ROFL!! There are those who would welcome a last minute reason to get out of a visit to the Outlaws. :)
Jack Elliot Noss wrote: > Ok, ok. New rule. No substantive posts that require ME to respond after 3:00 > pm est on Fridays! > > I have a number of things I want to say to this, but will have to do it over > the weekend as I still have a bunch of work and will be late for dinner at > my Mother-in-law's. I love you all, but know what is good for me. Response > over the weekend. > > Regards > > Elliot Noss > Tucows inc. > 416-538-5494 > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Chuck Hatcher > > Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 12:46 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Future of Tucows/OpenSRS > > > > > > I have been an OpenSRS reseller and a member of this list since > > April 2000. > > Although domain name registration is not my primary business, it continues > > to be an important part of my overall plan. My account has brought 4,931 > > domain-years of business to Tucows so far. > > > > Those of us who have been here for awhile can recall dozens of reseller > > issues that have come up, arguments pro and con, statements by Tucows > > addressing the problems, and eventually a resolution. If you look back at > > the responses in the early days and compare them to those of more recent > > times, you can't help but get a sense of a change in attitude at Tucows. > > The focus now seems to be more on "the numbers" and less on the merits. > > > > Now, don't get me wrong, I am a capitalist through and through. > > The job of > > every business is to be profitable, and you cannot ignore the > > numbers. But > > there is a difference between observing good results from focusing on > > customer needs, and focusing only on the results. The earlier approach at > > Tucows seemed to be to provide what customers asked for, to do > > business in a > > fair manner, and to listen to constructive criticism. The approach was > > successful, at least from the measure of the number of domain names > > registered. But as seems inevitable as companies grow, the link between > > customers and management has grown weaker. > > > > I have stayed with Tucows as my primary registrar even though other > > registrars continue to offer more attractive pricing. (My effective > > wholesale price at OpenSRS is actually higher today than it was > > in the early > > days when there were rebates.) I made this decision consciously > > based on my > > experience with Tucows, my concern that a registrar needs to make > > a certain > > amount of money to stay in business for the long term, and the > > overall "good > > feeling" I had from being an OpenSRS reseller. But the domain > > name business > > is in a constant state of flux, and each of us must constantly re-evaluate > > our supplier relationships. The big question for me is whether or not > > Tucows actually wants to keep my business. And if they do, how are they > > showing it? > > > > The referral list has been discussed periodically over the past couple of > > years. The list itself is not an issue for me - I don't want to be on the > > list because I don't actively market a retail registration business. But > > seeing how Tucows responds to other "little guys" who do want to be listed > > is very important to me. It's hard to find any indication that Tucows is > > actively trying to promote the small reseller. I would think > > anything they > > could do to help the little guy to become more successful would > > be good for > > their business. (I would also think the biggest resellers are the more > > likely candidates to become accredited registrars and leave the fold.) > > > > Recently I brought up Verisign's upcoming Secondary Market > > Program, looking > > for a committment from Tucows that it would be offerred through OpenSRS > > resellers. I may be alone in my opinion that SMP will be a major > > factor in > > choosing a registrar in the year to come, but the fact is that it is a > > wholesale registry product, and the business of registrars is to supply > > registry products to their customers. I felt the choice to not > > provide the > > service could be a costly one for Tucows, but in a private email a Tucows > > representative told me, "...we do not have the resellers that > > would leave us > > over not offering this product, and if the clients we do have in this > > industry do leave, there would be little to no impact to our operations > > whatsoever..." Would the "old Tucows" have responded in this manner? > > > > I realize a lot of Tucows' success can be attributed to Network Solutions' > > disastrous business practices. OpenSRS was started at the right time with > > the right message to catch a large part of the mass exodus from > > NSI. And it > > has been fashionable to trash NSI and Verisign, which has led to an > > automatic disdain for anything coming from Verisign. But like it or not, > > Verisign is the com/net registry, and every .com and .net domain name > > registered or renewed is the sale of a Verisign product. The registrar is > > selling a commodity item. Sure, there are things that > > differentiate OpenSRS > > from NSI, Register.com, and the over 100 other registrars that now exist. > > But the core function of a registrar is to provide registry products > > efficiently. And when a registrar decides not to offer a new registry > > product, they force their customers to go elsewhere to buy that > > product. It > > is hard to understand a registrar willingly sending their > > customers to other > > registrars. It comes off as arrogant to say, "If you need that, then we > > don't need you." Now it appears as though WLS is coming. Will Tucows > > condemn WLS as another Verisign travesty of fair trade, or embrace it as a > > new product some customers may actually want to purchase? > > > > Tucows, now with a stock price of 23 cents and a market cap of under 15 > > million, has become the number two registrar in terms of com/net/org > > registrations in less than three years. That's a fantastic > > achievement. It > > would be easy to think, based on that success, that everything is rosy and > > future success is assured. Complacency is dangerous, and things > > happen fast > > in the domain name business. I hope someone at Tucows is watching the > > trends, looking ahead at the winds of change, and making plans > > for continued > > success in the future. I know I am. > >
