next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
Thank you Mike for your comments.
The VDN rates and description are meant to stimulate discussion about our fees and to solve a couple of administrative issues.
To rationalize the fees that we levy, it is important to identify the various services that we offer. It is then possible to link costs. As a not-for-profit organization the costs are aggregated to become a basic fee.
Sustainability is the next issue. Through voluntarism, corporate and personal generosity we can offer services to those who cannot afford the basic fee. If donations are greater than the shortfall from those in financial need, then the organisation will flourish. If not, we must provide a mechanism to offset the shortfall. This could be a 'built-in donation' or an implicit fee related to the value of voluntarism.
Setup and maintenance could be deemed such a fee. Volunteers are offering their time and expertise, that on the open market, would have a value. By volunteering, they are making a donation to CCN. All accounts on CCN require some level of administrative maintenance -- notification of account renewal, file backups, etc. Banks, for example, have various service fees related to the type of account opened -- yearly fee for a credit card, etc.
We could break this down to an administrative fee for basic services, an administrative fee for specialized accounts. The number of fees we create is only limited by imagination. Or we could just have one or two as catch-alls.
Some administration fees could be one-time fees. If members are uncomfortable with a general levy, then we should be more specific, so they can choose to accept or reject a fee/service. The result could be that specific services and related cost would be shared among fewer members, thus the basic fee for a service would be higher. It is important, that the member know what they are paying for.
-------------------------------------------------
The fee table provided in the previous e-mail is a suggested beginning. I do not have any data to support the $50 or $100 amounts suggested. Our accounting system may provide some clues to average costs, and we could put in the effort to obtain some level of precision. One accounting function that we lack is a measure of the number of volunteer hours donated. Thus at some point we have to arbitrarily assign a value.
---------------------------------------------------
The use of a CCN logo or 'hosting provided by' statement is one way that VDNs could provide visibility to CCN. The question then becomes, should we insist on the identifier on every page, or just the main page. If the statement is limited to a single page, then our visibility is limited. As you might know, netusers tend to bookmark pages of interest, which are not necessarily the main page. Search engines organize the web, so that 'splash' pages are seldom the entry point. CCN identification has some value, but I don't think adequate to offset the loss.
--------------------------------------------------
"ISP's normally charge an annual fee". I included this item to cover situations where CCN would itself incur an annual fee from an external source for providing VDN or other service.
Keep the comments and suggestions coming.
Doug M
>>> Mark Rushton <Mark@chebucto.ns.ca> 05/25 6:02 pm >>>
Greetings, Doug et al.
Finally had a moment to go over your notes, Doug. Thanks for providing us
with the info - something we've needed for awhile.
One thing off the top: Insofar as I know, "VDN" means "Virtual Domain
Name", not "Vendor..". The latter carries a connotation that may be
misconstrued (i.e. business related). Hate to nit-pick!
Pleased to hear that the board is revisiting the VDN price structure, there
certainly has been some grumbling in "the ranks." You note that "In the
meanwhile, the current fee structure will be followed." The table you sent
out is great -- I had no idea that our fee structure (current) was
structured that way. I'll review it in more detail and provide comments.
You make an important point, one discussed at the last (seems like many
moons ago) IP Cttee meeting.
With VDNs, the CCN "presence" disappears, unless the organization is kind
enough to provide a link / "thank-you" to CCN on its homepage. This is
something we require (strongly suggest?) now with our IPs. An option
discussed at the last IP Cttee meeting was the use of (similar to
GeoCities) a tranlucent logo on the bottom-right corner of the screen.
Should this approach, in some form, be taken then the "financial
compensation" you write about may not be such and issue.
Also:
>Part of the fee should be allocated for setup and
>maintenance of the VDN on the system. In the ISP
>community there is normally an annual fee for
>activated VDNs.
Could we break this down a bit? What exactly is involved in the "setup" of
a VDN, and its subsequent "maintenance". In order for the IP community to
feel comfortable with this, we need to see justification for ongoing
maintenance costs. On the surface, one would think that once the VDN
numbers/aliases were input into the DNS tables, no further "maintenance"
would be required - I mean, you don't have to change the oil after 30,000
"hits", do you? Help us understand this point.
Another item from the previous quoted: Regardless that "In the ISP
community there is normally an annual fee..." -- let us not be guided by
the rest of the 'Net. We're a nonprofit, community-oriented group, not a
business like other ISPs. Let us lead, not follow.
Further comments as the week progresses.
Thanks again for putting this information out there.. Now that the academic
year has wrapped, I hope we can all come together and contribute to
Chebucto's evolutionary process.
Regards,
Mark.
________________________________________________________________
Mark Rushton, Editor, Community Support & Development, Chebucto Community
Network
Mark@chebucto.ns.ca or via WWW: http://chebucto.ns.ca/~Mark/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects