more on A battle for the soul of the Internet

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: jean_camp <jean_camp () harvard edu>
Date: June 10, 2005 10:37:31 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] A battle for the soul of the Internet


If Uganda wants to connect to the US under internationally negotiated  
ITU tariffs the US carrier and the carrier from Uganda bill according  
to each others' rates. They split the physical cost of connectivity.

If Uganda wants to connect to the US under peering guidelines,   
Uganda pays for the entire provision of the physical connectivity and  
then pays to connect to the larger network.

What is being defended  is the right of the backbone providers to  
leverage the economics of networks in order to maximize their  
revenue. There is nothing wrong with revenue maximization but it is  
not some Holy Foundation Of The Internet. And let us not be confused,  
this is a battle over money and power, not spiritual dimensions. The  
incumbents hold the resources not in trust for the public but in  
order to maximize their value for the shareholders. The freedom to  
connect is not being championed by the incumbent holders of resources  
or the Freedom to Connect would not be an issue.

While I believe that Elliot and George believe that the battle is  
over the "soul" of the Internet, a good part of the battle is over  
the wallets of George's  and Elliot's sponsors.  I am sure these are  
honorable gentleman, but what you see depends on where you sit. Maybe  
they should take a seat at WSIS for a moment, rather than trying to  
march on the meeting with torches. They might even discover that  
there are some good people to nominate.

-Jean

On Jun 6, 2005, at 12:33 PM, David Farber wrote:


>    It is important to remember that we all rely on the rich ecosystem
>    that is the free Internet. We are all beneficiaries of the  
> innovation
>    it spawns, the information it provides and the interaction it
>    supports. We cannot take this for granted.



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