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Network Working Group                                           M. KaporRequest for Comments: 1259                Electronic Frontier Foundation                                                          September 1991Building The Open Road:The NREN As Test-Bed For The National Public NetworkStatus of this Memo   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does   not specify an Internet standard.  Distribution of this memo is   unlimited.Introduction   A debate has begun about the future of America's communications   infrastructure.  At stake is the future of the web of information   links organically evolving from computer and telephone systems.  By   the end of the next decade, these links will connect nearly all homes   and businesses in the U.S.  They will serve as the main channels for   commerce, learning, education, and entertainment in our society.  The   new information infrastructure will not be created in a single step:   neither by a massive infusion of public funds, nor with the private   capital of a few tycoons, such as those who built the railroads.   Rather the national, public broadband digital network will emerge   from the "convergence" of the public telephone network, the cable   television distribution system, and other networks such as the   Internet.   The United States Congress is now taking a critical step toward what   I call the National Public Network, with its authorization of the   National Research and Education Network (NREN, pronounced "en-ren").   Not only will the NREN meet the computer and communication needs of   scientists, researchers, and educators, but also, if properly   implemented, it could demonstrate how a broadband network can be used   in the future.  As policy makers debate the role of the public   telephone and other existing information networks in the nation's   information infrastructure, the NREN can serve as a working test-bed   for new technologies, applications, and governing policies that will   ultimately shape the larger national network.  Congress has indicated   its intention that the NREN      would provide American researchers and educators with the computer      and information resources they need, while demonstrating how      advanced computer, high speed networks, and electronic databases      can improve the national information infrastructure for use by allKapor                                                           [Page 1]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991      Americans. (1)   As currently envisioned, the NREN      would connect more than one million people at more than one      thousand colleges, universities, laboratories, and hospitals      throughout the country, giving them access to computing power and      information -- resources unavailable anywhere today -- and making      possible the rapid proliferation of a truly nationwide, ubiquitous      network... (2)   The combined demand of these users would develop innovative new   services and further stimulate demand for existing network   applications.  Library information services, for example, have   already grown dramatically on the NREN's predecessor, the Internet,   because the      enhanced connectivity permits scholars and researchers to      communicate in new and different ways.... Clearly, to be      successful, effective, and of use to the academic and research      communities, the NREN must be designed to nurture and accommodate      both the current as will as future yet unknown uses of valuable      information resources. (3)   So as the NREN implementation process progresses, it is vital that   the opportunities to stimulate innovative new information   technologies be kept in mind, along with the specific needs of the   mission agencies which will come to depend on the network.   Far from evolving into the whole of the National Public Network   itself, the NREN is best thought of as a prototype for the NPN, which   will emerge over time from the phone system, cable television, and   many computer networks.  But the NREN is a growth site which, unlike   privately controlled systems, can be consciously shaped to meet   public needs.  For a wide variety of services, some of which might   not be commercially viable at the outset, the NREN can      provide selective access that proves feasibility and leads to the      creation of a commercial infrastructure that can support universal      services.... If we fully focus on ...[current] goals and work our      way through a multitude of technical and operational issues in the      process, then the success of the NREN will fully support its      extension to broader uses in the years to follow. (4)   In order to function as an effective test-bed, one that promotes   broad access to a range of innovative, developing services, the NREN   must be built so that it is easy for developers to offer new kinds of   applications, and is accessible to a diversity of users.  ForKapor                                                           [Page 2]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   example, to encourage the development of creative, advanced library   services, it must be easy for libraries to open their data bases to   users all across the network.  And if these library services are to   flourish through the NREN, then the services must be available to   researchers and students all over the country, through a variety of   channels.  Though the NREN itself is intended to meet the   supercomputing and networking needs of the government-financed   research community, Congress has wisely recognized that it can also   function as a channel for delivery of a wide range of privately-   developed information services.  To      encourage use of the Network by commercial information service      providers, where technically feasible, the Network shall have      accounting mechanisms which allow, where appropriate, users or      groups of users to be charged for their usage of copyrighted      materials over the Network. (5)   Congress can create an environment that stimulates information   entrepreneurship by mandating that the NREN rely on open technical   standards whose specifications are not controlled by any private   parties and which are freely available for all to use.  Such non-   proprietary standards will ensure that different parts of the network   built and operated by independent parties, will all work together   properly.  By employing widely-used, non-proprietary standards the   NREN will make it easy for new information providers to offer their   wares on the network.  The market will snowball: as more services are   offered, more users will be attracted, who will increase overall   demand.  The NREN will also be a test-bed for development and   experimentation with new networking standards that facilitate even   broader, more efficient interconnection than now possible on the   Internet.  But throughout the stages of the NREN, all concerned   should be sure that these functionalities are fostered.   The NREN design and construction process is complex and will have   significant effects on future communications infrastructure design:      Building the NREN has frequently been described as akin to      building a house, with various layers of the network architecture      compared to parts of the house.  In an expanded view of this      analogy, planning the NII [national information infrastructure] is      like designing a large, urban city.      