free internet threatened

[Thayer]

The following was posted this morning on WISENET in response to a message
similar to that which appeared on TAXACOM yesterday:

>>>beginning of forwarded message<<<<

there are many changes as the Internet grows, but the changes are really not
that drastic that are being proposed.  Here is a note from Steve Wolf from
NSF:

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Date:      Fri, 4 Jun 1993 15:37:17 -0600
From:      Stephen Wolff <steve at cise.cise.nsf.gov>
Subject:   INTERNET

This is the responsible office in the NSF, and I am the responsible person.

There is no "plan to limit free use of INTERNET..."

In the first place, there is no such thing as "free use of INTERNET".  Each
and every institution with Internet access pays a service provider real money
every year for the institution's connection.  Most institutions do not
however trickle those charges down to users, but pay for them out of general
operating funds.

Service providers, most of whom serve a limited geographical area, attain
national and international coverage via the NSFNET BackBone Service, which
has hitherto been centrally funded by an award to Merit, Inc. and provided
to the regional service providers at no charge.

Since the beginning of the current NSFNET Backbone Service in 1987, a lively
and competitive commercial market in Internet carriage has emerged, with
multiple vendors offering robust, nationwide, commodity-level services.
Continued centralized funding of a Backbone Service by the Foundation is no
longer justified, as it would place the Federal government in direct
competition with the private sector.

Awards made under the currently active solicitation will include awards to
regional networks to purchase backbone service on the open market.  That is,
the NSF will switch from supplier funding to user funding.

The NSF is committed to continuity of network service to the research and
education community; we will take whatever steps are necessary to assure it.

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-phil

--
     J. Philip Miller, Professor, Division of Biostatistics, Box 8067
         Washington University Medical School, St. Louis MO 63110
          phil at wubios.WUstl.edu - (314) 362-3617 [362-2693(FAX)]

>>>>>end of forwarded message<<<<<<


Margaret Thayer       thayer at fmnh785.fmnh.org
 Zoology-Insects, Field Museum of Natural History
 Chicago IL 60605, USA