Jeroen - and Howard - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Howard C. Berkowitz" <hcb@gettcomm.com>
*if* Verisign gets it through that the installed base has to bend over because they introduce such a thing it would be a very bad thing for the internet as a whole and it would really mean that the internet is yet another commercial thing controlled by one single entity.
Hmmm - Jeroen, I dont think this is what this means at all. What it means is that today there is no one entity controls what is routed or passed through and over the Internet. In fact the Internet is a fiction. It is peering agreements and now-adays a number of DNS roots. So then what is it you are really looking for? A single authority to manage the Internet? For instance - who controls what ISP's route and don't route at the client-side level? Becuase for all intents and purposes, the back-end is just pipe. The answer that you will find is that NO ONE controlls the Internet today.
Look at the interview with Verisign's CEO at http://news.com.com/2008-7347-5092590.html?tag=nefd_gutspro, and I think you'll see that your "what it would really mean" is exactly Verisign's position.