RE: Re: China Experience ?

[Alif The Terrible <measl () mfn org>]

On Tue, 23 Jul 2002, Dapeng Zhu wrote:

> Have you told your clients about your decision to block all .cn
> addresses?  

Yes.  In return, I received a resounding <yawn>.

> Have you considered the possible loss of business
> opportunities caused by your action?  

Thius decision was based completely on economics: China does not meet the
value/cost tests - maintaining access from/to China costs more than I would
make, so this decision was a [very] easy one.  In fact, dumping .cn is an
indirect profit center: ISP/NSP's have to respond to every customer who sends
in complaints, no matter how "real" the "danger" of the activity being
complained about.  It costs money to keep staff for this - when China offers
to pay for the bodies, I'll happily reverse this policy.

> I think there is a reason why you would want to carry other people's
> traffic.  That is, the traffic can make money for you or for your
> clients.

Again, my clients simply do not care about this access.  If China cares, then
it will have to meet MY criteria for entry.

>  You have to consider the trade-off between blocking .cn access
> (saves you time and money) and potential business opportunities.

Precisely.

>  It has
> to be a conscious decision made by your clients, not by the system
> administrator alone. 

Wrong.  This is a business, not a democracy.  If a client wants access to
.cn, they have lots of choices besides my networks.  Nevertheless, I have not
lost a single customer over this policy.  In fact, I have had positive
(albeit indirect) feedback: several folks have commented on the reduced
"noise".


> What you can do is to raise the question with the
> clients, and potentially charge more for clients who want to keep the
> .cn access.    

Not a single peep from any one of my customers.  However, if someone *really*
MUST have access to .cn, we'd be happy to open up a hole for them - if they
are willing to sign a disclaimer which forces them to take any complaints
they encounter, and route them to /dev/null.

The long and the short is this: China is yelling and screaming about "lost
business", but that loss is _theirs_, and not mine.  China (and much
of Korea as well) traffic will not traverse networks I control in the
foreseeable future.

-- 
Yours, 
J.A. Terranson
sysadmin () mfn org

If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they
should give serious consideration towards setting a better example:
Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of
unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in
the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and 
elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire
populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate...
This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States
as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers,
associates, or others.  Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of
those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the
first place...
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