Re: The Internet and Acceptable Use Policies

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dan Lynch <dan () lynch com>
Date: September 7, 2008 9:08:28 PM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>, <lauren () vortex com>
Subject: Re: [IP] The Internet and Acceptable Use Policies

What a hoot!  "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" was an evening Soap Opera  
show in
the late 70s that got a large following and one of my computer  
operators at
SRI, Geoff Goodfellow, was a fan of it and set up an email discussion  
list
for people to comment on it.  It did take off as Lauren notes, and  
caused a
stir for a while.  I remember talking with Bob Kahn at ARPA then about  
it
and wondering when the hammer might be brought down on it and he said  
NO,
that it was pushing the envelope of network resources in many  
dimensions and
was doing network development a huge favor by the load it provided!

Dan


On 9/7/08 10:14 AM, "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net> wrote:

> BTW the NLR research network is intentionally AUP free not like ....  
> djf
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: September 7, 2008 12:47:53 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Cc: lauren () vortex com
> Subject: The Internet and Acceptable Use Policies
>
>
> Dave,
>
> The concept of *arbitrary* Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) for
> network users can often be defended in completely private, internal
> operating environments (and of course in specific government
> contexts).  However, once these networks move out into the public
> space in terms of users -- particularly in commercial operating modes
> and taking on increasingly "can't get along without them" public
> infrastructural roles -- arbitrary, capricious, anti-competitive, or
> purely profit-oriented AUPs can no longer be tolerated.
>
> I well remember the original ARPANET AUP and some of its rather
> amusing fallout.  Two of the very earliest ARPANET mailing lists were
> a "Wine Tasting" discussion list and a "Mary Hartman" list (this was
> all before the first creation of a mailing list digest -- as a
> "stopgap" measure for SF-LOVERS later on).  All of these lists
> (particularly the former two) were tiny by modern standards.  The
> Wine Tasting list got written up in "Datamation" magazine, and ARPA
> sent a Colonel around to remind everyone about the AUP.
>
> Yet here's the rub that's particularly of note today.  All sorts of
> things were going on in those early ARPANET days that technically
> violated the AUP, including some that would have caused considerably
> more public outcry if known at the time than a Wine Tasting list.
> Yet the amount of important development that was driven in e-mail and
> database systems, network communications systems, and many other
> areas to support those "forbidden" applications by enthusiastic
> users was huge.  If everyone had stuck tightly to the AUP I'm
> convinced that the negative impact on ARPANET and Internet
> development would have been enormous.
>
> ISPs imposing their own arbitrary AUPs, bandwidth caps, application
> filters and controls will likely have a similar stultifying effect.
> Not only are current applications that society now increasingly
> depends on at risk, but all manner of new Internet services,
> applications, and firms may be stillborn as a result.
>
> This is not to say that there shouldn't be policies regarding use of
> the Internet.  But I am saying that we have passed the time when
> such important decisions can be accepted when they're made in
> arbitrary manners without public scrutiny and without appropriate
> regulatory oversight.
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren Weinstein
> lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
> http://www.pfir.org/lauren
> Co-Founder, PFIR
>   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
> Co-Founder, NNSquad
>   - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
> Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
> Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
>
> - - -
>
> > As the author of the first  formal AUP, at least for the NSF  
> > networks,
> > I can assure you they were strong  and existed. Also Darpa had  
> > similar
> > works. The AUP evolved slowly to face reality  djf
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat net>
> > Date: September 7, 2008 10:37:51 AM EDT
> > To: dave () farber net, "ip" <ip () v2 listbox com>
> > Subject: Re: [IP] Re:   Breaking: Comcast Challenges FCC Order on Net
> > Management Practices
> >
> > DV:
> >
> > Lest we forget, AUPs have been enforced since the beginnings of the
> > ARPANet.
> > I remember having to read and follow Stanford's AUP in 1983, and
> > watching
> > as a few users who violated it were denied computing and/or network
> > privileges.
> >
> > It's important to remember that the Internet is a "network of
> > networks,"
> > with the owner of each of the networks maintaining administrative
> > control
> > of his or her "piece" of it. This is one of the key architectural
> > features
> > which distinguishes the Internet from the public switched telephone
> > network
> > (PSTN), which was originally a heavily regulated monopoly under
> > centralized
> > control.
> >
> > --Brett Glass
> >
> >
> >
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