Letters: Cisco re-sellers fight back

Phil Hochmuth's story "Cisco looking to counter used gear competitors" doesn't mention that IBM, long a bellwether of industry standards, has had a policy for more than 40 years that lets used equipment remain under its umbrella of maintenance qualification.

As a result, IBM controls the quality and integrity of used equipment sold with its logo even if someone else sells it.

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Counterfeit controversy continues

Phil Hochmuth's story "Cisco looking to counter used gear competitors" doesn't mention that IBM, long a bellwether of industry standards, has had a policy for more than 40 years that lets used equipment remain under its umbrella of maintenance qualification.

As a result, IBM controls the quality and integrity of used equipment sold with its logo even if someone else sells it.

Industry trade groups, such as the Association of Service and Computer Dealers International (ASCDI) have worked tirelessly and effectively to eliminate unsavory practices by used equipment resellers. The ASCDI has made public statements against counterfeiting and dealing in gray-market equipment, and has an enforceable code of ethics that strongly condemns both activities.

The solution to the challenges presented by gray marketing and counterfeiting is better cooperation and dialogue between the manufacturer and industry groups such as ASCDI. Unfortunately, that dialogue is absent with Cisco because it would rather paint legitimate dealers with the same brush as counterfeiters and gray marketers because used-equipment dealers have begun to make inroads into the Cisco customer base.

Cisco and other manufacturers must realize that the Cisco equipment they are selling is of the highest quality, made to highest standards, and can easily make the transition from User A to User B without losing any of its luster or functionality. Calling used equipment and used-equipment dealers names only serves to raise the rhetoric and hurt the Cisco community.

Jeff Klein

Mahwah, N.J.

Where's NetWare?

How could a list of the top 50 tech products of all time not have Novell NetWare?

Drive mappings, login scripts, file security, access control, affordable Ethernet and print servers are just a few of the things this company and product introduced to the PC world.

Microsoft Lan Manager, HP StarLan and Artisoft Lantastic were short on the many features Drew Major's incredible brainchild possessed. Even now there's a sizable population of NetWare servers both modern and archaic out there . . . quietly serving.

Joe Whited

Madison Heights, Mich.

Flaw in iPod security-flaw article

"Security fears grow as IPods proliferate" is an interesting story, but the premise is flawed. I work at a company that is nearly the biggest on Earth. We disabled the USB ports a few years ago, and IT only re-enables them with lots of justification.

Why would any company not do this? It's easy, enforces company IT security policies and should be part of any security strategy.

Corporate documents can walk out the door through printed copies, e-mails, USB mass-storage devices, burned CDs or hard drives being lifted out of a machine. Any company not locking down all of these options shouldn't try to shift the blame, and journalists shouldn't confuse the issue either.

Gary Patterson

Windsor, Australia

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