[12791] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Yes folks, this is not a joke
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Miles R Fidelman)
Sun May 29 01:47:54 1994
Date: Sat, 28 May 1994 10:29:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Miles R Fidelman <fidelman@civicnet.org>
To: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: <199405271225.AA14986@radiomail.net>
On Fri, 27 May 1994, Bill Frezza wrote:
> Hey, maybe they'll do as good a job with the NII as they have with dairy
> price supports. Ever been to a cheese cave?
>
Any bets as to whether or not we'd have the Internet today without
Federal funding of:
i. the ARPANET
ii. CSnet
iii. TCP/IP development
iv. NSFnet backbone and regionals
v. connection subsidies for universities
All leading to:
-- the basic technology
-- a base of commercial product and service vendors
-- a critical mass of users and content (lets not forget all the services
that universities provide free to other Internet users)
-- a user base that is over 30% commercial, with commercial use as the
fastest growing portion
-- an increasingly privatized infrastructure that is close to self-sufficient
----
You might also ask if we'd have an air transport system today if:
i. the Federal government hadn't given birth to the aircraft industry
with lots of warplane purchases between World Wars I and II
ii. Federal airmail business providing a stable base for commercial
airlines to build their freight and passenger businesses
And for that matter, do you think the service is better and safer now
that we have airline deregulation (and is an investment in airline stock
a better bet today)?
Miles Fidelman
p.s. a ditto to Dave Hughes comment -- there are a lot of us out here who
generally agree with EFF (whether or not we agree with all the details of
specific EFF positions)
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Miles R. Fidelman mfidelman@civicnet.org
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