Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.

Dismiss

Alliance Minutes

1 view

Skip to first unread message

Doug Tooley

unread,

Apr 30, 1996, 3:00:00 AM4/30/96

Hi all-

It is really amazing how this is all coming together. We had a great
meeting last night, 17 folks were there at one time or another, and some
great conversations, mostly on technical and lobbying type issues ensued.

We decided to go ahead with the e-mail list, so if you wish to stay a part
of these on-line discussions you'll need to subscribe, though I'll keep up
with announcements on the current list for at least a little bit. To
subscribe to the list send e-mail to:

majo...@scn.org

In the body of the message include the text:

subscribe alliance

Hopefully we'll meet again soon, though the last Monday of May is Memorial
Day.

I'd like to thank Brandy Williams for her help in this. I'd also like to
make special note of the suggestion of Doug Brick - who directed the
MarketPlace Committee at SCN towards this endeavor.

MEETING MINUTES:

PRESENT: dlto...@scn.org, rcl...@aa.net, spo...@cse.net,
dbr...@speakeasy.org, mi...@speakeasy.org, rob...@prostar.com,
de...@prostar.com,ka...@drizzle.com,p...@wolfe.net,phi...@i-d.com,
grio...@seanet.com, a...@seanet.com, da...@usa.net, bwil...@scn.org,
dou...@scn.org, pet...@ironhorse.com, flat...@ironhorse.com

The meeting commenced at 5:30, April 29th at the Speakeasy Cafe. We
adjourned to the back room shortly after starting due the size of the
crowd.

The discussion in the meeting was general in nature, though fairly
specific technical proposals for locally oriented net transfers were
discussed. Organizational issues were brought up and it was decided to go
forward without a formal organization but to dedicate some time to
building the group.

General topics discussed included the development of the internet market,
US West, Upstream Providers for local groups, the nature of the
relationship between various ISP's, between private and non-profit ISP's
(like SCN), and of course between us and the national corporate
organizations. Lobbying issues were discussed and the obligatory
trashing of the CDA ensued.

Numerous technical efforts were discussed including the potential for a
Northwest 'NAP'. Stephen Porell suggested we start to consider a modem
pool, perhaps through ELI. The idea was considered. It was decided that
we should start sharing news locally. Grio...@seanet.com offered the use
of the seanet system for this purpose.

Administratively it was decided to set up an e-mail list and to continue
to meet face to face. The next meeting time was not set. The e-mail list
is called alliance and is a hosted by majo...@scn.org.

**********
May, 1996 ISP List
**********

Suggested Criteria for Selecting a Internet Service Provider for
Basic Service: (With thanks to Kate Wakefield, WLN, for the revisions)

Pricing - Are there discounts for annual or quarterly service? Is there a
setup fee? Is the service unlimited or on a per-hour basis? If there are
per-hour charges make sure to estimate your expected use. Is there a demo
account available to test the service?

Dial-up Lines - what's the user-modem ratio? Will you ever get a busy
signal? Can you test the dial-up access through a demo account? Does
your ISP offer 'Roaming' capabilities through an 800 number or reciprocal
service arrangements with other local providers?

Servers - what is the equipment that they use for their services? How
often do they back up their hard drives and how do they respond in the
case of a system crash? Do they offer to host a World Wide Web (WWW) home
page as a part of your account? Can they help in setting up your page?

Upstream bandwidth - what sort of network connection do they have?
Is it a T3,T1, or fractional T1 - how does this compare to the number of
users. (a fractional T1 can slow things down a lot if there are any
significant people on the net at the same time).

Customer Service - When is the assistance available - 7 days a
week? How long does it take to respond to on-line help requests (help@isp).
How experienced are the accounts receivable staff?

*************
SCN MarketPlace urges you to use a real local internet provider for real
internet service.
*************

INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS

Access One
http://www.accessone.com/

Alternate Access
http://www.aa.net/

AltNet
http://www.alt.net/

Blarg! Online Services
http://www.blarg.com/

Compumedia, Inc.
http://www.compumedia.com/

Concentric Research Corporation
http://www.concentric.net/

Cyberspace
http://www.cyberspace.com/

Eskimo North
http://www.eskimo.com/

HarborNet
http://www.harbornet.com/

Infinite Dimension, Inc.
http://www.i-d.com/