David R. Conrad sez:
>> 3) if you charge, then poor organizations can't connect
>> to the Internet (so who's paying for their connectivity?)
>Specific case of the merit good argument.
Good argument? If an organization wants to connect to the Internet, it is
almost certain the address cost will be so far down in the noise as to be
undetectable. If address costs were a significant portion of the total
costs, there is always NAT/ALG.
I am sure that there are enough mature technology solutions
to ensure that "poor" organisations can still use the
Internet effectively. The bottom line is that addresses **are**
a scarce resource. The APNIC has been encouraging ISPs in
the region to do sub-C allocations and that will reap its
own benefits despite the fact that there is an overhead
in maintenance.
There is also a substantial amount of user education that is
required in this part of the world to convey the fact that
it is not **necessary** that all the hosts in your organisation
be on the Internet. (I wouldn't see this statement as out of context
here, since the discussion is all about charging, anyway ..
)
In quite a few ways, the AP region is distinct in its approach to the Internet.
BTW, cld I ask if the GISD document is available in any complete
form ?
Thanks
--Gopi Garge
ERNET, INDIA