Communications of the ACM

Home/Magazine Archive/June 2015 (Vol. 58, No. 6)/June 2015 (Vol. 58, No. 6)/Abstract

Inside risks

Routing Money, Not Packets

By Vishal Misra
Communications of the ACM, June 2015, Vol. 58 No. 6, Pages 24-27
10.1145/2753120
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Routing Money, Not Packets, illustration — Credit: Mark McGinnis

There is an old conversation between two friends, a very prominent economist and Dave Clark (one of the foundational architects of the Internet) that is often recounted by Clark:^a

Economist: "The Internet is about routing money. Routing packets is a side effect. You guys really screwed up with the money routing protocols."

Comments

Joel Malard

June 18, 2015 04:46

Vishal Misra concluding stance that "Network neutrality is the symptom; the real issue is lack of competition at the last mile," strikes me as odd.

I personally believe that free access to information is not just good for the market but that it is foremost a human right upon which our democratic institutions take their source and reason-d'etre. From that perspective Net Neutrality is a benefit whereas Competition at the Bottom is a feature and not vice-versa.

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