not just with Domain Direct, but directly
> through your advertising, your site design and your mailing lists. You just
> have not been upfront about your competition with your RSPs.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ross Wm. Rader" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "William X. Walsh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: "Marc Schneiders" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Marc Schneiders"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 6:54 AM
> Subject: Re: Re[2]: New services: forwarding/DNS?
>
>
> > >
> > > The only time I saw it discussed at all recently, was when I made note
> of the
> > > open sourced third level domain registry package I am getting very
> > > close to releasing, which has those services bundled into it. Other
> > > than that, just the always present newcomers asking if anyone has a
> > > way to provide those services for them.
> > >
> > > I for one would be greatly disturbed if OpenSRS started offering those
> > > services. That's an issue for the RSPs to handle on their own, and is
> > > encroaching on the services of the RSPs.
> >
> > We are actively engaged in developing a number of what we refer to as
> > "APS" - Ancillary Products and Services.
> >
> > Our prime motivation with releasing these APS is in providing additional
> > potential revenue streams to our RSPs and business partners. Specific
> > examples that we may or may not release might include email services,
> > usenet, storage space etc. However, the underlying mechanisms behind
> > provision of these services almost identically resemble what we are
> > currently doing with .com etc.
> >
> > I completely understand what you are saying William, but I think that the
> > fallacy in your logic may lie within the fact that we would be potentially
> > providing these services directly to your end users. In fact, the this
> > couldn't be further from the truth.
> >
> > About 4 months ago, we embarked upon a process to expand the breadth and
> > depth of the wholesale products and services available from us for resell
> > to end users by our RSPs. Nothing that we are looking at will ever be
> > so directly to end users by Tucows, with the exception of what we are
> > already doing with Domain Direct.
> >
> > The decision to offer these APS is very much left to the individual RSP.
> > We perceive a number of benefits for our RSPs in this model, primarily the
> > fact that you can deal with a single source provider for a number of
> > essential services. One technical support contact, one account balance
> > etc.
> >
> > I'd love to talk more about this, feel free to keep the convo going. I
> > mainly wanted to make sure that everyone involved was distinctly aware
> > that in no way were we contemplating a business model similar to NSI,
> > Register.com, Bulk etc. where we would be competing directly with you for
> > your end customers cash...
> >
> > -rwr
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Ross Wm. Rader
> > Director Product Management,
> > Channel Platform Group
> > Tucows Inc.
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > t. 416.535.0123 x335
> > f. 416.531.5584
> >
> > "Embrace the cow, love the cow.
> > And remember, Winsock means love."
> >
> >
>
Thanks,
-rwr
Ross Wm. Rader
Director Product Management,
Channel Platform Group
Tucows Inc.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
t. 416.535.0123 x335
f. 416.531.5584
"Embrace the cow, love the cow.
And remember, Winsock means love."
