Frank,
I agree. Very well said. Great analogy with the Auto industry, ISPs are not
that different in that respect.
Nothing I can say to add, I think you covered it.
As for the ISPCON Donated membership.
I'm glad you brought it up. My take on it was... How come nobody stood up to
defend the value of a membership? (That included me). I think, it just took
us all by surprise. In hind site, I wish I said something. After the fact,
I thought of about 50 things I could have said. What I will say now is, I
thought is was a VERY GENEROUS offer, and a great way to show support for
WISPA. I do personally thank you for all your support. And I personally
look forward to the insight you will bring us, to help WISPA unite our
industry.
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
- Original Message -
From: Frank Muto [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2008 10:53 AM
Subject: [WISPA] Topic change - Trade Association Was: Report: FCC to
PunishComcast Over Web Blocking
Tom,
I'll answer your question and I need to change up the topic. In part I
agree and I am not set against working this out, but
Martin is setting up some bad and continuing precedence on how the FCC is
working within their legal purview. He is already
on the hot seat with Congress on some of his actions.
Topic Change:
I can guarantee you, I will be all over any actions that effect my current
business, as I was unfortunately too late to make
any difference saving our wireline business. Even when I co-founded the
WBIA back in Oct 2004, I knew it was too late, but I
have learned a great deal from it.
My take away was how much the deck is stacked against when your peers
don't give a hoot and unite under a common cause. But
even when we showed the willingness to do something, we were able assembly
a consult of people to help us guide our efforts.
Peter R., Jim Garrett and a few others can attest to what my co-founder
Cynthia de Lorenzi and myself were able to
accomplish.
Even though the RBOC's had tacit agreements underlying their competitive
opportunities. XO had their say about this,
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_Oct_21/ai_n15728657
They are using even more group power between them against the CableCo's
with a new service called, http://movearoo.com/.
Essentially this is a new wrapper around a company called
www.WhiteFence.com, and is powered by WhiteFence.
That said, the Wi-Fi industry IMO is heading down the same path unless the
alleged thousands of Wireless providers, big and
small all get together under a common effort. This goes without saying
that the vendor's themselves get with it as well.
I'll assume there is enough purchasing power to make a difference, that
could effect how companies view their relationships
with the wireless industry. Prior to my ISP life, I came from the
Independent automotive service industry, dealing in
replacement parts and service spanning some 30 years. I can honestly tell
you if were not for the trade associations in every
state, you may not be able to purchase replacement parts or take your auto
to a neighborhood service center.
We fought for many years in keeping open trade in automotive service
industry. Even when your car was going electronic and
computerized, the automakers tried keeping us out of the game. But, our
purchasing power with the tool companies and
replacement parts industries, provided us with a significant amount of
leverage in keeping the big automakers from locking us
out within their own monopoly.
Trade associations can make a world of difference, but only when everyone
joins in. And there is NO excuse, NONE, ZIPPO, NADA
for even a one-man shop or mom pop shops from joining WISPA. We had
thousands of independent auto centers from one-man
operations and up joining in on supporting our efforts to keep their
livelihoods as safe as possible.
I will got out here and say it. There is NO excuse not to support WISPA,
NONE! So for all of you on this general list not
supporting WISPA, you are losing out on an opportunity to make your
livelihood last and support your families for years to
come. $25 a month is a small price to pay for some representation in a
industry that is supporting yourself and families. I
am sure you can find that much on wasted expenses every month.
It is also time for WISPA to come to grips with what they have
accomplished over the past year and stop walking over eggs
shells, thinking that you may hurt someone's feelings. STOP working for
FREE! It is my opinion, that even though WISPA is a
trade association, albeit a 503(c)6, it is still a business. A business
that needs capital to operate for the benefit of the
members. And a business that should be working for those members and be
paid for their efforts. A business that continues to
operate on a volunteer
