The Soul of the Internet

   On September 16, 1993, the Wall Street Journal, (WSJ),
headlined an article "Computer Users Battle High Tech
Marketers Over Soul of Internet." This page one, column one
article appeared after another article in the WSJ one week
earlier.  The earlier article seemed oblivious to the seri-
ous questions raised about the effort to commercialize and
privatize the NSF backbone of the U.S. portion of the Inter-
net. By his second article, the WSJ reporter, Steve Stecklow,
discovered the 'Soul of the Internet.' He quoted an editor of
the Amateur Computerist, "Something very significant 
and important has been created. It has been developed with a 
great deal of public and academic funds and effort. And there
needs to be a serious public examination of how to continue, 
not freeze, the development." This public examination is 
especially needed to confront the rush to convert the national
treasure, represented by the public, scientific, educational, 
and research network, into profit making ventures for commercial
and private gain.

   The WSJ article recognized that the National Science
Foundation "subsidizes the Internet, and restricts commercial
use on its high-speed data 'backbone.'" In contrast, it also
quotes the "NSF networking director Steven S. Wolff" as saying,
"The Internet is an enormous business opportunity...." The 
article then warns Wolff and other advocates of a profit producing,
rather than a public serving net.  Stecklow wrote: "But, despite
the growing bandwagon, the Internet doesn't lend itself so naturally
to free enterprise."

   The Internet has a valuable soul of resource sharing,
voluntary helpfulness and a public purpose, which con-
flicts with the effort to commercialize and privatize the
NSF backbone and local access to it. An knowledgment of
this by the Wall Street Journal is a welcome event.

Reprinted from the Amateur Computerist vol. 5 no. 3/4
Summer/Fall 1993 Issue