On Fri, 8 Oct 1999, Greg Skinner wrote:
> Joe Baptista wrote:
>
> > Vixie is not an activist. Vixie, like any other individual is motivated
> > strictly by self interest. The recent RBL vs. NSI struggle was a clear
> > indication Vixie can, like anyone else, impose his views on the world.
> > Hitler had the same sweeping powers, and not much came of that.
>
> The people who've decided to follow Vixie did so because they believed
> in what he was doing, not because he "imposed" his views on anyone.
> Vixie does not have the power to force any ISP to do anything; he
> apparently has the ability to raise awareness and gather support for
> his movements.
Incorrect, the NSI - RBL (MAPS) situation is a clear indication Vixie is
well outside his range. He made an arbitrary decision which would of
affected the business interests of NSI, by declareing thier communication
with internic contacts to be spam. Vixie got a nice earful from his legal
advisors and I feel confident he now knows that to do that sort of thing
is wrong.
The problem is his power to do it. He's making judicial decisions on
contractual obligations between parties. He knows now from his legal
begals that he can get his fair share of paddy wacks for being naughty.
>
> > If Vixie wants to make a difference, the best solution would be that Vixie
> > distance himself from the DNS wars. My recommendation is as follows.
>
> > 1. Delete the root.cache file that is distributed with bind,
> > which now contains the default USG root servers.
>
> > 2. Include a README root.cache file explaining how it works
> > and provide directions on where to get the USG root files and alternative
> > root server caches.
>
> Perhaps he cannot do this because that would anger some of his
> sponsors:
>
> http://www.isc.org/view.cgi?sponsors.phtml
Well there you go. So much for activisim. If he wants to pay the bridge
toll he's gotta do the appropriate brown nosing. Completely
understandable, completely acceptable, but under no circumstances is he an
activist. More of a yes man.
> >> Legal actions may be taken against them, yet they are
> >> willing to follow his lead, because they believe in what he is doing.
>
> > Could you explain this. The only legal action I know of that Vixie has
> > been treatened with these days was an NSI action regarding thier mass
> > mailing to contacts. It's my understanding Vixie saw the light and
> > appropriately backed down. Is this what your referring too, or something
> > else.
>
> I'm referring to what I read in
> http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/09.23.99/cover/spam-9938.html.
> If there's new information, I'm not aware of it. However, I have not
> been following the spam wars as closely as the DNS wars. (One has
> only so much time to be an activist. :)
Thank you for the URL. And I could not agree more, so many issues, so
little time.
Cheers
Joe Baptista
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