[528] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: NREN Presentation at St. Louis IETF (rough notes)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (vcerf@NRI.Reston.VA.US)
Fri Apr 5 03:49:34 1991
To: Martin Lee Schoffstall <schoff@psi.com>
Cc: com-priv@uu.psi.com, nren-discuss@psi.com, vcerf@NRI.Reston.VA.US
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 03 Apr 91 12:32:52 EST."
Date: Thu, 04 Apr 91 07:29:13 -0500
From: vcerf@NRI.Reston.VA.US
Marty,
thank you for sharing the notes from your source. I apologize
for not being able to respond fully right this moment - off
to an International Network Management Meeting (with other
PSIers...!). The report (rapid scan reading...) seems quite
detailed. I did NOT detect anything like World War III.
The debate was stimulating but by no means a battle, as I
saw it - just very healthy airing of many points of view.
This is what the DOE and NSF folks wanted out of the presentation
and they got their wish!
I tried to voice a strong concern and view that however the
NREN or Interim NREN effort emerges, that it keep firmly
fixed on its compass that the ultimate target is to make
these services accessible on a non-discriminatory basis to
the widest possible user base. (Translation: make sure this
can really become a commercially-available set of services).
This suggests that the CPN not necessarily OPERATE or even
contract to operate parts of the NREN. Rather, it becomes
a means for specifying the kinds of services needed and
of evaluating various potential offerings for compatibility
with known internetting needs. Provision of a level playing
field and guidance for the competitors to keep the market
place lively and responsive to the needs of the research
and education community seems to me a very important service.
I'd like to think that the efforts of hundreds in the IETF
and IRTF and the IAB are aimed in this general direction, too.
The US government has a key role to play in helping to shape
and make a market for these services, so I believe that the
FNC and the HPCC can be very instrumental in this regard.
To the extent that subsidy is needed to establish the market
(educate users, provide examples, support initial acquisition
of services, sponsor research on new applications and new
technologies for networking and networked systems, and so on)
then the Federal Government is the obvious and major player
for the US community. One should not overlook possible roles
for the States in this matter as well, given the primacy of
State government in education in the U.S.
Well, this is all personal opinion and not a report of
what was said - sorry to get carried away! I will go over
the report you sent and add anything I find missing or
correct any items I think might have been mistaken.
Vint
