[8936] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
NSF, $18 million, etc.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Miles R Fidelman)
Mon Dec 13 13:08:49 1993
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1993 12:55:33 -0500 (EST)
From: Miles R Fidelman <fidelman@civicnet.org>
To: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: <2d0c00f3.crynwr@crynwr.com>
As much as its important to recognize that NSF funding is going up, not
down, lets keep some perspective - to wit, almost all of the assets of
the Internet (computers, LANs, campus networks, most regionals, private
carriers) are privately owned and operated. $18 million is a tiny, and
decreasing percentage of the money in the Internet.
To me, the big story is that a small amount of Federal money has resulted
in a tremendous amount of private investment in the Internet. There are
quite a few who believe that the Internet is largely a "Government Funded
Network" as opposed to being a largely privately funded 1st generation
NII. By emphasising the Federal funding, and not putting it in
perspective, we play right into the hands of those telcos and others who
would like nothing more than to have the Internet go away - to be
replaced by a new infrastructure built from scratch.
The issue is really one of how to use the Government's funding and
regulatory authority to make sure that the Internet becomes incorporated
into the mainstream of our telecommunications infrastructure, rather than
marginalized as a "government funded network for academics." In this
regard, there is certainly room to question the way in which NSF is
spending its money, rather than the amount that is being spent.
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