Last week's version of the spam discussions, led to an
interesting (to me) side-discussion about what was, and was not,
an "Internet connection" service. There have been discussions
on and off for years (since before the User Services area was
inactivated) about doing such a set of definitions. On my
general theory that it is better to try to actually do something
than it is to discuss forever how desirable it might be, I've
hacked a preliminary document together and posted it as
draft-klensin-ip-service-terms-00.txt.
This clearly isn't finished, indeed, it is not much more than a
skeleton with a few examples. It needs more work, probably
additional categories, and more clarity about the categories
that are there. If there is real interest in the subject, I'd
like to see someone else take over the writing and editing. If
there isn't any real, perhaps we can stop spending time
discussing the subject.
I-D announcement attached.
john
--- Begin Message ---
A New Internet-Draft is available from the on-line Internet-Drafts directories.
Title : Terminology for Describing Internet Connectivivy
Author(s) : J. Klensin
Filename : draft-klensin-ip-service-terms-00.txt
Pages : 6
Date : 2004-3-17
As the Internet has evolved, many types of arrangements have been
advertised and sold as 'Internet connectivity'. Because these may
differ significantly in the capabilities they offer, the range of
options, and the lack of any standard terminology, has cause
considerable consumer confusion. This document provides a list of
terms and definitions that may be helpful to providers, consumers,
and, potentially, regulators in clarifying the type and character of
services being offered.
A URL for this Internet-Draft is:
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-klensin-ip-service-terms-00.txt
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--- End Message ---