[Chapter-delegates] What are the characteristics of theInternet tobe preserved ?

Sun Sep 7 09:08:29 PDT 2008

Hello Siva,

thanks for forwarding this interesting presentation. The Grid certainly demonstrates the feeling of hope and anticipation that Web 2.0 would be the next "killer ap", the next big bubble. IMHO, alas, the Grid and the ideas presented in this presentation did not take into account the Telecommunication Provider (Telco) point of view, which is: everybody else has cashed in on services, why shouldn't we?
In other words, the Grid would only be possible if Telcos wanted it. It appears that they don't. Or at least, they do, but only with their direct involvement and their terms. Along with most Intellectual Property owners, they consider P2P as a threat, not an asset.

My thoughts on what needs to be fundamentally preserved:

- "the internet is for everyone": promote Internet access worldwide. There are still many many communities that do not have Internet access. With the developed world's economy & processes relying more on more on the Internet, we might soon see an "underclass" of people without Internet access, that will be treated as 2d class citizens. As for the developing world, it is still today *very* expensive to have sustainable internet access in many places. The fact that a country has full internet connectivity does not mean affordable access everywhere.

- Network Neutrality
I am a firm believer that NN needs to be preserved. Without NN on the Internet, Google, Yahoo, Skype, Facebook & any other startups would not be in existence today. Why? Because without NN, before proposing a new service on the Internet, you'd need to ask for authorisation to pump that type of traffic into the Net; and Telcos would have probably said no. I've been there & done that.

- Freedom of Speech
Yes, the Internet is the warrant for your freedom. The day there will be no freedom of speech on the Internet, be afraid; be very afraid. Examples already abound, so I won't go any further.

- Open Standards
Do not, I repeat, do not let one vendor, one company, one organisation provide you with one single product. Monopoly = bad. I am not prejudiced and am happy using products from the big boys out there, as much as I also make use of OpenSource. But standards need to be open for creativity to prevail.

- Enough Addressing for everyone
Yes, I call this "preserving" enough addresses. And if there are not enough for future expansion, then find a way to create some. In other words, move on to IPv6. This really goes onto: "the internet is for everyone". With limited IPv4 real estate available, trust me, once it gets costly, the Internet won't be for everyone.

- Better be late than wrong
This is something which I have felt recently. A mistake on the Internet's development can get *very* costly. This is why any policy change seems to take so long. Ultimately, there is enough collective wisdom for the right decision to be taken. Make sure it stays that way. If it smells, it's fishy.

- Keep politics out of it
The Internet brings people together. It should not be a political instrument. Of course many disagree with me. Hidden agenda, anyone? :-)

I hope this provides you with a good starter.

Warmest regards,

O.

-- 
Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond, Ph.D.
E-mail:<ocl at gih.com> | http://www.gih.com/ocl.html

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Sivasubramanian Muthusamy 
  To: Rajnesh D. Singh 
  Cc: Chapter Delegates 
  Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 3:27 PM
  Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] What are the characteristics of theInternet tobe preserved ?

  Hello Rajnesh Singh,

  Thank you very much for pointing me to the right document. 

  Also, please take a look at the document (attached) by Michael Nelson, former Vice President Policy of ISOC presented at Oxford over two years ago - If this Document entirely goes along with ISOC's principles, I would like to use it. (Looks like it is, but there is one section in the document on "Grid" , a discussion that I have not found anywhere in ISOC.)

  Please guide me.

  Siavasubramanian M.

  On Sun, Sep 7, 2008 at 6:04 PM, Rajnesh D. Singh <singh at isoc.org> wrote:

    Hi Shiva,

    You may find the ISOC white paper on UCI of some relevance. Please see:

    http://www.isoc.org/pubpolpillar/usercentricity/

    Regards,

    R.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    From: chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org [mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] On Behalf Of Sivasubramanian Muthusamy
    Sent: Sunday, 7 September 2008 6:14 AM
    To: Chapter Delegates
    Subject: [Chapter-delegates] What are the characteristics of the Internet tobe preserved ?

    Hello All,

    If a venerable veteran of Internet is invited to address a group of sophomore students on their first day at the Internet Policy and Governance class, what would he list as the essential characteristics of the Internet ?

    Access? Affordable Access ? Access without barriers ? Access without discrimination of any kind ?  ( What is Internet for All ? ) 

    User-Centricity ?  ( what is that ? )

    Neutral ? What kind of neutrality ?  Neutral of technical standards ? Neutral of political, religious and social ideologies ? 

    freedome ?  of speech ? freedom from controls ?

    Unity (or) a single internetwork ?

    Openness - Open Technical Standards ? Open to commerce free of barriers ? Open to changes ?

    What are the characteristics of the Internet that can be listed together as features of the Internet that needs to be preserved ?

    -- Sivasubramanian Muthusamy
    ISOC India Chennai
    http://isocmadras.blogspot.com
    http://www.linkedin.com/in/sivasubramanianmuthusamy

    _______________________________________________
    Chapter-delegates mailing list
    Chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
    http://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-delegates

  -- 
  http://www.linkedin.com/in/sivasubramanianmuthusamy

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  _______________________________________________
  Chapter-delegates mailing list
  Chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
  http://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-delegates
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://elists.isoc.org/mailman/private/chapter-delegates/attachments/20080907/54d2a399/attachment.htm>