From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May) Subject: Re: Netscape announces position against GAK

Credit where credit is due.

I for one am satisfied--and even pleased--with the Netscape position on GAK.

It remains to be seen how steadfast Netscape, as the major player in the Web browser business, remains in the face of (likely) pressure from the government.

It seems to me that we have have been quick to criticize Netscape--which is good, the quickness part--and thus we should be equally quick to praise them. To be sure, various of us might've written the Netscape position statement slightly differently, but this does not change the basic point: that Netscape has come out against the Administration's position on GAK.

For this they deserve our praise.

I agree with all of Tim's sentiments (well, in this message, anyway :>). I'd especially like to thank Jeff Weinstein for his hard work keeping both us and Netscape management informed. I think he's done us both a great service. To avoid just saying "me too", I'll throw out another idea on making the U.S. version of Netscape available to U.S. users over the Internet. How about a phone number to call to get an access id of some sort that can be used to FTP the software. When you call the number, you can use caller-id to verify that the person is calling from within the U.S. You could set up a BBS-type system to do this automatically, or make the phone number a 900 number and charge a few dollars to cover your costs. You could also set up the access id so that it can only be used once. | (Douglas) Hofstadter's Law: Frank Stuart | It always takes longer than you expect, even fstuart@vetmed.auburn.edu | when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.