On Jan 14, 2013, at 7:27 AM, John Levine <jo...@iecc.com> wrote: >>> There'd have to be some organization to negotiate and oversee >>> international settlements and other, similar, regulations. >> >> Why? The internet has operated just fine without such for quite some time >> now. > > The Internet is held together with spit and duct tape, and sucks for > connections that need a stable low-jitter channel, we've all noticed. > It has no principle of universal service. > > The Internet does what it does surprisingly well, but it's not the > same kind of network as the phone system. We all know of the abuses > that can come with mandatory interconnection and settlements, but the > solution is not to cut off the poor countries.
I have no reason whatsoever to believe that defunding the ITU would cut off the poor countries. Quite the contrary, actually. I believe that the combination of the ITU and the back-pocket distribution of settlement checks has held back the improvement of digital connections to poorer countries. Owen
