On Mon, 29 Apr 1996, John Scoggin wrote:
The other question that should be asked (and I hope some folks have looked at this) is whether this rule is in fact arbitrary. If there is no sound ENGINEERING reason, it may constitute "restraint of trade" under Chapter 2 of the Sherman Act (if memory serves).
The original poster, Marcos Della, mentioned he couldn't get any info out of Sprint's *SALES* dept. This is half the problem. Peering is an engineering issue far more than a sales issue and you will never get anywhere talking to the sales dept. Of course, the engineering dept. is too bust doing engineering to take time out to talk to you and hold your hand, so what do you do? Well, it's like applying for a job. Research the company, research the position, then find the right person to send your application to. In this case it is more like, research the technology (BGP etc...), research the concept of peering at a NAP, and find the right engineers to talk to. The last part is the easiest, because all you need to do is attend a few NANOG meetings in person. A nice side effect is that the speakers at the NANOG meetings will educate you in some of the things you need to know and help you find out what you don't know yet. Basically, if there is anything that you don't understand from one of the presentations, that indicates an area in which you need to do further study in order to reach an acceptable level of competence. Just remember the plain English meaning of the word "peer". It refers to an individual who is at the same level as you. Same level of power (CEO vs. engineer), same level of skill (PhD vs undergrad) and so on. Michael Dillon Voice: +1-604-546-8022 Memra Software Inc. Fax: +1-604-546-3049 http://www.memra.com E-mail: michael@memra.com