[1780] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Network World Article
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mark Graham)
Mon Dec 23 21:32:28 1991
From: mark@sovusa.com (Mark Graham)
Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1991 18:09:08 PST
To: com-priv@psi.com
Cc:
NSF, ANS charged with Internet abuse
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Network World, December 23, 1991, Page 6
By: Ellen Messmer
RESTON, Va. -- Performance Systems International, Inc. (PSI) last
week accused the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Advanced
Network & Services, Inc. (ANS) of stifling competion for
commercial Internet services.
William Schrader, president and chief executive officer of PSI, a
regional Internet carrier that operates the T-1 PSINet, messaged
members of the Internet privatization/commercialization
discussion group alleging that NSF has positioned ANS as the
monopoly carrier for Internet commercial traffic.
Schrader wrote that, by allowing the non-profite ANS to form a
for-profit subsidiary to sell Internet services, NSF "changed the
rules of the game in midplay." The effect, Schrader alleged,
would be "a monopoly positioning of ANS." PSI offers commercial
net services in conjunction with two other regional Internet
carriers.
ANS, a company founded by IBM, MCI Communications Corp. and
Merit, Inc., manages the NSF Network (NSFNET) backbone under
contract to Merit. NSFNET, which is funded by the NSF, is based
on T-3 services supplied by ANS.
Federal "appropriate-use" restrictions allow only research data
to be sent across NSFNET. Last spring, However, ANS got
government permission to set up the for-profit ANS CO+RE Services
to sell commercial users excess capacity on the ANS T-3 backbone,
providing that the profits were poured back into the network.
But Schrader said ANS is pressing the regional Internet providers
to sign a commercial-data agreement that is unfair. Under ANS'
commercial-use contract, regional carriers are asked to agree to
accept commercial traffic from ANS for free. But if the network
provider wants to send traffic back across ANS, a charge is
leveled on the provider.
PSI's Schrader wants ANS to join the Commercial Internet Exchange
(CIS), a gateway set up by PSI and two other regional Internet
carriers to support commercial traffic by cirumventing the NSFNET
backbone.
Schrader said the addition of ANS to CIX would create a level
playing field in the commercial services provision on the
Internet. ANS is cosidering joining CIX but has not yet reached
a decsion.
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