<LONG>Fwd: MeteredUseOfTheInter.

[JPMartin1 -at- AOL -dot- COM]

For those who haven't seen this...
Even though many of us have corporate access, that access may become even
more restricted. I believe it's in our best interests to support this.
---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj:    Metered Use of the Internet (fwd)
Date:    94-05-31 19:20:14 EDT
From:    billwinn -at- u -dot- washington -dot- edu
To:      JPMartin1


Date: Mon, 30 May 1994 16:07:58 EDT
From: Steve Grochowsky <sgrochow -at- MED -dot- UNC -dot- EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list NURSENET
     <NURSENET%UTORONTO -dot- BITNET -at- uwavm -dot- u -dot- washington -dot- edu>
Subject: Metered Use of the Internet (fwd)

> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>  Date: Wed, 25 May 1994 11:55:48 -0400
>  From: "Dee Pullen (CIRC)" <dpullen -at- DUDLEY -dot- LIB -dot- USF -dot- EDU>
>  Subject: PLEASE READ (fwd)
>  To: Multiple recipients of list LIBSUP-L <LIBSUP-L%UWAVM -dot- BITNET -at- asu -dot- edu>

>  Folks,
>  If you haven't seen this and you are interested in using the Internet in
>  the future you may find it of interest to read the following and to
>  respond.


>           Subject: Metered Usage of the Internet: JSN

>           A very bad storm is brooding on the horizon.

>           In the future, you might have to pay a charge for every E-mail
>           message you send or receive, every Usenet article you read,
>           every kilobyte of data you transfer with ftp, every hypertext
>           link you follow with NCSA Mosaic or Gopher...

>           Hopefully this frightens you as much as it does me.
>           But it will happen, unless YOU do something about it.

>           Please read the attached, fill out the requested info, and
>           mail it back to mike -at- essential -dot- org -dot-   It also wouldn't hurt to
>           forward a copy of this to everyone you know on the Internet.

>           Thanks for your support.

>           Craig Smith, <bcs -at- cs -dot- tamu -dot- edu  or <craig -at- stat -dot- tamu -dot- edu
>           Texas A&M University, Dept. of Computer Science
>           205 HRBB, 862-2084 (CPSC).   [PGP2 Public Key Available on
Request]
>           ---

>           TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT - INFORMATION POLICY NOTE
>           May 7, 1994

>           -    Request for signatures for a letter to NSF opposing metered
>                pricing of Internet usage

>           -    Please repost this request freely

>           The letter will be sent to Steve Wolff, the Director of
>           Networking and Communications for NSF.  The purpose of the letter
>           is to express a number of user concerns about the future of
>           Internet pricing.  NSF recently announced that it is awarding
five
>           key contracts to telephone companies to operate four Internet
>           "Network Access Points" (NAPs), and an NSF funded very high speed
>           backbone (vBNS).  There have been a number of indications that
>           the telephone companies operating the NAPs will seek permission
>           from NSF to price NAPs services according to some measure of
>           Internet usage.  The vBNS is expected to act as a testbed for new
>           Internet pricing and accounting schemes.  The letter expresses
>           the view that metered pricing of Internet usage should be
>           avoided, and that NSF should ensure that the free flow of
>           information through Internet listserves and file server sites is
>           preserved and enhanced.

>             Jamie Love, Taxpayer Assets Project (love -at- essential -dot- org; but
>                unable to answer mail until May 15).  Until then, direct
>                inquires to Michael Ward.

>           If you are willing to sign the letter, send the following
>                information to Mike Ward of the Taxpayer Assets Project
>                (mike -at- essential -dot- org, fax: 202/234-5176; voice: 202/387-8030;
>                P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036):

>           Names:    ___________________________
>           Title:    ___________________________   (Optional)
>           Affiliation:   ____________________________________
>           (for purposes of identification only)
>           Address:       ______________________________________
>           City; St, Zip  ________________________________
>           Email Address: _____________________________________
>           Voice:         __________________________________
>           (for verification)

>                                       The letter follows:

>           Steve Wolff
>           Director
>           Division of Networking and Communications
>           National Science Foundation
>           1800 G Street
>           Washington, DC  20550

>           Dear Steve:

>           It is our understanding that the National Science Foundation
>           (NSF) and other federal agencies are developing a new
>           architecture for the Internet that will utilize four new Network
>           Access Points (NAPs), which have been described as the new
>           "cloverleaves" for the Internet.  You have indicated that NSF is
>           awarding contracts for four NAPs, which will be operated by
>           telephone companies (Pac Bell, S.F.; Ameritech, Chicago; Sprint,
>           NY; and MFS, Washington, DC).  We further understand that NSF has
>           selected MCI to operate its new very high speed backbone (vBNS)
>           facility.

>           There is broad public interest in the outcome of the negotiations
>           between NSF and the companies that will operate the NAPs and
>           vBNS.  We are writing to ask that NSF consider the following
>           objectives in its negotiations with these five firms:

>                PRICING.

