Re: A long strange trip

[Dick desJardins <desjardi@eos.nasa.gov>]

At 3:39 AM -0800 12/24/96, Jim Dueltgen wrote:

<snip>

The entire draft is predicated on a faulty assumption.  The Internet top
level domain space ceased to be a public trust the minute that NSI started
charging for domain name "ownership."  If it's a pubilc trust then it needs
to be funded by US Federal taxes or UN Sponsorship, neither of which is a
viable option in my opinion.  That said, "any administration, use and/or
evolution of the Internet TLD space IS [emphasis mine] a public policy
issue and must be carried out in an open and public manner in the
interests..." of all Internet participants, NOT "the public."

<snip>

I disagree that to be a public trust, a resource has to be funded
by US or UN taxes or sponsorship.

In the US at least, we have a long history of charging the users for
their use of the public resources.  I'm thinking of gasoline taxes that
pay for the public roads, airport fees that pay for the airport upgrades
and the operation of the national airspace system, park fees, etc.

Those resources are still public resources, and they are operated in
trust for the public.  Most airplanes are commercially operated, looking
for profit, but they cannot just fly wherever they want or whenever they want.
Both the airline industry regulating itself (e.g., interline transfers,
interline reservations and ticketing) as well as the Federal and
international authorities setting standards and serving as watchdog
are part of the total equation.

Same with the Internet.  A public resource, in part operating itself and
in part being watched over by governments and international
authorities for the public interest.

NSI is operating under a US Government contract, charging
"reasonable" user fees (where the "reasonable" part is in
controversy, but the contract was won fair and square, people
tried to come up with the right numbers -- just as the "$20,000" is
trying to come up with the right number to pay the true costs --
and NSI's contract expires RSN in truth).  Those user fees are
to operate a public resource on behalf of the public.  When the
NSI contract expires, then the public trust will be operated by the
new system we the public are now discussing.

The Internet international community is fledgling, and has evolution
and growing "pains" to go through, which it is doing with the
cooperation of everyone in the community.  It is a public trust,
just as the airways, roads, and telecommunications are.

Dick desJardins, speaking for myself
(disclosure: I am NASA representative to the FNC,
and I worked at DARPA in the mid-80s on the ARPAnet/Internet)

Dick desJardins
EOS Network Manager
GSFC Code 505, Greenbelt MD  20771
Phone 301-614-5329        FAX  -5267