[10769] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Internet vs Minitel : a futuristic view of the network e
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Miles R Fidelman)
Tue Mar 8 12:58:21 1994
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 09:52:13 -0500 (EST)
From: Miles R Fidelman <fidelman@civicnet.org>
To: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: <IhSzCna00VADQ5c=5d@andrew.cmu.edu>
On Mon, 7 Mar 1994, Marvin Sirbu wrote:
> Minitel -- nor Compuserve and Prodigy for that matter -- are not just
> central computers on which information providers put their data. In
> France there are more than 10,000 information providers who put up data
> on their own computers -- sometimes as small as a PC. Called "Kiosk's"
> these small providers talk directly to a user's Minitel terminal over
> France's Transpac packet data network. The genious of Minitel is that it
> provides a centralized billing system that allows these Kiosk operators
> to make money, something that the Internet does not provide to the
> myriad WWW or Gopher based service providers.
>
Though, once we get past the Clipper debacle, and get to some
standardized cryptography, digital signature and the ability to send
one's mastercard number encrypted should go a long way toward centralized
billing on the Internet.
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Miles R. Fidelman mfidelman@civicnet.org
Executive Director 91 Baldwin St. Charlestown MA 02129
The Center for Civic Networking 617-241-9205 fax: 617-241-5064
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Information Infrastructure: Public Spaces for the 21st Century
Let's Start With: Internet Wall-Plugs Everywhere
Then We Can Worry About: "Switched, Interactive, Broadband Services"
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