peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP (Peter Rowley) (07/31/83)
As a continutation of my previous note on CSNET, here is an excerpt from the same issue of "csnet news" (no. 1), regarding the establishment of gateways with similar systems in Europe: "The [international cooperation] group recognizes that there are many problems yet to be solved, both technical and non-technical. Issues such as trans-border data flow, national PTT regulations and national security will have to be addressed and resolved before our objectives can be met." ------------------- Comment: These considerations involve the biggest, slowest-moving bureaucracies known to man: national governments, the telephone companies, and the national militaries. USENet's unofficial status seems to have spared it from many of these considerations, reducing cost and complexity in the process. But a USENet Inc. would have specific existence in law and would have to tackle all these questions should the international USENet links be kept up. My impression is that all the cans of worms involved with setting up USENet Inc. to provide the services of the present net would keep all of California in fertile soil for a long time, and provide work for a good many lawyers. It may so happen that CSNET evolves into a service that has worked out the problems; if that happens, great. We can see whether the costs are worth the benefits. But there's no need to open those cans of worms on our own right now.