Interesting People mailing list archives
Re: Forbes story on the Cogent - Sprint depeering event
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 01:27:49 -0500
Begin forwarded message: From: "Mike O'Dell" <mo () ccr org> Date: December 3, 2008 8:31:23 PM EST To: dave () farber net Subject: Re: [IP] Forbes story on the Cogent - Sprint depeering event "With the general theme that the "built to survive a nuclear war" Internet is really a diaphenous thinly-meshed network of handshake agreements." As is the entirety of global business. "contracts" exist to help remind people, in moments of intemperence, what they agreed-to with a handshake (and to give lawyers something to get paid to argue over when the reminders don't work). *nothing* gets done unless people want it done what is amazing about the modern commercial Internet is that it exists *ONLY* because people wanted it to exist and invested blood, sweat, tears and a non-trivial number of dollars to will it into existence. That desire and force of will is still what really makes the packets get from interface A to interface B. There is no global entity "in charge" of making the Internet work it is certainly one of the largest, if not *the* largest and most complex collaboration in the history of mankind. The operative word here is *collaboration* - if enough people get "uncollaborative", things will get ugly. As it is, people are free to blow off as many of their own toes as they can hit. It so happens that in the Cogent - Sprint tiff, two parties went toe-hunting at the same time, to the disavantage of both sets of customers. To steal a phrase from the inimitable Walt Kelly (creator of the comic strip "Pogo"), "We have met the Internet, and he is us." -mo ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
Current thread:
- Forbes story on the Cogent - Sprint depeering event David Farber (Dec 03)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Forbes story on the Cogent - Sprint depeering event David Farber (Dec 03)
- Re: Forbes story on the Cogent - Sprint depeering event David Farber (Dec 03)
- Re: Forbes story on the Cogent - Sprint depeering event David Farber (Dec 04)