The NREN is a big new subdivision on the edge of the metropolis,      reserved for researchers and educators.  It is going to be built      first and is going to look lonely out there in the middle of the      pasture for a while.  But the city will grow up around it in time,      and as construction proceeds, the misadventures encountered in the      NREN subdivision will not have to be repeated in others.  AndKapor                                                           [Page 3]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991      there will be many house designs, not just those the NREN families      are comfortable with.... The lessons we learn today in building      the NREN will be used tomorrow in building the NII. (6)   The coming implementation and design of the NREN offers us a critical   opportunity to shape a small but important part of the National   Public Network.VISIONS   At its best, the National Public Network would be the source of   immense social benefits.  As a means of increasing social   cohesiveness, while retaining the diversity that is an American   strength, the network could help revitalize this country's business   and culture.  As Senator Gore has said, the new national network that   is emerging is one of the "smokestack industries of the information   age." (7)  It will increase the amount of individual participation in   common enterprise and politics.  It could also galvanize a new set of   relationships -- business and personal -- between Americans and the   rest of the world.   The names and particular visions of the emerging information   infrastructure vary from one observer to another. (8)  Senator Gore   calls it the "National Information Superhighway."  Prof. Michael   Dertouzos imagines a "National Information Infrastructure [which] ...   would be a common resource of computer-communications services, as   easy to use and as important as the telephone network, the electric   power grid, and the interstate highways." (9)  I call it the National   Public Network (NPN), in recognition of the vital role information   technology has come to play in public life and all that it has to   offer, if designed with the public good in mind.   To what uses can we reasonably expect people to use a National Public   Network?  We don't know.  Indeed, we probably can't know -- the users   of the network will surprise us.  That's exactly what happened in the   early days of the personal computer industry, when the first   spreadsheet program, VisiCalc, spurred sales of the Apple II   computer.  Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak did not design   the spreadsheet; they did not even conceive of it.  They created a   platform which allowed someone else to bring the spreadsheet into   being, and all the parties profited as a result, including the users.   Based on today's systems, however, we can make a few educated guesses   about the National Public Network.  We know that, like the telephone,   it will serve both business and recreation needs, as well as offering   crucial community services.  Messaging will be popular: time and time   again, from the ARPAnet to Prodigy, people have surprised network   planners with their eagerness to exchange mail.  "Mail" will not justKapor                                                           [Page 4]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   mean voice and text, but also pictures and video -- no doubt with   many new variations.  One might imagine two people poring over a   manuscript from opposite ends of the country, marking it up   simultaneously and seeing each others' markings appear on the screen.   We know from past demand on the Internet and commercial personal   computer networks that the network will be used for electronic   assembly -- virtual town halls, village greens, and coffee houses,   again taking place not just through shared text (as in today's   computer networks), but with multi-media transmissions, including   images, voice, and video.  Unlike the telephone, this network will   also be a publications medium, distributing electronic newsletters,   video clips, and interpreted reports. (10)   We can speculate but cannot be sure about novel uses of the network.   An information marketplace will include electronic invoicing,   billing, listing, brokering, advertising, comparison-shopping, and   matchmaking of various kinds.  "Video on demand" will not just mean   ordering current movies, as if they were spooling down from the local   videotape store, but opening floodgates to vast new amounts of   independent work, with high quality thanks to plummeting prices of   professional-quality desktop video editors.  Customers will grow used   to dialing up two-minute demos of homemade videos before ordering the   full program and storing it on their own blank tape.   There will be other important uses of the network as a simulation   medium for experiences which are impossible to obtain in the mundane   world.  If scientists want to explore the surface of a molecule,   they'll do it in simulated form, using wrap-around three-dimensional   animated graphics that create a convincing illusion of being in a   physical place.  This visualization of objects from molecules to   galaxies is already becoming an extraordinarily powerful scientific   tool.  Networks will amplify this power to the point that these   simulation tools take their place as fundamental scientific apparatus   alongside microscopes and telescopes.  Less exotically, a consumer or   student might walk around the inside of a working internal combustion   engine -- without getting burned.   Perhaps the most significant change the National Public Network will   afford us is a new mode of building communities -- as the telephone,   radio, and television did.  People often think of electronic   "communities" as far-flung communities of interest between followers   of a particular discipline.  But we are learning, through examples   like the PEN system in Santa Monica and the Old Colorado City system   in Colorado Springs, that digital media can serve as a local nexus,   an evanescent meeting-ground, that adds levels of texture to   relationships between people in a particular locale.  As Jerry Berman   of the ACLU Information Technology Project has said:Kapor                                                           [Page 5]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991      Computer and communications technologies are transforming speech      into electronic formats and shifting the locus of the marketplace      of ideas from traditional public places to the new electronic      public forums established over telephone, cable, and related      electronic communications networks. (11)   To both local and long-distance communities, accessible digital   communications will be increasingly important; by the end of this   decade, the "body politic," the "body social," and the "body   commercial" of this country will depend on a nervous system of   fiber-optic lines and computer switches.   But whatever details of the vision and names gives to the final   product, a network that is responsive to a wide spectrum of human   needs will not evolve by default.  Just as it is necessary for an   architect to know how to make a home suitable for human habitation,   it is necessary to consider how humans will actually use the network   in order to design it.   