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Charging more for remote access
One situation we recently encountered in which the vendor wants more money for wider access (which can be interpreted as home use) is this: A government agency making its data available electronically has chosen to license by network address (incorrectly labelling this "by IP address"). Class B addresses cost more than Class C addresses. So 128.xx.* costs several thousand dollars more than 192.xx.* because the Class B address (128...) opens up access to significantly more people (including dialup use). For reasons of the expense of the license, we will be forced to license only the library's Class C address, rather than the campus-wide Class B address (multiplied by 9 campuses and several Class B addresses per campus). Thus, to get access, one must come to the library! We think this charging mechanism is unworkable for a couple of obvious reasons. It is a step backward; rather than open access, it forces people to come to the library (exactly the opposite of our preferred direction). Also, in this case this specialized, important resource is of interest only to a small subset of people on any campus. Thus, the cost of truly networked access is inflated in relation to its projected use. I'm not sure if this is what Deborah is referring to, but it's the only case of "charging more for remote access to databases" that we have encountered. Normally, remote access is a requirement for us, and vendors count heads or terminals or specialized user populations to determine prices. Head and terminal counts usually price us out of the market, but we have made many successful arrangements based on counting the specialized users that we expect to pound on the database. In the latter circumstances, we are not forced to pay for those who only make occasional use. Mary Engle University of California MELVYL system mary.engle@ucop.edu ______________________________________________ On Wed, 5 Feb 1997, Deborah Wills wrote: > Could I ask for people's opinion on the issue of vendors charging more for > remote access to databases? At our university, users may dial in locally > from offices or labs, and those with their own computers may also choose > to dial in from home. I'm not sure if I understand why the home access > should cost more; the same people are using the service.
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