carissim* in effetti il TCP/IP di Cerf e Kahn ha introdotto nel 1973 il pacchetto di bit come il container delle merci di McLean nel 1956, tutti e due sono fantastici esempi di "spanning layer" che disaccoppiano il trasporto dal contenuto tutti e due hanno infatti aperto uno spazio prima inesistente per nuovi scenari applicativi ... la metafora dell'Economist puo' essere utile anche per paragonare la governance di Internet alla governance del traffico marino. Il traffico di pacchetti TCP/IP governato da leggi simili a quelle del mare intraviste nel 1796 (!) dall'italiano Domenico Azuni (1749-1827) nel suo "Sistema universale dei principi del diritto marittimo d'Europa" incaricato da Napoleone ... Ciao! A presto Norberto On Tue, 18 May 2010 17:51:10 +0200, J.C. DE MARTIN wrote
Economics focus
From shipsto bits
May 13th 2010
From The Economist print edition Commoncarriage is an ancient idea being applied to a modern probleminternetaccess
IT SOUNDSlike the most modern of regulatory problems. All internet servicesinvolve shipping bits of digital information from one computer toanother. These bits are gathered into packets and sent as electricalsignals down phone wires or cable networks (which can be pretty fast)or as pulses of light along optical fibres (which is faster still).Stringing wires or laying cables is expensive, so a company that owns aconnection that runs to the side of your housethe so-called lastmilehas tremendous power over potential rivals. On May 6thAmericas Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a plan toclassify the last mile of internet access as a telecommunicationsservice; it is currently classified as an information service. Sincethe 1930s providers of telecommunications services in America have beenobliged to agree on rates with the FCC. They cannot discriminate amongcustomers or traffic, and they have to contribute to a fund thatsubsidises rural connections. The new plan promises to refrain from anyprice regulation; the FCC wants to ensure primarily that packets passfrom point to point without preferential treatment. Most largetelecoms operators are unhappy with the plan. It will discourageinnovation and investment in expensive new networks, they say, and atelephone-era solution is unfit for the internet. They are wrong on atleast one count. The FCCs decision rests on the idea of commoncarriage, a principle that is, in fact, far older than the telephone. Excerpts fromJustinians Digest of Roman law suggest that 6th-century seacaptains, innkeepers and liverymen could not refuse board to any cargo,man or horse. [...] Continua qui: http://www.economist.com/business-finance/economics-focus/displayStory.cfm?s...
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