On the control of the Internet.

[LarrySheldon at cox.net (Larry Sheldon)]

On 6/13/2010 15:54, Joe Greco wrote:

> If we want to be pedantic, Sony this year announced that it is shutting
> down its production of floppy disks by next year.  Of course, the choice
> of "floppy disk" is irrelevant, and I'm guessing you know it.  If your
> devices are more comfortable with CD-ROM or USB MicroSD readers, then by
> all means.

I certainly hoped that that was the case, but not very long ago I read a
current "Emergency Recovery Plan" that depended on 9-track 1600BPI round
reel tapes in a shop that had not had a drive like that for ten years.


> Long before NANOG, there was actually a time that some of us hauled
> around things like USENET on magnetic media, because it was simply the
> highest bandwidth yet cheapest method to haul large amounts of data
> around the city, back when a Telebit Trailblazer was still vaguely able
> to cope with a USENET feed - and for a little while thereafter.

Wide Band Truck was a major component of plans long ago.

And I wish I had a nickel for every round-real tape in Anvil case I
escorted through airports.

> If your network has been so thoroughly taken over that you cannot hope
> to get a file from a computer that does have a floppy over to your DNS
> server, you have Much Bigger Problems to begin with...

And that is the issue I was trying to raise.

> Our monitoring systems are definitely able to detect when connectivity 
> goes away.  What happens if and when that happens is generally left up
> to a human to decide.  The sorts of brokenness that one might potentially
> discover if the government were to corrupt connectivity is much more
> complex than simple on/off; I feel comfortable saying that the best plan
> is to have diversity of resources and some in-depth knowledge, since that
> also serves normal engineering needs well.

I'll bet you think The Stimulus created jobs.

-- 
Somebody should have said:
A democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.

Freedom under a constitutional republic is a well armed lamb contesting
the vote.

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