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