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more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet?
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 19:13:42 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: "Jonathan S. Shapiro" <shap () eros-os org> Date: May 3, 2005 6:18:27 PM EDT To: dave () farber netSubject: Re: [IP] more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet?
[Possibly for IP] On Tue, 2005-05-03 at 14:18 -0400, David Farber wrote:
It was cost-effective to use both packet switching and line switching even at monopoly prices. We made all kinds of hybrid internetworking. Much of it was a set of really ugly kludges, but innovation and creativity were certainly not stifled by using infrastructure provided by rigid monopolies. On the contrary, finding new ways to route information more cheaply by using different underlying services in different countries and areas led to a large number of innovative gateways.
In the U.S., there arose a curious kind of expertise among people who were setting up new sites. People would keep track of the (sometimes bizarre) tariff structure provided by AT&T and would lease capacity according to what was cheaper rather than following AT&T's intended use for a given service. For example, you were *supposed* to lease DSN lines for digital subscriber networks at one point, but in practice the ASN (analog subscriber network) lines were identical and a lot of people leased those instead to avoid the higher tariff on DSN lines. It's mildly interesting to contrast AT&T's reaction to RIAA's recent behavior. AT&T certainly *could* have been very difficult, and taken a number of technical measures to force people to lease the intended lines at the then-higher costs. They concluded that this was a losing game. In contrast to AT&T's behavior then, RIAA today is fighting the inevitable. Every independent study I have seen says that there simply has been NO loss of music to piracy -- those people weren't buying anyway -- and the *real* cause of the fall in music sales is that people just don't like the music that much or have shifted their attention to other interests. Instead of figuring out how to produce something that people want, RIAA and friends are trying to regulate the world. (Kinda like SCO tried to). It's also interesting to contrast AT&T's handling of digital subscribers with today's handling of analog service by Verizon and the "baby bells". Instead of embracing the realization that the phone company is just a bit conduit and figuring out how to make a sound business out of the very strong incumbent position that every baby bell possesses (namely: wires to your house), the baby bells are trying to push water uphill by attempting to regulate VOIP services offered by competitors. They should instead be trying to deregulate the voice business as fast as possible. shap ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Current thread:
- more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet? David Farber (May 02)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet? David Farber (May 03)
- more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet? David Farber (May 03)
- more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet? David Farber (May 03)
- more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet? David Farber (May 04)
- more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet? David Farber (May 04)
- more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet? David Farber (May 04)
- more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet? David Farber (May 05)
- more on Setting history straight: So, who really did invent the Internet? David Farber (May 09)