초록 열기/닫기 버튼
The main thing about the Internet is that no network or its operator has a more significant role in the entire ecosystem; the idea is that as more networks connect with one another, they become more valuable themselves and they add more value to the Internet overall. Interconnection is the process that facilitates all different networks to become a single one ensuring that each device can talk to every other device connected to the Internet. Unlike in the case of telecommunication networks and termination monopolies, the benefit of interconnection is that it does not require any regulation to ensure that barriers to entry remain low; the only requirement is that of collaboration, which happens seamlessly and without any bureaucratic regulatory intervention. Interconnection truly places the word ‘inter’ in the Internet. Reconstructing, therefore, this normative framework will not come without some, possible irreversible, consequences. Once regulation is in place that recognizes access networks as more prolific and rewards them with monopoly rights, the disruption of the entire system of trust relationships that have been built over the years in the Internet will be inevitable; from one day to the next, the Internet, renowned for its agility and constantly evolving nature, will become more cumbersome, more static and less resilient, much like telecommunication networks are. The aim of this article is to spell out the core issues with all these policy proposals on network fees and, then, focus on the polymorphous structure and dynamic character of the Internet’s infrastructure.
