IP: Internet "facilities" (fwd)

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>To: CYBERTELECOM-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
>From: A.M.Rutkowski <amr@NGI.ORG>
>Subject: Internet "facilities"
>Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 07:42:31 -0400
>
>Washington industry committees dealing with Internet related
>issues in telecom forums are becoming ever more frequent.
>ICAIS (ITU Internet settlements norms are an example).
>
>The dialogue typically involves lots of people familiar
>with the telecom regulatory world.  Frequently, many have
>only minimal cognizance about the Internet.
>
>As a result a kind of Internet regulatory "lingo" seems to
>be creeping into place that is not only inaccurate, but also
>potentially adverse to those in the Internet business because
>it predisposes the Internet to regulation.
>
>The current case in point is the fundamental characterization
>of the Internet as consisting of facilities and users.  The
>term "facilities" in the telecom and radio regulatory world
>if not the arena of administrative law in general - is one
>that since the origins of these activities is the most basic
>predicate for regulation.
>
>For example, the ITU Constitution frames the organization's
>purposes in terms of dealing with "technical facilities" and
>"telecommunication facilities."
>
>The Internet on the other hand - which is fundamentally sets
>of protocols for interprocess communication - consists of
>"resources."  The Internet has hosts, ports, processes,
>applications, and files; but there is no such thing as an
>"Internet facility."
>
>This "regulatory creep" is worth some attention.  The last
>thing that anyone in the Internet business needs is for the
>Internet to be recast as just another form of telecommunication
>ripe for regulation.
>
>--tony