In that spirit, I offer a set of recommendations for the evolution of   the National Public Network.  I first encountered many of the   fundamental ideas underlying these proposals in the computer   networking community.  Some of these recommendations address   immediate concerns; others are more long-term.  There is a focus on   the role of public access and commercial experiments in the NREN,   which complement its research and education mission.  The   recommendations are organized here according to the main needs which   they will serve: first ensuring that the design and use of the   network remains open to diversity, second, safeguarding the freedom   of users.  The ultimate goal is to develop a habitable, usable and   sustainable system -- a nation of electronic neighborhoods that   people will feel comfortable living within.I.  Encourage Competition Among Carriers   In the context of the NREN, act now to create a level and competitive   playing field for private network carriers, (whether for-profit or   not-for-profit) to compete.  Do not give a monopoly to any carrier.   The growing network must be a site where competitive energy produces   innovation for the public benefit, not the refuge of monopolists.   The post-divestiture phone system offers us a valuable lesson: a   telecommunications network can be managed effectively by separate   companies -- even including bitter opponents like AT&T and MCI -- as   long as they can connect equitably and seamlessly from the user's   standpoint.  The deregulated telecommunications system may not work   perfectly and may produce too much litigation, but it does work.  WeKapor                                                           [Page 6]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   should never go back to any monopoly arrangement like the pre-   divestiture AT&T which held back market-driven innovation in   telecommunications for half a century.  Given the interconnection   technology now available, we should never again have to accept the   argument that we have to sacrifice interoperability for efficiency,   reliability, or easy-of-use.   Similarly, the NREN, and later the National Public Network, must be   allowed to grow without being dominated by any single company.   Contracting requirements in the current legislation advance this   goal.      The Network shall be established in a manner which fosters and      maintains competition within the telecommunications industry and      promotes the development of interconnected high-speed data      networks by the private sector. (12)   Absent a truly competitive environment, a dominant carrier might use   its privileged access to stifle competitors unfairly: "Use our local   service to connect to our undersea international links, without the   $3 surcharge we tack on for other carriers." The greatest danger is   "balkanization" -- in which the net is broken up into islands, each   developing separately, without enough interconnecting bridges to   satisfy users' desires for universal connectivity.  Strong   interoperability requirements and adherence to standards must be   built into the design of the NREN from the outset. (13)   After 1992, private companies will manage an ever-greater share of   the NREN cables and switches.  The NSF should use both carrot and   stick to encourage as much interconnection as possible.  For example,   the NSF could make funding to NREN backbone carriers contingent on   participation in an internetwork exchange agreement that would serve   as a framework for a standards-based environment.  As the NREN is   implemented, some formal affirmation of fair access is needed --   ideally by an "Internet Exchange Association" formed to settle common   rules and standards.  (Their efforts, if strong enough, could   forestall a costly, wasteful crazy-quilt of new regulations from the   FCC and 50 State Public Utilities Commissions.) This association   should decide upon a "basket" of standard services -- including   messaging, directories, international connections, access to   information providers, billing, and probably more -- that are   guaranteed for universal interconnection.  The Commercial Internet   Exchange (CIX) formed in 1991 by three commercial inter-networking   carriers represents a substantive, initial move in this direction.Kapor                                                           [Page 7]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991II.  Create an Open Platform for Innovation   Encourage information entrepreneurship through an open architecture   (non-proprietary) platform, with low barriers to entry for   information providers.   The most valuable contribution of the computer industry in the past   generation is not a machine, but an idea -- the principle of open   architecture.  Typically, a hardware company (an Apple or IBM, for   instance) neither designs its own applications software nor requires   licenses of its application vendors.  Both practices were the norm in   the mainframe era of computing.  Instead, in the personal computer   market, the hardware company creates a "platform" -- a common set of   specifications, published openly so that other, often smaller,   independent firms can develop their own products (like the   spreadsheet program) to work with it.  In this way, the host company   takes advantage of the smaller companies' ingenuity and creativity.   Even interfaces rigidly controlled by a single manufacturer, like the   Macintosh, embrace the platform concept.  Two years ago, when Apple   began planning the System 7 release of its Macintosh operating   system, one of its first steps was to invite comment from software   companies like Macromind, Aldus, Silicon Beach, and T/Maker.  In   substantive, sometimes very argumentative sessions, Apple revealed   the capabilities it planned to these independents, who knew their   customers and needs much better than Apple.  One multi-media company,   after arguing that Apple should take a different technical turn,   actually found itself doing the work in a joint project.  The most   useful job of Apple's famous "evangelists" is not selling the Mac   specs, but listening to outsiders, and helping Apple itself stay   flexible enough to work with independent innovators effectively.   In the design of the NREN, information entrepreneurship can best be   promoted by building with open standards, and by making the network   attractive to as many service providers and developers as possible.   The standards adopted must meet the needs of a broad range of users,   not just narrow needs of the mission agencies that are responsible   for overseeing the early stages of the NREN.  Positive efforts should   be made to encourage the development of experimental commercial   services of all kinds without requiring the negotiation of any   bureaucratic procedures.   In the early stages of development of an industry, low barriers to   entry stimulate competition.  They enable a very large initial set of   products for consumers to choose from.  Out of these the market will   learn to ignore almost all in order to standardize on a few, such as   a Lotus 1-2-3.  The winners will be widely emulated in the next   generation of products, which will in turn generate a more refinedKapor                                                           [Page 8]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   form of marketplace feedback.  