This story in MIT Technology Review scares me.

Instead of letting all computers within the network communicate freely, Ethane is designed so that communication privileges within the network have to be explicitly set; that way, only those activities deemed safe are permitted. “With hindsight, it’s a very obvious thing to do,” McKeown says.

No matter how obvious it seems, it’s still a really bad idea. It’s hard to imagine a world without the internet now, which makes it especially easy to dismiss the critical features that made it possible. The internet was born and has thrived because of the very thing McKeown is trying to kill: freedom.

TCP/IP, the foundation protocol of the internet, has spurred innovation because of how open it is. Bruce Sterling’s Short History of the Internet explains how that freedom supported the network’s rapid, noting, “As long as individual machines could speak the packet-switching lingua franca of the new, anarchic network, their brand-names, and their content, and even their ownership, were irrelevant.”

And not only did TCP/IP allow the internet usage to explode the way it did, it supported the rush of innovation that made the internet useful. Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of email as we know it today, is reported to have said, “don’t tell anyone! This isn’t what we’re supposed to be working on,” when he introduced it to his friend.

Inventor of HTTP, HTML, the first web server, and browser, Tim Berners-Lee explains how that freedom helped make the World Wide Web possible:

When, seventeen years ago, I designed the Web, I did not have to ask anyone’s permission. The new application rolled out over the existing Internet without modifying it. I tried then, and many people still work very hard still, to make the Web technology, in turn, a universal, neutral, platform. It must not discriminate against particular hardware, software, underlying network, language, culture, disability, or against particular types of data.

Now imagine what might have happened if Ray had to ask the network administrators for permission for his new email application. How much longer would it have taken to develop? What if TimBL needed permission to play with this silly web idea?

I suppose I might take some comfort from Scott Mace, who screams“

Academics have to earn their pay somehow, and lately, a lot of them have once again been spending more time trying to reinvent the Internet than fixing our education system. I say that with a certain bitter memory from the dot-com bubble years, when so many academics (and ultimately, a short-lived boomlet of vendors) labored so long to bring ”smart“ networking to the masses. Guess what, it never happened.

But instead I see it as another example of the battle between anarchists and oligarchs as described by Siva Vaidhyanathan, and I’m afraid that, as with DRM, this conflict might tilt towards the established oligarchs, no matter how short sighted they may be.

Separately, and somewhat amusingly, Berlin and NYC want their own private internet, and Dan the Mennonite wants one too.

Nick McKeown, anarchistic, anarchists vs. oligarchs, bad idea, dumb networks, ethane, freedom, freedom vs. control, intelligent networks, internet, networks, private internet, tcp/ip

Posted April 4, 2007 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Libraries & Networked Information, Politics & Controversy, Technology. Tags: anarchistic, anarchists vs. oligarchs, bad idea, dumb networks, ethane, freedom, freedom vs. control, intelligent networks, internet, networks, Nick McKeown, private internet, tcp/ip.

1 Comment(s)

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

 

User contributed tags for this post:

