Right, but Google is also going to be deploying a internet connections, most likely via wireless (perhaps wimax, depending on how soon they get it off the ground). They'll be using all the dark fiber they've bought up as well as their vast number of blackboxes around the country... and this certainly will not be free, at least not from the standpoint of freedom! It'll very likely by dollar-free, though, which is an interesting contrast to Microsoft's likely course of action. One must choose the lesser of two evils, no? Michael Baron wrote:

I believe there are a number of major corporations (Microsoft included) that are trying to develop a so-called "NGN (Next Generation Network). However, there are a number of issues associated with it.

The simplest but yet the most comlex of them all is "who is going to pay for the maintanance and upgrades?" Right now, the Internet is free to use (ISP charges are for connection not for use of the network really). If Microsoft develops a private network of this kind, I doubt it is going to be "free for all".

On 8/2/07, Jeremy Hunsinger <jhuns@vt.edu> wrote:

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/01/news.internet/print

Jeremy Hunsinger Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (www.cipr.uwm.edu)

Words are things; and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. --Byron

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chose from :). If Public Internet is no longer feasible, we may end up with a

Public Internet: What do you mean by "public internet?" In terms of communications, a "Public network" is a term of art that refers to regulated common carriers; the Internet is not a regulated common carrier. The Internet is a mixture of publicly and privately owned interconnected networks; not all of those networks are available for public use. http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/public_internet.htm

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Right, but Google is also going to be deploying a internet connections, most likely via wireless (perhaps wimax, depending on how soon they get it off the ground). They'll be using all the dark fiber they've bought up as well as their vast number of blackboxes

If google does so, they will have to do it on someone else's network. They do not own (to my knowledge) wimax licenses. http://www.cybertelecom.org/broadband/wimax.htm Google can own all the dark fiber it wants - that is not the problem. The problem is last mile access to the individual generally at a residence. Google's solution here has been to support municipal wifi networks but otherwise Google is not a "last mile" player.

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I believe there are a number of major corporations (Microsoft included) that are trying to develop a so-called "NGN (Next Generation Network).

"Next Generation Internet" NGN is a term of art for standards work at the ITU. http://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/next_generation_network.htm It is an attempt at building a new Internet - but it is much distinguished from Geni. The Internet was the creation of the stupid network with the intelligence on the edge; NGN is the attempt to put the intelligence back into the network in the name of security and also billing and accounting. Geni is similar in concept, concluding that the legacy Internet is broken. This is a concern directly at TCP/IP. IP was built in an era of trust; everyone on net was govt, academics or researchers. But in the current era, this design has led to spam, DOS attacks, phishing, etc. GENI (similar to NGN) looks to get past this. NGN is largely a carrier creation that puts the carrier back in control of the network and what you get to use on the network - GENI is more consistent with the idea of the Internet.

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the maintanance and upgrades?" Right now, the Internet is free to use (ISP charges are for connection not for use of the network really). If

Subscribers (individuals, universities, municipalities or corporations) pay fees to their ISP - with this, ISPs pay fees to Internet backbones to interconnect - ISPs pay fees to telecommunications networks for facilities - ISPs pay fees to application services for applications. There is nothing free about the Internet - someone is always paying. There are some good papers that map the flow of money and value over the Internet (sorry I dont have a link for that one). =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= Cybertelecom :: Federal Internet Law & Policy www.cybertelecom.org