[8273] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Quakers and NAP
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Gregory=Kushmerek%AcctgMed%FIN@hum)
Fri Nov 12 15:41:40 1993
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 93 15:24:57 EST
From: Gregory=Kushmerek%AcctgMed%FIN@humres-server.net.tufts.edu
To: com-priv@psi.com
Cc:
>> Will there be any basic ground rules imposed on inter-NAP carriers and/or
>> on NAP-to-end user carriers -- akin to the ground rules the FCC imposes
>> on telcos (e.g. common carriage, same price to all comers, etc.)?
> Quakers came to America to do good, and they did very well indeed.
> They instituted standardized and honest pricing. Customers could
> send a child to purchase goods at a Quaker's store. People would come
> into a town and ask who the Quaker merchants were.
I am not saying that we need to regulate Internet pricing, but I have
a problem using the historical example of Quakers as justification for
not regulating the net.
Quakers didn't come to the New World to make money so much as they came for
religious freedom. Their high moral standards (these were not the people who
burned witches, the same people hated Quakers) and piety made them
very reliable and exemplary business practitioners. People learned to
rely on the quality of their products and services b/c of the Quakers'
dogma.
Internet service providers, on the other hand, exist to make money. This is
not a bad thing in and of itself; however, I should say that those in
pursuit of the almighty buck don't necessarily hold a moral and ethical
standard to guide them. The faith you place in Quakers comes from their
desire to spend eternity in heaven under God's good graces. I doubt
Internet service providers have the same end in mind (although some may).
Maybe Congress shouldn't place laws guiding Internet pricing, but I think one
needs a more accurate model than the Quakers when saying why.
--gk
