[1196] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Lost in a Black Hole Somewhere Between FARnet and NEARnet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert P Weber)
Sun Aug 18 20:09:25 1991
Date: Sun, 18 Aug 91 20:09:02 -0400
From: weber@world.std.com (Robert P Weber)
To: com-priv@psi.com, jrr@concert.net, tmn!cook@uunet.uu.net
Cc: weber@world.std.com
As the facilitator of the Big Sky Farnet meeting, let me take this
opportunity to clarify and amplify Joe Ragland's remarks. As he
pointed out, those present, including FARNET members and invited
guests, did spend two days analyzing a wide variety of issues
related to the future of interregional connectivity. Those present
found the issues to be highly complex and therefore, difficult. At
the end of the second day, participants felt that predictability and
stability were critical factors in any scenario going forward.
The group felt that NSF should continue to play a lead role in any future
interregional connectivity program. Two solutions were favored:
(1) extending the current
contract with Merit/ANS for some period of time, and,
(2) creating a new solicitation for interregional connectivity after
November, 1992, and then awarding a contract.
These are two of the more conservative possible solutions, and, as I
have said, they were favored because the meeting participants felt
strongly about solutions that promoted the stability of the top two
tiers of the NSFNET portion of the internet.
Readers of COM-PRIV and other lists to which this message will undoubted
be forwared must understand that the above conclusions do not, repeat,
do not represent in any way FARNET's recommendation to NSF regarding
the future of interregional connectivity.
The project plan calls for my writing a report to the FARNET Board
describing the meeting process and its many results. A draft of the
meeting report will be circulated to meeting participants and those
invited guests who could not attend the actual meeting. Following
comments and revisions, the report will be made widely available
electronically.
>From this report, Richard Mandelbaum, the Principal Investigator of
the NSF grant that funded the project, Laura Breeden, the Executive
Director of FARNET, and Ken Klingenstein, a FARNET Board member, will
draft an entirely new document containing FARNET's recommendations
to NSF regarding the future of interregional connectivity. This document
will be presented to the FARNET Board for comment and approval, and
the final, official recommendation document transmitted to NSF and made public.
Drafts of this document may be circulated for comment; I can't recall
exactly what was decided on this point; in any event, FARNET has had
a history of making drafts widely available for comment and I believe
this is the intention regarding the recommendation document (I am not
a member of FARNET and will have no hand in drafting the final
document, so I cannot speak authoritatively here.)
I expect that the draft meeting report will be posted by the end of August and
that the final document will be sent to NSF by mid to late September.
In short, the process begun at the Big Sky meeting is not over, and
the final recommendations from FARNET to NSF have not yet been
determined.
It should also be noted that FARNET is not the only organization who
will comment to NSF regarding the future of interregional connectivity.
Although I cannot speak for NSF, I assume that they would appreciate
comments from the diversity of the internet community.
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