[11739] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: April 21 talk on Internet Economics
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Tony Rutkowski)
Sat Apr 16 09:06:49 1994
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 1994 06:58:51 +0600
To: James Love <love@essential.org>,
Telecomreg <telecomreg@relay.adp.wisc.edu>
From: Tony Rutkowski <amr@isoc.org>
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
Jamie
Sorry I will not be able to be there. Hal Varian is a very
capable economist who has done seminal work on Internet economics.
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However, a couple of observations about your release:
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>Across the country the Internet is the most talked about new
xxxxxxx world
>information technology -- a here and now information superhighway,
A very good point that deserves significant dissemination.
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>not built upon pay-per-view or home shopping, but a space for
>debates, discussion groups, information sharing, socializing,
>networking, and organizing.
While this is also a nice point, it strikes me as a rather narrow
construction of the space. For example, it fails to recognize
that the network is also profoundly international in its dimensions
(currently 45 % of the infrastructure), or commercial private
(currently 80 %), or that is a space for constant development which
makes it continuously "here and now." The Internet is widely recognized
as the most significant engine for R&D in networking technologies and
applications today.
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The Clinton Administration and
>Congressional efforts to shape a new telecommunications
>infrastructure seem oddly disconnected from this very successful
>model for a communications infrastructure.
I think this is unfair and inaccurate vis-a-vis the Clinton Administration
and many other government organizations and agencies in other countries
who have recognized the value of the Internet and are marshalling
considerable political and economic resources to effect extensive
implementation and use of Internet infrastructure. It is a difficult
balancing act, however, because they recognize that the Internet revolution
occurred and is maintained primarily because of minimalist government
involvement that relied primarily on private-sector initiative and zero
regulation other than competitively pushing leased line prices down toward
cost. It is only now, with these "nuturing" factors being emulated in
other countries, that internets are flourishing worldwide.
--------
>The Internet is also
>undergoing profound changes as the federal government is undertaking
>a privatization of many key Internet facilities, turning over many
>of the strategic routing and backbone assets to telephone companies
>such as Pac Bell, Ameritech, Sprint, MFS and MCI.
These assets of course have always been in the hands of telephone
companies. What you are talking about is the direct subsidization
of their operation - and only for a single USA backbone. The more
profound and interesting change is actually the architecture.
--------
>mechanisms following the privatization of the Internet backbone and
>routing services
You mean the NSFNet backbone, not the "Internet backbone." It seems
fairly obvious that the "de-subsidization" of this backbone and the
elimination of the (in)famous AUP will actually bring about more diverse
Internet services to a larger segment of the population at low prices.
But then that's what you will have fun discussing.
cheers,
--tony
THE INTERNET IS ITS OWN REVOLUTION
Internet est sa propre revolution
INTERNET ES SU PROPIA REVOLUCION
