Re: [wg-review] The owners of "the Internet" must manage it for their own benefit

[Bret Busby <bret@clearsol.iinet.net.au>]

"Miles B. Whitener" wrote:
> 
> > The Internet was created by the military and
> > academia.....we can not let it become a commercial enterprise.
> 
>   I think it's not only wrong to say the above but it's also too
> late.
>   While we like to think of it otherwise, the Internet actually
> does consist of hardware, software, rights of way, and spectrum
> allocations.  Somebody owns every scrap of it.  There's a
> distribution of ownership from "public" (whatever that is) at one
> end of the spectrum, to individual governments, to educational
> institutions, to corporations, down to individuals (I own my
> router, hubs, computers, wires, and have rights to use my IP
> numbers [which one can't really operate without] and domains
> [which one definitely can operate without -- DNS only works by
> voluntary agreement and can be easily replaced] as long as I keep
> paying).
>   I pay taxes to the US Government, and can vote on my
> representation there.
>   I pay fees to my Internet provider, and can complain, sue, shop
> or move if I don't like them.
>   I own some of my own hardware and software, and can protect
> myself against anybody who tries to take them.
>   To the extent that rights to determine how "the Internet" is
> managed are allocated proportionately among the owners of "the
> Internet",  it will be taken care of and invested in.  This is
> very much easier said than done, but it's the truth.  This logic
> applies at all levels and between every kind of owner, including
> governments.  For example, if the United States
> disproportionately gives up control, it will surely divest.
>   Any valid consideration of the concerns of anybody who does not
> own any of the Internet will flow from the good will of those who
> do.  If such considerations are forced from the owners, they will
> divest themselves to the extent that they have any alternatives.
> And remember that one alternative is to simply cease to be
> engaged in anything.  You can kill me, but you can't make me work
> as your slave!
>   Now, having stated the truth, I wonder if there's anybody on
> this list who agrees.  For reasons I don't know, most folk I
> encounter in these groups are one kind of socialist or another.
>   Flame away!

Ah, yes, but, who do you say owns the Internet? What are the criteria
for defining ownership of the Internet?

-- 

Bret Busby

Armadale, West Australia

......................................
"So once you do know what the question actually is, you'll know what the
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 - Douglas Adams, 1988 
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