[9416] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: a "keeper of the Internet"
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Eliot Lear)
Tue Jan 4 20:47:04 1994
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 94 17:46:14 -0800
From: lear@yeager.corp.sgi.com (Eliot Lear)
To: com-priv@uu.psi.com
In <mob9f0a@sgi.sgi.com> mo@uunet.uu.net (Mike O'Dell) writes:
>The notion that the Internet needs a "keeper" like the FoneCos or Bellcore
>or some other cosmic overseer is just plain twisted, not to mention largely
>impossible (thank heavens). The Internet currently spans 2.5 million computers,
>25 million people, and over 40 countries - the concept that there could
>ever be *one* organization which could control it is beyond humorous.
[...]
The problem is that the technology has limits, and that while the
market will decide on the way for the technology to advance, it
strikes me as useful that there be a forum in which the options are
developed (for example, PIP, SIP, CIDR, and TUBA).
Erik Fair recently argued that in order to maintain standards such as
symmetric paths with redundancy merely extending the two existing
models (CIX vs FIX) in fact may sweep certain requirements (such as
required long haul links for full routing information) under the
rugs of our friendly IXCs.
Currently that requires the use of *one* IXC. Yakov pointed out that
this is a political impossibility; yet it is a technical requirement
for proper IP routing.
Now where does that leave us?
