[9706] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Some Thoughts on The National Science Board
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Peter Deutsch)
Mon Jan 17 13:51:14 1994
From: Peter Deutsch <peterd@bunyip.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 1994 13:32:11 -0500
In-Reply-To: Gordon Cook's message as of Jan 16, 17:22
To: cook@path.net (Gordon Cook), sob@tmc.edu, sean@dsl.pitt.edu
Cc: hwb@upeksa.sdsc.edu, com-priv@psi.com
[ You wrote: ]
> Well Stan the shoe could just as easily be placed on the other foot. Lets
> do so. I heartily endorse the options just depicted by Sean McLinden. Anyone
> want to argue why the NSF should not change forthwith?
<*Sigh*>
I don't want to embark upon a spirited defense of the NSF
and all their works, but I would like to point something
out. Despite the occasional air of hysteria that seems to
surface on this list, I think the NSF has actually done a
pretty fair job of allocating resources for networking
research and development. In the process they've been a
prime mover in the birth of the Internet and have helped
create a whole new industry in the U.S. There are the
occasional problems but from what I've seen those involved
will be able to look back at the end of their careers with
some pride in their achievements. Would that all of us
could make that claim.
I understand you can count the people involved with the
Internet project at NSF on your fingers. The money spent
to date is actually pretty small, considering the effects
we can measure so far and the corresponding payback on
taxpayer dollars (in terms of industries born, services
provided, work acccomplished, and so on) should be enough
to make any American proud. NSF efforts has now inspired
similar projects in other countries that we can but hope
will be equally successful (As a Canadian taxpayer I can
only hope that our CANARIE project will have the impact on
Canada that NSF has had on the U.S.)
So, yes I would argue that before we make any calls to
"change forthwith", we make sure we want that change and
are willing to pay the price for it. Personally, I'm not
that unhappy with where we've come to so far and although
there's always room for improvement I'd be careful not to
throw the baby out with the bathwater.
BTW, this posting is not intended a personal criticism of
you, Gordon. The hysteria I'm refering to above refers
more to what I perceive to be a characteristic of the
threads that seem to come up here. I might mention that my
interest in com-priv ocillates with the postings I see.
While the occasional burst of "libertarian vs socialism"
debate is probably healthy and even needed, I personally
prefer to focus on the more practical aspects of this
topic of Internet commerce.
Calls for major changes at the NSF are, I think,
unwarranted at this point, given their success to date.
Sure, identify the symptoms, but also take a look at the
current state of your patient before prescribing your
medicine...
- peterd
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The juvenile sea squirt wanders through the sea searching for a suitable rock
or hunk of coral to cling to and make its home for life. For this task, it
has a rudimentary nervous system. When it finds its spot and takes root, it
doesn't need its brain anymore so it eats it! (It's rather like getting
tenure.)" - From CONSCIOUSNESS EXPLAINED, by Daniel Dennett, p. 177
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