Re: De-funding the ITU

[George Herbert <george.herbert () gmail com>]

On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 7:27 AM, John Levine <johnl () iecc com> wrote:
> > > There'd have to be some organization to negotiate and oversee
> > > international settlements and other, similar, regulations.
> >
> > Why? The internet has operated just fine without such for quite some time
> > now.
>
> The Internet is held together with spit and duct tape, and sucks for
> connections that need a stable low-jitter channel, we've all noticed.
> It has no principle of universal service.
>
> The Internet does what it does surprisingly well, but it's not the
> same kind of network as the phone system.  We all know of the abuses
> that can come with mandatory interconnection and settlements, but the
> solution is not to cut off the poor countries.

I'm not sure that this mythical "kind of network as the phone system"
allegedly is describes the reality of the phone network...

That said, two comments:

1. I generally agree that the Internet has too much spit and duct tape, however;

2. Siccing the ITU on that problem - or allowing them near it - would
be a disaster of a magnitude not often seen in human affairs.


-- 
-george william herbert
george.herbert () gmail com