[894] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
re: internet consumer reports on state-wide IP networks
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Craig Partridge)
Wed Jul 3 02:53:10 1991
To: Edward Vielmetti <emv@ox.com>
Cc: com-priv@uu.psi.com
From: Craig Partridge <craig@sics.se>
Date: Wed, 03 Jul 91 08:52:18 +0200
> I'm doing research on state-wide IP networks; I'm looking for things
> like maps, acceptable use policies, rates, policy toward commercial use,
> policies on third party traffic (so-called "back door" connections),
> trouble reporting systems, link usage reporting systems, etc which
> indicate the maturity and quality of a state network.
> The goal is to come up with Consumer Reports type ratings that would
> allow the small high-tech business that's considering relocation to
> determine where the best places to go are. Ideally you could rate
> the 50 states first to last, with little circles on each of the lines
> that go from Excellent to Not Acceptable, and work from there .
Ed:
Well, you're entitled to publish whatever "guides" you want, but if
you're going to ask folks to help out in publishing such a guide, I'd
suggest you be a bit more clear about what you are using to judge and
why. I'm not saying you have to have "objective" measures (since objective
numbers are often subjective, in that the evaluator often chooses metrics
that reflect his/her values) but some reason for why the various measures
you are using should be considered worthwhile would be useful.
Also, people probably value different features of networks (cost vs.
mean-time-between-failure). So one rating may not suffice.
Part of what set off the last two paragraphs is the comment about "maps."
Personally, I think maps are a waste of time outside the network control
center (the cost of ensuring everyone has accurate copies far outweighs
their value). So a rating system in which having maps available is
one I would be suspicious of.
Craig
