[IP] Re: Forbes story on the Cogent - Sprint depeering event

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

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




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