[ic] Secure server FAQs [monthly posting]

interchange-users@interchange.redhat.com interchange-users@interchange.redhat.com
Thu Mar 14 23:45:02 2002


On Thu, Mar 14, 2002 at 09:39:37PM -0500, Jim Balcom wrote:

> 
> How much work does it take to issue a cert? In Thawte's case, quite a bit.
> They have determined that I have a business license from my local government
> for the business that I am running. They have determined that I am a
> legitimate business - in my case because I am listed with Dunn & Bradstreet.
> They have also determined that I am authorized to use the domain name that I
> am registering.

So explain how I've gotten a cert within 2 hours for a new client with
an unlisted, new company before we even sent Thawte the paperwork.  They
asked me what I was complaining about.

> Is it worth $125? When I consider that Red Hat gets nearly $200 per hour for
> consulting, it's probably fair. When I consider that I pay Firestone $75 per
> hour for the labor to get my car worked on, it's probably fair.

Fair and how much work has nothing at all to do with it.  It's all about 
perception and what the market will bear.  The higher costs of moving a 
cert to another vendor only mean that Thawte/Verisign will be able to 
maintain higher prices even better than Verisign can with domains.  Seems
to me that a domain record is more work that a cert; going rate about
$10/year.  You do the math.

Nor does the fact that a company has a cert tell you anything about their 
policies and practices.  It's simply cheaper to buy one than it is to
talk about it.


> 
> It soounds to me like you have settled on IC because it is free and you are
> a cheapskate.
> 
> There are a LOT of us that are making good money through e-commerce. But, we
> have spent money to do it right.
> 
> I can pretty much guarantee you that if you don't have a merchant account in
> your own name and/or you don't have a cert in your own name that your
> e-commerce business will never get off the ground - ONLY because your
> prospective customers won't tolerate it.
> 
> -= Jim =-
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Jim's Linux-Operated Underground Bomb Shelter
> 
> Tagline for Thursday, March 14, 2002 at 21:10 PM:
> Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle buttons
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
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> 
> My web page: http://www.idk-enterprises.com
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> 
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