The Freedom To Connect

Bell Labs rebel David Isenberg gathered a cross-disciplinary group to discuss the intersection of politics and the internet.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [May 3, 2005]

Woodstock it wasn't, but the Freedom To Connect conference did start with an unusual performance. To set a tone of collegial informality, Isenberg performed a poem that every ISP could relate to, containing such lines as "a trillion dollars is a lot of dough/ and the telcos and their allies won't let go" and "bad laws don't change when we ignore them/ it's our duty to abhor them."

Isenberg earned permanent cred when, in his essay "The Rise of the Stupid Network" he told AT&T that they were building the wrong network, that the network of the future would be flexible, changeable, and programmable, unlike the proprietary, closed, and purpose built POTS network. He called the network of the future the "stupid network." It was 1997 and he worked for Bell Labs, who immediately tried to suppress the report (and failed).

The age of Aquarius
Now we're in the age of the internet. A few years ago the internet seemed inevitable, and progress seemed unstoppable, but the internet has come up against a variety of problems. Some want government to solve them, but Susan Crawford spoke in detail about all the ways government intervention could make things worse, not better.

Freedom of speech lawyer Robert Corn-Revere explained how regulation of speech is changing radically, and said that the internet is the first new medium where speech was not more heavily regulated than the public realm, in contrast to television and radio.

Vint Cerf (who needs no introduction) warned (see Cerf Says Symmetry is Beautiful) that innovation is trashing internet standards even as it enables things he never foresaw.

We are at a moment of change in the history of the internet. Actually, since the internet is new, we are always at a moment of massive change. What distinguishes this particular moment from those in the past is that the changes are largely political, legal, and regulatory. It's not about innovation, but about how government intervention may or may not solve problems ranging from spam to pornography to fraud to the business climate.

Groups like Cynthia de Lorenzi's Washington Bureau for ISP Advocacy as well as news outlets like your own ISP-Planet exist to keep you informed of the changes that could be in the works. Conferences like ISPCON play a similar role.

The changes highlighted in the Freedom To Connect conference concern: the freedom of speech, the role of government, regulation, copyright laws, and internet availability.

We will continue to address these core issues as we write up what we learned from the Freedom To Connect conference.

For ISPs, the most immediate question is whether the government will create a better business climate or a more difficult business climate.

We will examine:

• MCI's proposal for common sense regulation of the Internet based on the theory that ownership of one layer shouldn't control another, endorsed in off the cuff remarks by the FCC's Robert Cannon
  
  
• The changing face of the internet, as described by Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet & American Life Project
  
  
• Law professor Susan Crawford's warnings about the myriad ways the U.S. government could get it wrong if asked to jump in and solve problems
  
  
• Remarks on competition from CEO of PatriotNet Cynthia de Lorenzi and Jack Baron, CEO of VoIP outfit PAETEC.
  
  
• A whole new way of doing business in the telecosm, presented by Matt Wenger of Packetfront whose slogan for their latest service management product is "we enable the freedom of choice others only talk about"
  
  
• Short presentations from Episcopalian seminarian AKM Adam, UK access activist Brian Condon, backbone and peering expert Farooq Hussain, third world connectivity professor Rahul Tongia, and more
  
  
• The summary as told by David Weinberger

— End