[8775] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: TIME magazine article spreads NSFnet MYTH
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (John Quarterman)
Sat Dec 4 17:07:53 1993
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 16:07:15 -0600
From: jsq@tic.com (John Quarterman)
To: cook@path.net
In-Reply-To: <9312040522.aa29716@pandora.sf.ca.us>
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
In article <9312040522.aa29716@pandora.sf.ca.us> you write:
>Philip Elmer Dewitt writes in TIME magazine:
>
>"The Internet, however, will have to go through some radical changes
>before it can join the world of commerce. Subsidized for so long by the Federal
>Government, its culture is not geared to normal business activities." . . . "The
>change has already begun. NSF's contribution now represents about 10% of the
>total cost of the network, and the agency is scheduled *to start phasing **out**
>its support next April,* removing at the same time what few restrictions still
>remain against commercial activity."
>
>Why does the mainstream press *buy* this propaganda?
>
>At the beginning of 1990 NSF was spending almost 3 million a year on backbone
>infrastructure.
Actually, the Time article does not make it at all clear that this
10% figure refers to NSFNET. The clear implication is that it is
supposed to refer to the whole of the Internet. Given that the
article has only one vague reference to anything on the Internet
outside the United States, it is quite possible that the reporter
believes the latter, presumably due to being at the bottom of
a steep learning curve.
Thanks,
John
John S. Quarterman
Texas Internet Consulting (TIC)
jsq@tic.com
+1-512-451-6176
fax: +1-512-452-0127
1106 Clayton Lane, Suite 500W
Austin, TX 78723
U.S.A.