>           We are concerned about the future pricing systems for Internet
>           access and usage.  Many users pay fixed rates for Internet
>           connections, often based upon the bandwidth of the connection,
>           and do not pay for network usage, such as the transfer of data
>           using email, ftp, Gopher or Mosaic.  It has been widely reported
>           on certain Internet discussion groups, such as com-priv, that the
>           operators of the NAPs are contemplating a system of usage based
>           pricing.

>           We are very concerned about any movement toward usage based
>           pricing on the Internet, and we are particularly concerned about
>           the future of the Internet Listserves, which allow broad
>           democratic discourse on a wide range of issues.  We believe that
>           the continued existence and enhancement of the Internet
>           discussion groups and distribution lists is so important that any
>           pricing scheme for the NAPs that would endanger or restrict their
>           use should be rejected by the NSF.

>           It is important for NSF to recognize that the Internet is more
>           than a network for scientific researchers or commercial
>           transactions.  It represents the most important new effort to
>           expand democracy into a wide range of human endeavors.  The open
>           communication and the free flow of information have make
>           government and private organizations more accountable, and
>           allowed citizens to organize and debate the widest range of
>           matters.  Federal policy should be directed at expanding public
>           access to the Internet, and it should reject efforts to introduce
>           pricing schemes for Internet usage that would mimic commercial
>           telephone networks or expensive private network services such as
>           MCI mail.

>           To put this into perspective, NSF officials must consider how any
>           pricing mechanisms will change the economics of hosting an
>           Internet electronic mail discussion groups and distribution
>           lists.  Many of these discussion groups and lists are very large,
>           such as Humanist, GIS-L, CNI-Copyright, PACS-L, CPSR-Announce or
>           Com-Priv.  It is not unusual for a popular Internet discussion
>           group to have several thousand members, and send out more than
>           100,000 email messages per day.  These discussion groups and
>           distribution lists are the backbones of democratic discourse on
>           the Internet, and it is doubtful that they would survive if
>           metered pricing of electronic mail is introduced on the Internet.

>           Usage based pricing would also introduce a wide range of problems
>           regarding the use of ftp, gopher and mosaic servers, since it
>           conceivable that the persons who provide "free" information on
>           servers would be asked to pay the costs of "sending" data to
>           persons who request data.  This would vastly increase the costs
>           of operating a server site, and would likely eliminate many
>           sources of data now "published" for free.

>           We are also concerned about the types of  accounting mechanisms
>           which may be developed or deployed to facilitate usage based
>           pricing schemes., which raise a number of concerns about personal
>           privacy.  Few Internet users are anxious to see a new system of
>           "surveillance" that will allow the government or private data
>           vendors to monitor and track individual usage of Information
>           obtained from Internet listserves or fileserves.

>                ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES

>                We are also concerned about the potential for anti-
>           competitive behavior by the firms that operate the NAPs.  Since
>           1991 there have been a number of criticisms of ANS pricing
>           practices, and concerns about issues such as price discrimination
>           or preferential treatment are likely to become more important as
>           the firms operating the NAPs become competitors of firms that
>           must connect to the NAPs.  We are particularly concerned about
>           the announcements by PAC-Bell and Ameritech that they will enter
>           the retail market for Internet services, since both firms were
>           selected by NSF to operate NAPs.  It is essential that the
>           contracts signed by NSF include the strongest possible measures
>           to insure that the operators of the NAPs do not unfairly
>           discriminate against unaffiliated companies.

>           Recommendations:

>           As the Internet moves from the realm of the research community to
>           a more vital part of the nation's information infrastructure, the
>           NSF must ensure that its decisions reflect the needs and values
>           of a much larger community.

>           1.   The NSF contracts with the NAPs operators will include
>                clauses that determine how the NAP services will be priced.
>                It is important that NSF disclose and receive comment on all
>                pricing proposals before they become final.  NSF should
>                create an online discussion list to facilitate public dialog
>                on the pricing proposals, and NSF should identify its
>                criteria for selecting a particular pricing mechanism,
>                addressing the issue of how the pricing system will impact
>                the Internet's role in facilitating democratic debate.

>           2.   NSF should create a consumer advisory board which would
>                include a broad cross section of consumer interests,
>                including independent network service providers (NSPs),
>                publishers of Internet discussion groups and distribution
>                lists, academic networks, librarians, citizen groups and
>                individual users.  This advisory board should review a
>                number of policy questions related to the operation of the
>                Internet, including questions such as the NAP pricing, NAP
>                operator disclosure of financial, technical and operational
>                data, systems of Internet accounting which are being tested
>                on the vBNS and other topics.

>           3.   NSF should solicit public comment, though an online
>                discussion group, of the types of safeguards against
>                anticompetitive behavior by the NAPs which should be
>                addressed in the NSF/NAPs contracts, and on issues such as
>                NAPs pricing and Internet accounting systems.


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>           Taxpayer Assets Project; P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC  20036
>           v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176; internet:  tap -at- essential -dot- org

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>           PLEASE FORWARD TO OTHER DISCUSSION FORUMS YOU MAY BE ASSOCIATED
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