[2673] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Settlements
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (breeden@farnet.org)
Wed Apr 8 09:49:22 1992
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 09:47:06 -0500
To: Dave Crocker <dcrocker@Mordor.Stanford.EDU>
From: breeden@farnet.org
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
When we operated CSNET for the National Science Foundation (I was at BBN
from 1983 to 1991), we charged PhoneNet users on the basis of traffic. Not
only did the accounting require that we collect and process "mind-numbing
quantities of data", the auditors (and, of course, our own consciences)
required that we verify the integrity of the data and of the invoices that
resulted. This means elaborate systems for testing, checking, and (if an
error is discovered) correcting the information. Although you can automate
a lot of this, it's humans who do the automating and make the final
judgements about what is happening.
Any way you look at it, charging by the bit is a costly process. It may be
the right approach in some instances, but we need to understand the
trade-offs.
Laura Breeden