In this fashion, early chaos evolves   quickly a set of high-demand products and product categories.   This process of market-mediated innovation is best catalyzed by   creating an environment in which it is inexpensive and easy for   entrepreneurs to develop products.  The greater the number of   independent enterprises, each of which puts at voluntary risk the   intellectual and economic capital of risk-takers, is the best way to   find out what the market really wants.  The businesses which succeed   in this are the ones which will prosper.   It is worthwhile to note that not a single major PC software company   today dates from the mainframe era.  Yesterday's garage shop is   today's billion-dollar enterprise.  Policies for the NPN should   therefore not only accommodate existing information industry   interests, but anticipate and promote the next generate of   entrepreneurs.   The diverse needs of these many users will create demand for   thousands of information proprietors on the net, just as there are   thousands of producers of personal computer software today and   thousands of publishers of books and magazines.  It should be as easy   to provide an information service as to order a business telephone.   Large and small information providers will probably coexist as they   do in book publishing, where the players range from multi-billion-   dollar international conglomerates to firms whose head office is a   kitchen table.  They can coexist because everyone has access to   production and distribution facilities -- printing presses,   typography, and the U.S.  mails and delivery services -- on a non-   discriminatory basis.  In fact, the sub-commercial print publications   are an ecological breeding ground, through which mainstream authors   and editors rise.  No one can guarantee when an application as useful   as the spreadsheet will emerge for the NPN (as it did for personal   computers), but open architecture is the best way for it to happen   and let it spread when it does.   The PC revolution was brought about without direct public support.   Entrepreneurs risked their investors' capital for the sake of   opportunity.  Some succeeded, but many others lost their entire   investment.  This is the way of the marketplace.  We should take a   much more cautious attitude about the commitment of public monies.   In the absence of proven demand for new applications, government   should not be spending billions of dollars on the creation of   broadband networks.  Neither should telephone companies be allowed to   pass on the costs of the NPN in a way which would raise the rates for   ordinary voice telephone service.   Instead, we should position the NREN to show there is a market forKapor                                                           [Page 9]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   network applications.  The commercial experiments just beginning on   the Internet provides one source of innovation.  Deployment of a   national ISDN platform in the next few years represents another   relatively inexpensive seed bed.  As such experiments demonstrate   more of a proven demand for public network services, it should be   possible for the private sector to make the investments to build the   broadband NPN using experience from the NREN.   At the same time as the NREN is being debated and developed,   telephone companies continue to push at the limits imposed on them by   the "Modification of Final Judgment" (MFJ) of divestiture, the 1982   anti-trust agreement which split up the Bell system. (14)  Under   pressure from the D.C. Court of Appeals, Judge Greene recently lifted   the information services restrictions on the BOCs -- despite the   competitive tension between the telephone companies, cable TV   carriers, and newspapers.  Thus, in the next year or so, Congress may   well be forced to define a new set of rules for regulated   telecommunications. (15)  Like the AT&T divestiture decision, this   would represent a fundamental shift in national policy with enormous   and unpredictable consequences.   Many consumer and industry groups are concerned that as the MFJ   restrictions are lifted, the RBOCs will come to dominate the design   of the emerging National Public Network, shaping it more to   accommodate their business goals than the public interest.  The   Communications Policy Forum, a coalition of public interest and   industry groups, has recently begun to consider what kinds of   safeguards will be needed to maintain a competitive information   services market that allows RBOC participation.  The role that the   RBOCs come to play in the nation's telecommunications infrastructure   is, of course, an issue that must be carefully considered on its own.   But in this context, the NREN represents a critical opportunity to   create a model for what a public network has to offer, free from   commercial pressures.   With all of the uncertainty that surrounds the RBOCs entry into the   information services market, we should use the NREN to learn how to   develop a network environment where competitive entry is easy enough   that the RBOCs opportunity to engage in anti-competitive behavior   would be minimized.  There is evidence that the RBOCs are resisting   attempts to transform the public telephone system into a truly open   public network (16) notwithstanding the FCCs stated intention do   implement Open Network Architecture. (17)  But since the NREN   standards and procedures can be designed away from the dominance of   the RBOCs, a fully open network design is within reach.  In this   sense the NREN can be a test-bed for "safeguards" against market   abuse just as it is a test ground for new technical standards and   innovative network applications.Kapor                                                          [Page 10]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   An open platform network model carrier from the NREN to the National   Public Network would actually make some MFJ restrictions less   necessary.  Phone companies were originally prohibited from being   information providers because their bottleneck control over the local   exchange hubs gives them an unfair advantage.  But on a network in   which the local switch is open to information providers -- because   the platform itself is so rich and well-designed -- creativity and   quality triumph over monopoly power.  Instead of restricting   information providers, the National Public Network developers should   encourage the entry of as many new parties as possible. Just as   personal computer companies started in garages and attics, so will   tomorrow's information entrepreneurs, if we give them a chance.   Their prototypes today, small computer networks, electronic   newsletters, and chat lines, are among the most vibrant and   imaginative "publishers" in the world.III.  Encourage Pricing for Universal Access   Everyone agrees in the abstract with universal service -- the idea   that any individual who wishes should be able to connect to a   National Public Network. But that's only a platitude unless   accompanied by an inclusive pricing plan.   The importance of extending universal access to information and   communication resources has been widely recognized:      In light of the possibilities for new service offerings by the      21st century, as well as the growing importance of      telecommunications and information services to US economic and      social development, limiting our concept of universal service to      the narrow provision of basic voice telephone service no longer      services the public interest.  