Class "B" forsale (fwd)

Mon Mar 10 21:06:18 UTC 1997

BTW, do you see big difference between _IP addres allocation_ and _radio 
frequencies fir TV channels allocation_? 

On Mon, 10 Mar 1997, Jim Fleming wrote:

> On Monday, March 10, 1997 5:46 AM, Michael Shields[SMTP:shields at crosslink.net] wrote:
> @ > So, since I paid money for my car registration & license plates, I should 
> @ > be able to sell my plates to someone else to put on their car?
> @ 
> @ I believe that people with spiffy vanity plates have sold them.  Why not?
> @ 
> @ But discussion about the Internet is always plagued with analogies.
> @ IP address allocation is not really like the allocation of land, or
> @ phone numbers, or pollution credits, or milk quotas, or typing paper,
> @ or license plates, or routing table slots, or cocaine.  It's sort of
> @ like all of these things, but not completely like any of them.  And
> @ the nature of an analogy is that it pretends two things are similar in
> @ all ways.
> @ 
> @ The best way to think about this is not: "IP addresses should be
> @ allocated in X way because Y is allocated that way," "But IP addresses
> @ are not like Y," "Are so!", but instead: "What is the current policy
> @ on IP address allocation?  What are the implications?  What would be
> @ the implications of this other policy?"
> @ 
> @ Analogies are a good tool when things really are the same, but nothing
> @ hurts you like using the wrong tool.  Since IP addresses are not like
> @ other things, there is not much to compare them to.
> @ -- 
> @ Shields, CrossLink.
> @ 
> @ 
> 
> Analogies are sometimes useful when trying to explain
> complex technical problems to a non-technical person.
> 
> Imagine trying to explain IP address allocations to
> a U.S. Senator. Imagine trying to explain routing
> tables, flapping, aggregation, source filtering, etc.
> 
> Imagine trying to explain how "fair" the allocation
> policies are and trying to define an "upstream
> provider". Just trying to define an ISP is a challenge
> in itself.
> 
> Instead, imagine starting with...
> 
> 	"IP addresses are like phone numbers"
> ....
> 	"Senator, the companies in your State have
> 	no phone numbers allocated to them, the
> 	State of Virginia controls those..."
> ...
> 	"Yes Senator, people in the State of
> 	Virginia now want to charge fees to
> 	obtain phone numbers from their stock pile..."
> ...
> 	"Where did they get those phone numbers ?
> 	well Senator, they obtained them from
> 	California..."
> ...
> 	"Yes, Senator people in California do not
> 	have to pay the State of Virginia for their
> 	phone numbers they get them directly from
> 	the source..."
> ...
> 	"Yes, Senator there are exceptions, lots
> 	of exceptions...Nooo, they are not documented
> 	the Internet does not have anything like the
> 	Confressional Record...there are mailing
> 	lists but people can delete records after the
> 	fact if they do not like the story that unfolds..."
> 
> <click>.....<dial tone>
> 
> 
> --
> Jim Fleming
> Unir Corporation
> 
> e-mail:
> JimFleming at unety.net
> JimFleming at unety.s0.g0 (EDNS/IPv8)
> 
> 

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