The Internet as a Discontinuity
The Internet is a discontinuity from the tradition of telecommunications. In order to understand this transition we need to think about the very words we use. Traditional telecommunications providers are in the business of communicating on our behalf.
The Internet is very different. We speak for ourselves and don’t depend on third parties to carry our messages. We only ask for their “best efforts” to maintain our infrastructure.
This represents a challenge for our telecommunications policies that are operate on the assumption that we need a regulator to ensure that we can communicate.
In this talk (November 11, 2014, ISOCNY) I explain how the Internet represents a fundamental departure from that tradition and ask how our policies and legal precedents can be brought into alignment with this new reality.