internet (64) - www.sexygirl.com (47) - pinkword dotcom (16) - stupidvidio.com (13) - japon porno (11) - www.sex vidio.com (10) - bruce lee filimleri (7) - JAPON FİLİMLERİ (6) - www.stupid video.com (6) - www.sexygirl (6) - pinkword sex video.com (5) - STUPID VIDIO (5) - porno filimleri (5) - www.sex cartoon.com (5) - www.xxxl.sex.video.com (5) - vidio six girls (4) - ww89com (4) - japon.porno.com (4) - sex franca (4) - stupid video.com (4) - seventeen.video.com (4) - seventeen vidio.com (4) - www.JAPON PORNO.com (4) - stupid video com (4) - www.japon.sex.com (4) - arab sexes vidio (3) - WWW.89.VİDİO.COM (3) - www.vidio.com.kh (3) - 89 vidio (3) - www.89 vidio.com (3) - www.stupid vidio.com (3) - franca.sex (3) - www.world.wide.sex.com (3) - www.japon sex.com (3) - www,vidoearab,com (3) - porno vidio sexe 89.com (3) - http://family-sex-video.com/ (3) - www.arab sex video.com (3) - sex.franca (3) - www.sex video.com (3) - www.porno vidio.com (3) - WWW.89.VIDIO (2) - xxxlsex arab (2) - TCP IP criticisms 2007 (2) - www.animal video.com (2) - xxl sex video-com (2) - franca sex.com (2) - www.google.vidio.com (2) - xxxl.video.com (2) - www.sexy video.com (2) - http://www.animal sex vidio.com/ (2) - www.xxxl sex vedio (2) - sexfranca (2) - في sexy cartoon (2) - japon-sex.com (2) - seventeenporno (2) - WWW.JAPON.PORNO.COM (2) - www.family video sex.com (2) - WWW.GOOGLE XXL VIDOE ARAB.COM (2) - www.bangla sexi video.com (2) - seventeen porno.com (2) - www.sex franca (2) - www.animal sex vidio.com (2) - www.sex video arab.com (2) - في WWW.SEX.COM\ (2) - all cartoon network sex.com (2) - www.franca sex.com (2) - Pinkword dot com (2) - poron filimleri (2) - www.stupid girls sex.com (2) - www arabic sex dot com (2) - arab sexygirl.com (2) - www.Xxxl.sex video.com (2) - www sexygirl.com (2) - sex vidio.com (2) - sexe franca (2) - ethane network (2) - www.xxxl video.com (2) - www.animalsex.com89 (2) - sex.com in franca (2) - www xxx very in world vidio (2) - franca sex (2) - ww.sex arab.com (2) - smart networks (2) - sex vedio franca (2) - seventeen sexs vidoe (2) - sexygirl.com (2) - ww vidio sexs (2) - site:maisonbisson.com www.sexygirl,com (2) - www.sex.vidio (2) - PINKWORD (2) - www sex arab kom de (1) - vidiosexi (1) - poron japon (1) - xxl vidoe (1) - www.franca.porno.sex.com. (1) - www.sex com girl vidio.com (1) - WWW.VIDIO ARAB PORNO.COM (1) - xxxxl sex video (1) - www.stupidvidio.com (1) - www\google\vidio dvd sex xxx (1) - sex,frança (1) - www.google@video.com (1) - www 89.vidio com (1) - FİX JAPON PORNO (1) - arabsex vidio.com (1) - aflam xxxxl (1) - xxl vidoe sex (1) - www.japon porno filmler. com (1) - les stupide video de xxl (1) - www.sex cartoon vidio.com (1) - www.arab sex porno video.com (1) - www.xxxl sexygirl .com (1) - arabic sex vidio.com (1) - franca porno (1) - cartoon sexy vidio.com (1) - japon sex filimleri (1) - www.worldsexyvidio (1) - arabic xxx vidio.com (1) - all sexes vidio com. (1) - video stupid sexe (1) - arab xxxxl vidio (1) - www.xxxxl vidio.com (1) - www.sexygirl. video.com (1) - channel xxxl sex (1) - 89 vidio.com (1) - 89.com fuk (1) - vidio sex japon, (1) - www.seventeensex.com (1) - www.animalsex.kom (1) - aflam frança (1) - www.Arab sex.Dot.com (1) - SEXY VIDIO ARAB GIRL (1) - 1.arab sex.com (1) - world sexy vidio.com (1) - www.sexes vidio.com (1) - www.franca porno (1) - poron cartoon.tv (1) - في 89 sexi video (1) - www.google sexes.com (1) - WWW.WORLD SEXY VIDIO.COM (1) - banglasexi move (1) - CATOON NETWORK PORON (1) - ww.sex cartoon.com (1) - porno vidio sexi (1) - www.89.poron sex.com (1) - vidio.six (1) - smart,sexygirl (1) - www.worldsexyvidio.com.in (1) - xxxl porno clip arabic (1) -