hi all, i was thinking this might be interesting for y’all, even though it’s got a Canadian slant. lots of their arguments apply to us as well, no? i’m reluctant to hit this list with a 2.5 mB attachment, so here’s a link http://www.cira.ca/assets/Uploads/Toward-Efficiencies-in-Canadian-Internet-T... here are a few teaser bullet points from the first page Key benefits: By reducing reliance on costly international data transit, additional ISPs will reduce networks’ ongoing operational costs. These cost savings will flow to Canadian Internet users, and unnecessary export of capital will be reduced. By providing high-speed domestic links, additional ISPs will increase the amount of bandwidth available to Canadian users, mitigating networks’ bandwidth shortages and removing networks’ incentives to impose bandwidth throttling and usage caps. By favoring shorter and more direct routes, additional ISPs will reduce network latency, improving the performance of new services like video and could-based applications. By allowing Canadian data to remain in Canada as much as possible and as often as possible, additional ISPs will reduce the risk of Canadian data becoming subject to foreign laws and practices. By increasing the richness and density of connections between Canadian networks, additional ISPs will increase the reliability of internet access in Canada and its resilience to disaster and attack. among other things, there’s an interesting discussion of Governance Structures about midway through this piece. there’s a Challenges and Responses section right after that. as a retired “suit,” i found it a good read. ;-) mikey PHONE: 651-647-6109, FAX: 866-280-2356, WEB: www.haven2.com, HANDLE: OConnorStP (ID for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the MICE-DISCUSS list, click the following link: http://lists.iphouse.net/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=MICE-DISCUSS&A=1