[9521] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Advisory Committee on the NII
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mark R. Ludwig)
Fri Jan 7 12:43:18 1994
From: "Mark R. Ludwig" <Mark-Ludwig@uai.com>
To: Commercialization and Privatization of the Internet <com-priv@psi.com>
Date: Fri, 07 Jan 1994 09:42:13 -0800
My first reaction was that there are a lot of people on the Council
who are in the main-stream media business, and probably know little
about the Internet and its culture.
My second reaction is that there are a few people on the Council from
companies which are holding companies and the nature of whose business
is not obvious from the company names. All together there are a lot
of people on the Council who might want to change the culture from the
current "sharing programs and information is good" to "programs and
information are meant to be sold."
I think this is what commercialization of the Internet means, anyway,
but from reading the list for a couple years, I have the impression
that the contributors on this list are not unanimously in favor of
taking away most of the program and information freedoms on the
Internet which were a fundamental part of its success. Privatization
of the Internet is well underway, and does not threaten the culture as
far as I can tell.
The question I have is whether the TCP/IP Internet is really the basis
for the NII. I ask that not because I think there's anything better
waiting in the wings (though some people probably think OSI is), but
because as politics enters the arena, the possibility of radical
change is very real, especially if a lot of the advisors have goals
which do not necessarily include maintaining the current culture. I
have heard one news report or commercial advertisement about the
"information superhighway" which baldly stated that nothing currently
in existence could possibly serve as a basis. I was so startled by it
I don't even remember who was talking or why.$$
--
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"Anything worth doing in Japan is worth doing in a crowd." -- T. R. Reid
