[944] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Internet Articles in the Mainsteam Press
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Marty Lyons)
Thu Jul 11 19:18:34 1991
From: marty@ultra.com (Marty Lyons)
To: com-priv@psi.com
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 91 15:54:33 PDT
Joe Abernathy writes:
> [...]
> There's not a better qualified journalist
> than me to address the national policy issues surrounding this network and
> its future.
After your original article, and the reactions of many well
respected people on the net, I would think you would have gotten the
message that there is not much respect for your work. To make such a
bold statement as the one above certainly does nothing to enhance your
credibility, especially in front of an audience which already distrusts you.
Most of us here would, I'm sure, be more than happy to provide
commentary to a qualified journalist, working for a respected publication.
If others who are contemplating writing pieces for publication concerning
the Internet are out there, please don't be taken aback by the critical
commentary of one writer. As a group of people trained (predominantly)
as scientists and engineers, and raised on dealing with facts, the
technical Internet community is just trying to make sure the story reaches the
readers as accurately and truthfully as possible.
The Internet, NREN, CIX, and the rest of our infrastructure building
work certainly needs to be described to the public at large; since
very soon, this technology will touch many of their lives, on a daily basis.
Sensationalism and inaccurate reporting have no place in that process, however.
/Marty
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author.
(And to think, if Abernathy wasn't around, I wouldn't have to worry about
saying that. Sheesh.)
--
Marty Lyons, Ultra Network Technologies, 101 Daggett Dr, San Jose, CA 95134 USA
(408) 922-0100 x196, marty@ultra.com
