Saturday, December 04, 2004

the horror, the horror

The tangled Internet: Is it time for a new one?
The Internet, some observers say, could collapse in the next few years under the strain.
Even if it survives, the soul of the Internet is up for grabs, other experts say. Growing concerns about security and commerce threaten its traditional openness.
[...]
The idea was to type "Log in." The team got as far as "L-o" before the system crashed at SRI. "So what was the first message on the Internet?" Kleinrock says. "'Lo,' as in 'Lo and behold!' We couldn't have planned it any better."
[...]
Meanwhile, Zittrain sees the possibility of two Internets developing, one offering the Internet2 concept of "trusted communities" of users on a system that is closed and secure.
But outside, the wide-open Internet would remain, "a vibrant jungle containing undiscovered riches and poisonous snakes" that adventurous people could volunteer to explore, he says (Christian Science Monitor).

So then, welcome to the jungle (or is it a bitter and nostalgic fantasy epic?) you wild and savage conspirapornogophers. If I2 is a "proprietary network," even if it's "1,000 times as fast," I for one want nothing to do with it. Unless I start working for NASA. Or begin instructing symphony conductors in Poland on the subtleties of their breathing techniques.

[Update: The story on George Tenet's call for a sheriff of the jungle is here.]

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