Added to universal basic telephone      service should be the broader concept of universal opportunity to      access these new technologies and applications. (18)   The problem of disparate access to information resources has been   recognized in other telecommunications arenas as well.  Congressman   Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Subcommittee of   Telecommunications and Finance of the House Energy and Commerce   Committee warns that:      [i]nformation services are beginning to proliferate.  The      challenge before us is how to make them available swiftly to the      largest number of Americans at costs which don't divide the      society into information haves and havenots and in a manner which      does not compromise our adherence to the long-cherished principles      of diversity, competition and common carriage. (19)Kapor                                                          [Page 11]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   To address this problem in the long-term, there is legislation now   pending which would broaden the guarantee of universal phone service   to universal access to advanced telecommunications services.  Senator   Burns has proposed that the universal service guarantee statement in   the Communications Act of 1934 should be amended to include access to      a nation-wide, advanced, interactive, interoperable, broadband      communications system available to all people, businesses,      services, organizations, and households..." (20)   In the near term, the NREN can serve as a laboratory for testing a   variety of pricing and access schemes in order to determine how best   to bring basic network services to large numbers of users.  The NREN   platform should facilitate the offering of fee-based services for   individuals.   Cable TV is one good model: joining a service requires an investment   of $100 for a TV set, which 99% of households already own, about $50   for a cable hookup, and perhaps $15 per month in basic service.   Anything beyond that, like premium movie channels or pay-per-events   is available at extra cost. Similarly, a carrier providing connection   to the mature National Public Network might charge a one-time startup   fee and then a low fixed monthly rate for access to basic services,   which would include a voice telephone capability.   Because regulators are concerned about any telephone service that   might cause the price of basic voice service to rise, they are   unwilling to approve new services which don't immediately recover   their own costs.  They are concerned that any deficit will be passed   on to consumers in the form of higher charges for standard services.   As a result, telephone companies tend to be very conservative in   estimating the demand for new services.  Prices for new services turn   out to be much higher than what would be required for universal   digital service.  This is a kind of catch-22, in which lower prices   won't be set until demand goes up, but demand will never go up if   prices aren't low enough.   Open architecture could help phone companies offer lower rates for   digital services. If opportunities and incentives exist for   information entrepreneurs, they will create the services which will   stimulate demand, increase volume, and create more revenue-generating   traffic for the carriers.  In a competitive market, with higher   volumes, lower prices follow.Kapor                                                          [Page 12]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991IV.  Make the Network Simple to Use   The ideal means of accessing the NPN will not be a personal computer   as we know it today, but a much simpler, streamlined information   appliance - a hybrid of the telephone and the computer.   "Transparency" is the Holy Grail of software designers. When a   program is perfectly transparent, people forget about the fact that   they are using a computer. The mechanics of the program no longer   intrude on their thoughts. The most successful computer programs are   nearly always transparent: a spreadsheet, for instance, is as self-   evident as a ledger page. Once users grasp a few concepts (like rows,   cells, and formula relationships), they can say to themselves,   "What's in cell A-6?" without feeling that they are using an alien   language.   Personal computer communications, by contrast, are practically   opaque.  Users must be aware of baud rates, parity, duplex, and file   transfer protocols -- all of which a reasonably well-designed network   could handle for them. It's as if, every time you wanted to drive to   the store, you had to open up the hood and adjust the sparkplugs. On   most Internet systems, it's even worse; newcomers find themselves   confronting what John Perry Barlow calls a "savage user interface."   Messages bounce, conferencing commands are confusing, headers look   like gibberish, none of it is documented, and nobody seems to care.   The excitement about being part of an extended community quickly   vanishes. On a National Public Network, this invites failure.  People   without the time to invest in learning arcane commands would simply   not participate. The network would become needlessly exclusionary.   Part of the NREN goal of "expand[ing] the number of researchers,   educators, and students with ... access to high performance computing   resources" (21) is to make all network applications easy-to-use.  As   the experience of the personal computer industry has shown, the only   way to bring information resources to large numbers of people is with   simple, easy-to-learn tools.  The NREN can be a place where various   approaches to user-friendly networks are tested and evaluated.   Technically trained people are not troglodytes; they approve of   human-oriented design, even as they manage to use the network today   without it.  For years, leaders within the Internet community have   been taking steps to improve ease of use on the network.  But the   training of the technical community as a whole has given them little   practice making their digital artifacts appropriate for non-technical   consumption.  Nor are they often rewarded for doing so.  To a phone   company engineer designing a new high-speed telephone switch, or to a   computer scientist pushing the limits of a data compression   algorithm, the notion of making electronic mail as simple as faxKapor                                                          [Page 13]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   machine may make sense, but it also feels like someone else's job.   Being technically minded themselves, they feel comfortable with the   specialized software they use and seldom empathize with the neophyte.   The result is a proliferation of arcane, clumsy tools in both   hardware and software, defended by the cognoscenti: "I use the "vi"   editor all the time -- why would anyone have trouble with it?"   If we have the vision and commitment to try this, the transformation   of the network frontier from wilderness to civilization need not   display the brutality of 19th century imperialism.  As commercial   opportunities to offer applications and services develop,   entrepreneurs will discover that ease of use sells. The normal,   sometimes slow, play of competitive markets should cause industry to   commit the resources to serve the market by making access more   transparent.  