[wg-review] A Reply to Miles B. Whitener... Re: The owners of "the Internet" must manage it for their own benefit

[Sotiropoulos <sotiris@hermesnetwork.com>]

1/12/01 12:47:39 PM, "Miles B. Whitener" <mbw@i-theta.com> wrote:

>  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).

Really?  What if the owners are playing a shell game or selling swamp land in Florida friend?  
And just who are the "owners" anyway?  Where would the Internet be without the Information, the content?  
Let me tell you... on the scrap heap, and you'd be starving.

Shall we allow the people who own the hardware (and make a fair sum) to also dictate the content?  Shall I let my waiter 
choose my meal, or shall I eat what I please?  After all, I am paying for it.  Let's not overlook the obvious.  Frankly, I am *almost*
insulted you would even attempt that one on this List.

>  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.

What about the rest of us!!! out here in the WORLD!  How much do you think we've invested?  Do you realize that there is a "place" beyond the barrier 
of your skull where Others actually exist!!??

>  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.

Yeah Right!!! That's a good one!!!  Save it pal... put it in the cooffee tins and cupboards, the rest of us have currencies too...  

>  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!

How about extinguishing your flame?  you sound angry... perhaps because the rest of us ain't stupid?

Sotiris Sotiropoulos
          Hermes Network, Inc.






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