[9948] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: NSF AUP restrictions
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sean McLinden)
Sat Jan 29 12:49:51 1994
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 12:30:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Sean McLinden <sean@dsl.pitt.edu>
To: Clay Shirky <clays@panix.com>
Cc: perry@stars.reston.paramax.com, com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: <199401291708.AA07480@panix.com>
On Sat, 29 Jan 1994, Clay Shirky wrote:
> > It appears that some people think
> > that if you don't provide the roads, the cars won't come. This may be true
> > if there are no road at all, but if there is already a road, but it is just
> > too small, then the road just gets more crowded until it is solid traffic all
> > the time.
>
> They have stopped building extensions on the Long Island Expressway
> because the last time they did a traffic volume analysis, they found
> that any increase in available roadway was accompanied by an even
> larger increase in the number of drivers attempting to use it, actually
> worsening the problems the additional black top was meant to ameliorate.
>
> They also did something similar in lower Manhattan where they found
> that their attempts to alleviate gridlock instead made driving in the
> city more attractive and increased congestion, so they have recently
> shortened the yellow light cycle again to increase girdlock in some
> places in an effort to redirect traffic.
>
> Given that adding space to the infomation highway doesn't take it out
> of circulation for other uses, as it does with roads in the physical
> world, I don't know how applicable the highway model is to the net,
> but in downstate New York highway design an increase in available
> resources brings an even greater number of users and a net loss in
> system fluidity.
Excuse me for being naive but isn't that the idea? I mean, the purpose of
a highway is to stimulate commerce. If you are successful, that will
happen and you will need additional highways. If you are foolish and
don't anticipate that (by building too close to the road) or if you do
not build into your expansion a way of capturing additional revenue
(taxation, tolls, etc.), then you should replace your planners with
people who can think more than 6 months ahead.
Or do we mean that billions of dollars should be spent to build roads so
that they are underutilized but convenient for those who underutilize
them? As a taxpayer, I would prefer that my tax investment be used to
stimulate new modes of commerce, not be used to make life better for the
people who are already doing commerce.
Sean
