🚀 go-pugleaf

Kent Fitch (fit106@its.csiro.au) wrote:
: I was told the other day that the growth in the "commercial" use of Internet
: in the USA is outstripping the growth of traditional users such as education/
: research organizations.  Is this true?  If so, how is it being managed, and 
: are similar things happening in Australia?

I  suppose  the  most  appropriate  response  is that if Internet provides a
viable solution to the communications needs of  the  academic  and  research
sector  then  it  is  highly  probable  that other sectors can also see cost
effective solutions to their communications needs - after all a system on  a
desk is a system on a desk  -  no matter where the desk is. 

Look at it another way - what else is around - OSI???


: What is the view of the Internet/AARNet custodians to this trend - encouragement
: or fear & loathing?  Will traffic charges be introduced based on "type" of
: user?

It  all  depends on how large your vision is - I can certainly indicate that
the Internet Society view is that of ubiquitous infrastructure ... the  work
in IPv7 takes as a starting parameter an Internet of 100 million systems and 
requires  growth  above  and  beyond  that  -  thats as good a definition of 
comprehensive infrastructure as you'll ever get. 

: What about general and direct public access (to any home with a UNIX or NT box)?
: Are Telecom/Optus involved here - what about other carriers overseas?
: What is happening in other areas such as Europe, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan?

All  these  questions  - there are detailed answers to them but I don't have
the time to answer at length. However there is a fundamental aspect  of  any
general  purpose  communcations system: unless it gets _everywhere_ it isn't
achieving its maximal power. And there's little doubt that there are  strong
pressures  at  work  all  over  the  Internet  to  push  the  boundaries  of
connectivity further and further towards ubiquity. 

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associated with expansion of the Internet into wider domains. 

Geoff Huston