But at the start transparency will need deliberate   encouragement -- if only to overcome the inertia of old habits.V.  Develop Standards of Information Presentation   The National Public Network will need an integrated suite of high-   level standards for the exchange of richly formatted and structured   information, whether as text, graphics, sound, or moving images.  Use   the NREN as a test-bed for a variety of information presentation and   exchange standards on the road towards an internationally-accepted   set of standards for the National Public Network.   Standards -- the internal language of networks -- are arranged in a   series of layers. The lower levels detail how the networks'   subterranean "wiring" and "plumbing" is managed.  Well-developed sets   of lower-level standards such as TCP/IP are in wide use and continue   to be refined and extended, but these alone are not sufficient.  The   uppermost layers contain specifications such as how text appears on   the screen and the components of which documents are composed.  These   are the kinds of concerns which are directly relevant to users who   wish to communicate.  Recently independent efforts to develop high-   level standards for document formats have begun, but these projects   are not yet being integrated into computer networks.   Today, for example, the only common standard for computer text is the   American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII).  But   ASCII is inadequate; it ignores fonts, type styles (like boldface and   italics), footnotes, headers, and other formats which people   regularly use. Each word processing program codes these formats   differently, and there is still no intermediary language that can   accommodate all of them. The National Public Network will need such a   language to transcend the visual poverty and monotony of today's   telecommunicated information. It will also need additional standards   beyond what have been developed for message addresses and headers, aKapor                                                          [Page 14]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   common set of directories (the equivalent of the familiar white pages   and yellow pages directories), common specifications for coding and   decoding images, and standards for other major services.   Congress has provided that the National Institute of Standards and   Technology      shall adopt standards and guidelines ... for the interoperability      of high-performance computers in networks and for common user      interfaces to systems. (22)   As the implementation of the NREN moves forward, we must ensure that   standards development remains both a public and private priority.   Failure to make a commitment to an environment with robust standards   would be "the beginning of a Tower of Babel that we can ill afford."   (23)  Since current standards are so inadequate to the demands of   users:      We ... need to endow the NII [National Information Infrastructure]      with a set of widely understood common communication conventions.      Moreover, these conventions should be based on concepts that make      life easier for us humans, rather than for our computer servants.      (24)  The development of standards is vital, not just because it      helps ensure an open platform for information providers; it also      makes the network easier to use.VI.  Promote First Amendment Free Expression by     Affirming the Principles of Common Carriage   In a society which relies more and more on electronic communications   media as its primary conduit for expression, full support for First   Amendment values requires extension of the common carrier principle   to all of these new media.   Common carriers are companies which provide conduit services for the   general public.  They include railroads, trucking companies, and   airlines as well as telecommunications firms.  A communications   common carrier, such as a telephone company is required to provide   its services on a non-discriminatory basis.  It has no liability for   the content of any transmission. A telephone company does not concern   itself with the content of a phone call.  Neither can it arbitrarily   deny service to anyone. (25)  The common carrier's duties have   evolved over hundreds of years in the common law and later statutory   provisions.  The rules governing their conduct can be roughly   distilled in a few basic principles. (26)  Common carriers have a   duty to:        o provide services in a non-discriminatory manner at a fairKapor                                                          [Page 15]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991          price        o interconnect with other carriers        o provide adequate services   The carriers of the NREN and the National Public Network, whether   telephone companies, cable television companies, or other firms   should be treated in a similar fashion. (27)   Unlike many other countries, our communications infrastructure is   owned by private corporations instead of by the government.  Given   Congress' plan to build the NREN with services from privately-owned   carriers, a legislatively-imposed duty of common carriage is   necessary to protect free expression effectively.  As Professor Eli   Noam, a former New York State Public Utility Commissioner, explains:      [C]ommon carriage is the practical analog to [the] First Amendment      for electronic speech over privately-owned networks, where the      First Amendment does not necessarily govern directly. (28)   To foster free expression and move the national communications   infrastructure toward a full common carrier regime, all NREN carriers   should be subject to common carriage obligations.  Given that the   NREN is designed to promote the development of science, ensuring free   expression is especially important.  As on academic said:      I share with many researchers strong belief that much of the power      of science (whether practiced by scientists, engineers, or      clinical researchers) derives from the steadfast commitment to      free and unfettered communication of information and knowledge.      (29)   A telecommunications providers under a common carrier obligation   would have to carry any legal message regardless of its content   whether it is voice, data, images, or sound.  For example, if full   common carrier protections were in place for all of the conduit   services offered by the phone company, the terminations of   "controversial" 900 services such as political fundraising would not   be allowed, just as the phone company is now prohibited by the   Communications Act from discriminating in the provision of basic   telephone services. (30) Neither BOCs not IXCs would be allowed to   terminate service because of anticipated harm to their "corporate   image."  Though providers of 900 information services did have their   freedom of expression abridged by the BOC/IXC action, First Amendment   protection was not available to them because there was no state   action underlying the termination.   