[ih] OSI and alternate reality: settlements

[vinton cerf]

Thanks for sharing that, John - it is really a testament to the Internet
community that sought to make end/end connectivity a benefit for everyone
and to leadership like Mitch Kapor's among many others.

vint


On Sat, Mar 16, 2024 at 7:31 PM John Gilmore via Internet-history <
internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> Greg Skinner via Internet-history <internet-history at elists.isoc.org>
> wrote:
> > imho, what made the Internet a resounding success was the "flat rate
> > and sender keeps all cost nature" of connection -- i.e. the lack of
> > "settlements" for traffic transited between interconnected networks as
> > is the case with the PSTN and was the case with the interconnected X
> > networks...  there was A Very Pivotal Moment in Internet history
> > where... that almost didn't happen ...
>
> This was something that Mitch Kapor was concerned about too.
>
> Shortly after forming EFF, Mitch joined the Commercial Internet Exchange
> and became its Chairman.  This was largely to understand the issues
> among the tiny new commercial ISPs, around Acceptable Use Policies and
> settlements, and to help the nascent ISP industry make some good
> choices.  Here's a note that he sent to com-priv in April 1992, noting
> that the CIX had adopted a "no settlements" policy for the interim, and
> asking to learn more about how settlements had worked in other networks.
> Dave Farber forwarded this inquiry to his Interesting-People list on the
> same day.
>
> At the time, CIX had 7 small members.  In the following months, Mitch
> also helped to cross-connect CIX with ANS (which ran NSFnet), allowing
> the NSFnet regionals to use ANS as an access network to reach the
> customers of CIX members (like me on Alternet).  See the excerpt from
> his June 1992 INET speech, appended below.
>
>         John
>
> Date: Sun, 5 Apr 92 11:27:08 EDT
> From: farber at central.cis.upenn.edu (David J. Farber)
> Message-Id: <9204051527.AA01784 at pcpond.cis.upenn.edu>
> To: interesting_people at dsl.cis.upenn.edu
> Subject: Request for Assistance
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> Received-Date: Sun, 5 Apr 92 10:07:50 EDT
> Posted-Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1992 09:55:48 -0400
> Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1992 09:55:48 -0400
> To: com-priv at psi.com
> From: mkapor at eff.org (Mitch Kapor)
> Subject: Request for Assistance
>
> Request for assistance:
>
> I am interested in developing a better understanding of the economics of
> interchange ("settlements") between networking carriers on the Internet.
>
> There has been much casual, sometimes heated, conversation on the subject
> but I have not seen anything yet which persuades me that we even have the
> basic Internet settlements problem well-framed, much less that any workable
> model is at hand.   Further, given the uneven movement from subsidized to
> self-supporting networks, it becomes even harder to imagine which set of
> arrangements approaches economic efficiency. (This is a principal reason
> why the CIX has adopted a "no settlements" policy for now.)
>
> Nonetheless,  it is becoming apparent (to me, at least) that the entire
> community needs to have a principled way to make sure, in a world of
> interconnected carriers, that no party unfairly bears costs.  As an initial
> step, I would greatly appreciate pointers to experts, organizations, and
> printed matter on the logic and practice of settlements in telephone
> networks, electronic funds transfer systems, EDI, or other in
> infrastructures, as well as generally relevant material from economics.
>
> Material of a tutorial or general background nature is preferred.
>
>
>
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> Mitch Kapor mkapor at eff.org
> Electronic Frontier Foundation
> Chairman, Commercial Internet Exchange
> (affiliations for purposes of identification only)
>
>  --------
>
> (Here's a relevant excerpt from Mitch's later June 1992 speech at INET 92:)
>
> I also serve as Chairman of the Commercial Internet Exchange, or CIX, a
> not for profit trade association of commercial Internet providers in the
> U.S.  and Europe.  CIX has 7 members, all interconnected, all exchanging
> traffic with one another without any Acceptable Use Policy.  I was
> partly responsible for recent ANS-CIX interconnection by which
> U.S. mid-level, regional networks can use ANS as transit network to
> connect with CIX.  ANS operates the NSFNET national backbone in the U.S.
> With this important first step accomplished, we are now working toward
> broadening CIX membership and getting the commercial part of ANS to
> join.
> --
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>