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IP: Internet "facilities" (fwd)
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 09:21:09 -0400
To: CYBERTELECOM-L () LISTSERV AOL COM From: A.M.Rutkowski <amr () NGI ORG> Subject: Internet "facilities" Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 07:42:31 -0400 Washington industry committees dealing with Internet related issues in telecom forums are becoming ever more frequent. ICAIS (ITU Internet settlements norms are an example). The dialogue typically involves lots of people familiar with the telecom regulatory world. Frequently, many have only minimal cognizance about the Internet. As a result a kind of Internet regulatory "lingo" seems to be creeping into place that is not only inaccurate, but also potentially adverse to those in the Internet business because it predisposes the Internet to regulation. The current case in point is the fundamental characterization of the Internet as consisting of facilities and users. The term "facilities" in the telecom and radio regulatory world if not the arena of administrative law in general - is one that since the origins of these activities is the most basic predicate for regulation. For example, the ITU Constitution frames the organization's purposes in terms of dealing with "technical facilities" and "telecommunication facilities." The Internet on the other hand - which is fundamentally sets of protocols for interprocess communication - consists of "resources." The Internet has hosts, ports, processes, applications, and files; but there is no such thing as an "Internet facility." This "regulatory creep" is worth some attention. The last thing that anyone in the Internet business needs is for the Internet to be recast as just another form of telecommunication ripe for regulation. --tony
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