As important as common carriage is to the NPN, it is equally   important that it be implemented in such a way as to avoid sinkingKapor                                                          [Page 16]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   the carriers of these new networks into the same regulatory gridlock   that characterizes much of telecommunications regulation. (31)  This   would have a crippling effect of the pace of innovation and is to be   avoided.  The controlled environment of the NREN should be taken   advantage of to experiment with various open access, common carriage   rules and enforcement mechanisms to seek regulatory alternatives   other than what has evolved in the public telephone system   Along with promoting free expression, common carriage rules are   important for ensuring a competitive market in information services   on the National Public Network.  Our society supports the publication   of many thousands of periodicals and fifty thousand of new books a   year as well as countless brochures, mailings, and other printed   communications.  Historically, the expense of producing   professional-quality video programming has been a barrier to the   creation of similar diversity in video.  Now the same advances in   computing which created desktop publishing are delivering "desktop   video" which will make it affordable for the smallest business,   agency, or group to create video consumables.  The NPN must   incorporate a distribution system of individual choice for the video   explosion.   If the cable company wants to offer a package of program channels, it   should be free to do so.  But so should anyone else.  There will   continue to be major demand for mass market video entertainment, but   the vision of the NPN should not be limited to this form of content.   Anyone who wishes to offer services to the public should be   guaranteed access over the same fiber optic cable under the principle   of common carriage.  From this access will come the entrepreneurial   innovation, and this innovation will create the new forms of media   that exploit the interactive, multimedia capabilities of the NPN.VII.  Protect Personal Privacy   The infrastructure of the NPN should include mechanisms that support   the privacy of information and communication.  Building the NREN is   an opportunity to test various data encryption schemes and study   their effectiveness for a variety of communications needs.   Technologies have been developed over the past 20 years which allow   people to safeguard their own privacy. One tool is public-key   encryption, in which an "encoding" key is published freely, while the   "decoder" is kept secret.  People who wish to receive encrypted   information give out their public key, which senders use to encrypt   messages.  Only the possessor of the private key has the ability to   decipher the meaning.   The privacy of telephone conversations and electronic mail is alreadyKapor                                                          [Page 17]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   protected by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. (32)  Without   a valid court order, for example, wiretaps of phone conversations are   illegal and private messages are inadmissible in court.  Legal   guarantees are not enough, however.  Although it is technically   illegal to listen in on cellular telephone conversations, as a   practical matter the law is unenforceable.  Imported scanners capable   of receiving all 850 cellular channels are widely available through   the gray market.   Cellular telephone transmissions are carried on radio waves which   travel through the open air.  The ECPA provision which makes it   illegal to eavesdrop on a cellular call is the wrong means to the   right end. It sets a dangerous precedent in which, for the first   time, citizens are denied the right to listen to open air   transmissions.  In this case, technology provides a better solution.   Privacy protection would be greatly enhanced if public-key encryption   technology were built into the entire range of digital devices, from   telephones to computers. (33)  The best way to secure the privacy and   confidentiality Americans say they want is through a combination of   legal and technical methods.   As a system over which not only information but also money will be   transferred, the National Public Network will have enormous potential   for privacy abuse.  Some of the dangers could be forestalled now by   building in provisions for security from the beginning.Conclusion   The chance to influence the shape of a new medium usually arrives   when it is too late: when the medium is frozen in place.  Today,   because of the gradual evolution of the National Public Network, and   the unusual awareness people have of its possibilities, there is a   rare opportunity to shape this new medium in the public interest,   without sacrificing diversity or financial return. As with personal   computers, the public interest is also the route to maximum   profitability for nearly all participants in the long run.   The major obstacle is obscurity: technical telecommunications issues   are so complex that people don't realize their importance to human   and political relationships. But be this as it may, these issues are   of paramount importance to the future of this society.  Decisions and   plans for the NPN are too crucial to be left to special interests.   If we act now to be inclusive rather than exclusive in the design of   the NPN we can create an open and free electronic community in   America.  To fail to do so, and to lose this opportunity, would be   tragic.Kapor                                                          [Page 18]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991End Notes   1.  High Performance Computing and Communications Act of 1991, H.R   656, S.272section 2(6).   2.  High-Performance Computing And Communications Act of 1991:   Hearing before the Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space of   the Senate Comm. on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 102nd   Cong., 1st Sess. 1 (1991)(Opening Statement by Senator   Gore)(hereinafter 1991 Senate NREN Hearing).   3.  1991 Senate NREN Hearing 101, 103 (Statement of the Association   of Research Libraries).   4.  1991 Senate NREN Hearing 99 (Statement of Dr. Kenneth M. King,   President, EDUCOM).   5.  S.272 (Commerce-Energy compromise)section 102(e)   6.  Michael M. Roberts, Positioning the National Research and   Education Network. EDUCOM Magazine 13 (Summer 1991).   7.  1991 Senate NREN Hearing 1 (Opening statement of Sen. Gore).   8.  Details of the visions vary in their content and expression.   Senator Gore's bill mandates that federal agencies will serve as   information providers, side by side with commercial services, making   (for instance) government-created information available to the public   over the network. Individuals will gain "access to supercomputers,   computer data bases, other research facilities, and libraries." (Gore   imagines junior high school students dialing in to the Library of   Congress to look up facts for a term paper.)  Apple CEO John Sculley   has predicted that "knowledge navigators" will use personal computers   to travel through realms of virtual information via public digital   networks.   Such visions are powerful, but they sometimes seem too much like   sales tools; too vague and overconfident to set direction for   research.  