nanog mailing list archives
NDAs
From: Jennifer DePalma <jdepalma () cato org>
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 12:08:49 -0400 (EDT)
Since a thread related to nondisclosure agreements has been brought up and I have been mulling over this topic lately, I'd like to know your opinions on whether or not the practice of requiring NDAs will continue. Are free market pressures working against such a model? Can secretive pricing really be sustained over a long period of time? It makes me think of when market economies first began. A lot of haggling took place, and buyers didn't always know what prices others were buying at. Some might buy the chicken for a quart of milk, others might have to hand over a whole cow. As the market matured, fixed pricing became more the rule of thumb for efficiency and expediency reasons. Bargaining still takes place but mainly with small "mom-and-pop" sort of shops and in more informal markets. A haggled down discount at Barnes & Nobles seems inconceivable. (Of course, a customer can haggle down a car salesman--or at least think he is--and individual car lots might receive periodic discounts from the factories...) An effective marketing strategy for a competitor of WorldCom might be open pricing. Am I right? Wrong? I'd like to see pricing become open, but I don't want the government outlawing NDAs. Perhaps NDAs are a market experiment that won't hold up? Thanks, Jennifer At 10:41 AM 9/16/98 -0400, you wrote:
last i checked www.spicegirls.com wasn't on the exodus network. i think it's on netkonect.net whitehouse.com is on exodus though... ;) as per the contractual issues, all they told lowly engineers like myself was that we could disclose publicly the fact: 1. we have reached a solution with GTEi 2. it includes expanding ds3's with them 3. we're not buying transit or paying for peering 4. we're like friends and stuff now... ;) i'm sure when bowman gets up, he'll have something to say. he probably has a LOT more insight into #3 -dhiraj sr. systems engineer, exodus communications On Tue, 15 Sep 1998, Adam Rothschild wrote:Hmm.. not to start another massive thread here, but I wonder if this
means
that Exodus is now paying for transit and/or peering?Disclosure of this information is probally violation of the agreement, so unless you work for one of them, or know someone who does, you won't find out.Indeed. Point well taken. Still, I have a funny feeling that GTEI/BBN is being compensated royally for this. This would have never happened otherwise, methinks. I doubt Mr. Curran is doing this simply to allow himself and his customers to continue accesssing quality Exodus-hosted content, such as the Spice Girls and whitehouse.com. Then again, I could be mistaken! :-)
***************************** After September 25, please respond to jdepalma () alumni princeton edu Jennifer A. DePalma 202.789.5226 202.842.3490 (fax) Research Analyst Telecommunications and Technology Studies Cato Institute 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20001
Current thread:
- NDAs Jennifer DePalma (Sep 16)
- Re: NDAs Stephen Stuart (Sep 16)