[ih] What does being "in charge of the Internet" mean?

[Dave Crocker]

On 12/7/2022 3:55 PM, Jack Haverty via Internet-history wrote:
> IIRC, one of the fundamental questions of the "Internet Experiment" 
> was whether or not it was possible to create and operate a network for 
> which no one person or entity was "in charge".   Prior networks, such 
> as ARPANET, were managed and operated by a single locus of control, 
> e.g., DARPA/DCA for setting policy, and contractor BBN to handle the 
> technical operations of the switching fabric.

Given that the Internet had a single backbone for a long time, I'm not 
sure the no one in charge goal was pursued all that explicitly.

Rather it was backed into, when additional backbones developed 
independently, finally producing a concession to make it possible to 
support -- route among -- them equally.  And this was NSFNet time, not 
DARPA time.

d/

-- 
Dave Crocker
Brandenburg InternetWorking
bbiw.net
mast:@dcrocker at mastodon.social