-----Original Message-----
From: moore(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu
[mailto:moore(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu]
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 10:47 PM
I do however think that, given the tendency of various providers
these days to violate the internet protocol specifications and
erode the ability of applications to run on the network, the
community might benefit from some kind of "standardized" (in the
loose sense) description of IP service (rather than ISPs)
that could be
specified by customers. and IETF would appear to be the
organization
which is best suited to define such terms.
Keith,
It is akin to standardizing on what kind of light can come in your
neighbourhood. The vast majority of consumers care for applications,
not the transport that provides those services. This is why AOL can
have 25 million subscribers even though most technical people seem to
think very lowly of AOL (you can use only aol mail tool and nothing
else). As a technical person, you may not like their solution, but
they appear to meet requirements of their target market. The same
thing is true with WAP solutions on PDAs.
Standards, no matter who creates them and with what intensions, can't
be forced on either carriers or consumers. You can achieve better
results by supporting networks and solutions that are in line with
what you call "standardized IP", and clearly laying out benefits of
doing so for the rest of the world. If "non-compliant" networks start
losing customers, they will see merits in transforming their
solutions.
Cheers,
--brijesh
Ennovate Networks Inc.