[822] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
CO+RE Service
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Allan H. Weis)
Mon Jun 10 10:14:31 1991
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 91 9:48:46 EDT
From: Allan H. Weis <weis@nis.ans.net>
To: com-priv@psi.com
Cc: ittai@nis.ans.net
Last week, ANS's new taxable subsidiary announced a new service that
will help to broaden commercial access to the Internet. Many of our
current and prospective customers have requested that we carry "mixed
traffic" - both COmmercial and Research and Education, and this new
service is in response to their demands.
The new service called "CO+RE Service" reduces many of the restrictions
on commercial use and more importantly establishes a funding mechanism
and process for settlements to support this commercial use. It also
provides a new funding source for the expansion of many segments of the
network. The ideas behind the funding mechanism and process are not
those of ANS, but came from several days of meetings between many
midlevel networks, individuals from FARNET, NSF and ANS. They are the
fruits of the combined efforts of many, and will evolve over the years
as we all learn more and gain more experience.
A copy of the press release is attached below, and since I will be
traveling during the next few weeks, I have asked Ittai Hershman
(ittai@nis.ans.net), with ANS, to respond to some of the questions
that you may have. Anything as complex as commercializing large
segments of the Internet has many unresolved issues and problems
and the solutions will gradually emerge over time.
Al Weis
************************ Press Release Below ************************
NEW ANS SERVICE BRINGS COMMERCIAL ACCESS TO THE INTERNET
ANS CO+RE Systems, Inc., today announced CO+RE Service*, a
new service that will allow commercial as well as
research and education users to interconnect to the Internet
through the ANS high speed computer networks. ANS CO+RE
Systems, Inc. is a newly formed taxable subsidiary of
Advanced Network & Services, Inc.
"The new CO+RE Service will enable the private sector and the
research and education community to interconnect with fewer
restrictions via existing computer networks. This will help
technology transfer, enhance productivity and promote the
exchange of ideas across many disciplines," said Allan H.
Weis, President and CEO of ANS.
To ensure the broad connectivity required to make the new
service a success, a series of agreements are being entered
into with other network service providers and private
organizations. CO+RE Service's objectives are to expand
connectivity, broaden access, and make the Internet a more
useful and productive tool. Revenues from the provision of
CO+RE Service, after covering associated expenses, will be
used to enrich national networking infrastructure.
"The new service will not only enrich the network resources
accessible to the research and education communities the
National Science Foundation is charged to support, but will
enable all network users to benefit from the infrastructure
enhancements and accompanying economies of scale", said
Steve Wolff, Director of the National Science Foundation's
Division of Networking of Networking Communications Research
and Infrastructure (DNCRI).
By broadening access to the Internet, CO+RE Service will
further ANS's efforts to complement and support the concepts
proposed in the National Research and Education Network
(NREN) put forward within the Administration and Congress as
a part of the High Performance Computing and Communications
Program. The Internet is a collection of interconnected
networks which serves research and education institutions and
federal agencies.
"By strengthening and improving the ability of American
business and industry to move information and to communicate,
we strengthen and improve our economy," said Sen. Al Gore,
D-TN, author of the High Performance Computing Act that
would create a national high speed computer network, "Just
as local roads provided invaluable access to the interstate
highways, this new service will provide invaluable access
to the Internet and eventually to the new national network.
And, the national network will further encourage development
of private networks connecting computer users in every sector
of the economy. Investments by the federal and state
governments will be made even more valuable."
CO+RE Service is the result of several months of detailed
work between ANS and many of the midlevel networks.
"Without this service, researchers and educators had to use
many different networks to reach the resources they needed to
solve problems," said William Yundt, Executive Director of
the Bay Area Regional Research Network (BARRNet). "A
biochemist might need to call one number using a modem to
search chemical abstracts, use a local college network to
reach the university's library catalog, and use a third
network to get to databases on the human genome. With
expanded commercial providers on the Internet, a single
common network will increase that researcher's ability to
find any information needed and focus on the research task at
hand".
ANS CO+RE Systems, Inc. is a wholly owned taxable subsidiary
of Advanced Network & Services, Inc. (ANS), a not-for-profit
corporation. ANS provides computer network services to
expand the interchange of information technology resources
among academic, government and private sector users. ANS
manages and operates the ANS network, a national computer
network used by researchers, educators and staff in
universities, federal laboratories and the private sector.
ANS was formed in 1990 by the IBM Corporation, MCI
Communications Corporation and Merit Network, Inc. to help
advance research and education.
* CO+RE is a service mark of ANS CO+RE Systems, Inc.
For more information, contact: Kristin Mortensen (914)
789-5304.
