Web/E-business /

A different type of buddy list

By Paul McNamara
Network World, 04/15/02

Whoever said you can't fight City Hall apparently never built a Web site.

However, he might have predicted at least some of what has gone down in Providence, R.I., after a band of fed-up citizens launched www.buddycianci.com, a site dedicated to bringing about the resignation of roguish Mayor Vincent A. (Buddy) Cianci Jr.

Among the skirmishes since the site was launched:

Cianci has threatened legal action against the site operators for allegedly misappropriating his name and likeness.

The mayor, who goes on trial this week to answer a 30-count racketeering indictment, has attempted to call attention to the purported unfairness of the site by registering domain names that match the first and last names of Providence journalists. Turnabout is fair play, or so says the mayor.

And here's my favorite part: The site operators have made noise about a "mysterious" three-day blockage of traffic to www.buddycianci.com - only traffic from the Providence area - that they suggest might have been the handiwork of a Cianci sympathizer with access to a Verizon router. (Cianci insists he can't even turn on a computer, and Verizon says the charge is nonsense.)

Those of you who live in the Northeast are probably shaking yours heads and muttering, "Ah, Providence."

But the story is great theater, so here's how Buzz reviews these three acts:

Cianci had better hope his criminal defense holds more water than the legal bluster his lawyer tossed at the Webmaster of www.buddycianci.com. The mayor has a better chance of being elected cellblock president than getting any honest judge to pull the plug on his tormenters. The First Amendment protects nothing if not political speech of this nature, and it's awfully hard to call the mayor a menace without using his name and likeness.

Nor does his honor appear to know much about journalists. Those members of the press whose personal domain names have been snapped up by the mayor are undoubtedly wearing their notoriety as a merit badge. Those who Cianci didn't see fit to target are just as certainly paying a price in lunchroom abuse.

As for the routing intrigue, it's difficult for me to imagine that anyone at Verizon would put their job on the line to pull such a prank, even at the behest of a Napoleonic mayor who for decades has held sway over the biggest city in the smallest state. I just can't believe this was intentional. . . . Of course, it's worth noting that the Web site operators insist their access problem disappeared soon after they complained to Verizon.

Stranger things have happened . . . especially in Providence.

Roll-your-own DSL causes quite a stir

Last week's item about the Colorado neighborhood that gave up on Qwest Communications and decided to become a self-service DSL provider sparked an outpouring of interest after the column was flagged on www.slashdot.com. (You can read the Slashdot give-and-take here.)

So many people were interested in learning more about the efforts of the Ruby Ranch Internet Cooperative Association that the organization's Web site - www.rric.net - was brought to its knees for a time.

Moreover, our own Network World Fusion site - www.nwfusion.com - experienced and withstood a record one-day traffic surge that our Web guys attributed in part to conspicuous interest in that roll-your-own-DSL coverage.

Note to entrepreneurs and venture capitalists: Seems there might be a business opportunity in helping the DSL-deprived take matters into their own hands.

Have something to say about this column? You could register www.paulmcnamara.com as a gesture of protest, but it would be much easier and cheaper to direct your e-mail to buzz@nww.com.