[8918] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Scenarios: a response to Marvin
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ittai Hershman)
Sun Dec 12 15:21:17 1993
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 93 15:17:29 EST
From: Ittai Hershman <ittai@ans.net>
To: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: Your message of Sun, 12 Dec 1993 11:35:03 PST
Sometimes some perspective is in order. Gordon chimes in incessantly
about the $18 million the NSF is spending on networking infrastructure.
The currently newsmaking Endeaveor space shuttle mission cost some
$700 million according to the New York Times. You calculate the
difference in price/value...
Like it or not, the Internet has become the huge success that it is
because of a handful of Washington bureaucrats with vision, of which
Steve Wolff is the most recent and perhaps the most effective.
I remember using the net, not so long ago -- perhaps 10 years -- when
everyone was deathly afraid of any publicity because if Senator
Proxmire found out that we were using the net to do things other than
those tasks in the narrow funding proposals, he would add the ARPAnet
to his "golden fleece award" list and shut us all down.
And look where we are today. Shame on those who mistake being a
watchdog with self-promotion.
-Ittai