People often infer from the Apple's "knowledge navigator"   videotape, for instance, that human-equivalent computer speech   recognition is just around the corner; but in truth, it still   requires fundamental research breakthroughs. Network users will still   need keyboards or pointing devices for many years. Nor will the   network be able (as some have suggested) to translate automatically   between languages. (It will allow translators to work more   effectively, posting their work online.)   9.  M. Dertouzos, Building the Information Marketplace, TechnologyKapor                                                          [Page 19]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   Review 29, 30 (January 1991).   10.  See FCC Hearing on "Networks of the Future" (Testimony of M.   Kapor)(May 1, 1991).   11.  J. Berman, Democratizing the Electronic Frontier, Keynote   Address, Third Annual Hawaii Information Network and Technology   Symposium, June 5, 1991.   12.  S.272,section 5(d). This section continues: "(1) to the maximum   extent possible, operating facilities need for the Network should be   procured on a competitive basis from private industry; (2) Federal   agencies shall promote research and development leading to deployment   of commercial data communications and telecommunications standards;   and (3) the Network shall be phased into commercial operation as   commercial networks can meet the needs of American researchers and   educators."   13.  The distinction between strong support for interoperability and   something less is illustrated in the NREN compromise debate occurring   as this paper is being written.  The bill from the Senate Commerce   Committee (S.272) calls for "interoperability among computer   networks,"section 701(a)(6)(A), while the compromise currently being   discussed with the Energy Committee adopts a more watered down goal   of "software availability, productivity, capability, portability."section 701(a)(3)(B).   14.  552 F.Supp 151 (D.D.C. 1982)(Greene, J.).  The MFJ restrictions   barred the BOCs from providing long distance services, from   manufacturing telephone equipment, and from providing information   services.   15.  The Senate, under the leadership of Sen. Hollings, has just   recently voted to lift the manufacturing restrictions against the   BOCs contained in the MFJ.   16.  In The Matter of Advanced Intelligent Network, Petition for   Investigation, filed by Coalition of Open Network Architecture   Parties (November 16, 1990).   17.  Amendment of Sections64.702 of the Commission's Rules and   Regulations, 104 FCC 2d 958 (COMPUTER III), vacated sub nom,   California v. FCC (9th Cir. 1990).   18.  NTIA Telecomm 2000 at 79.   19.  Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on   Telecommunications and Finance, Hearings on Modified Final Judgment,Kapor                                                          [Page 20]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   101st Cong., 1st Sess., 1-2 (May 4, 1989).   20.  Communications Competitiveness and Infrastructure Modernization   Act of 1991, S. 1200, Title I, Amending Communications Actsection 1,   47 USC 151.   21.  S.272,section 2(b)(1)(B).   22.  S.272 Commerce-Energy Compromisesection 203(a).   23.  1991 Senate NREN Hearing at 32 (Statement of Hon. D. Allan   Bromley, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy).   24.  M. Dertouzos at 31.   25.  See 47 USCsection 201.   26.  See ACLU Information Technology Project, Report to the American   Civil Liberties Board from the Communications Media Committee to   Accompany Proposed Policy Relating To Civil Liberties Goals and   Requirements of the United States Communications Media   Infrastructure.  (Draft, July 15, 1991) [hereinafter, ACLU Report].   "Non-discriminatory access to new communications systems must be   guaranteed not simply because it is the economically efficient thing   to do, but more importantly because it is the only way to ensure that   freedom of expression is preserved in the Information Age."   27.  Though common carriage principles have historically been applied   to telephone and telegraph systems, the preservation of First   Amendment values of free expression and free press was not the   motivating factor.  Professor de Sola Pool notes that telephone and   telegraph systems inherited their common carrier obligations not so   much out of First Amendment concerns, but in order to promote   commerce.  The more appropriate model to look to in extending First   Amendment values to new communications technologies is the mails.  As   reflected in the post clause, empowering Congress to "establish post   offices and post roads," the Constitutional drafters felt that   creation of a robust postal system was vital in order to ensure free   expression and healthy political debate.  As Sen. John Calhoun said   in 1817:      Let us conquer space.  It is thus that . . . a citizen of the West      will read the news of Boston still moist from the press.  The mail      and the press are the nerves of the body politic.   Non-discriminatory access to the mails has been secured by the   Supreme Court as a vital extension of First Amendment expression.  In   a dissent which is now reflective of current law, Justice HolmesKapor                                                          [Page 21]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991   argued that      [t]he United States may give up the Post Office when it sees fit,      but while it carries it on the use of the mails is almost as much      a part of free speech as the right to use our tongues. (Milwaukee      Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson, 255 US 407 (1921)      (Holmes, J., dissenting)(emphasis added).  This principle was      finally affirmed in Hannegan v. Esquire, 327 US 146 (1945) (cited      in de Sola Pool).   See de Sola Pool, Technologies of Freedom 77-107.   28.  E. Noam, FCC Hearing "Networks of the Future" (May 1, 1991).   29.  1991 Senate NREN Hearing at 52 (Statement of Donald Langenberg,   Chancellor of the University of Maryland System).   30.  47 USCsection 201.  Following much controversy about obscene or   indecent dial-a-message services, a number of BOCs and interexchange   carriers (IXCs, ie. MCI, Sprint, etc.) have adopted policies which   limit the kinds of information services for which they will provide   billing and collection services.  Recently, some carriers have gone   so far as to refuse to carry the services at all, even if the service   handles its own billing.  See ACLU Report.   31.  See J. Berman & W. Miller, Communications Policy Overview 14-24,   Communications Policy Forum (April 1991).   32.  Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, 18 USC 2510 et   seq.  See also J. Berman & J. Goldman, A Federal Right of Information   Privacy: The Need for Reform, Benton Foundation Project on   Communications & Information Policy Options (1989).   33.  See Statement In Support Of Communications Privacy, following   1991 Cryptography and Privacy Conference, sponsored by Electronic   Frontier Foundation, Computer Professionals for Social   Responsibility, and RSA Software. (June 10, 1990).Kapor                                                          [Page 22]

RFC 1259                 Building The Open Road           September 1991Security Considerations   Security issues are not discussed in this memo.Author's Address   Mitchell Kapor   Electronic Frontier Foundation   155 Second Street   Cambridge, MA 02142   Phone: (617) 864-1550   EMail: mkapor@eff.orgKapor                                                          [Page 23]