Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Jim, There is more to it than what you think: technologies exist to enable usage accounting rather than connection time accounting on the Internet. The whole 'quality of service' market is working on that. Some technologies imply the tagging of packets, recognisable by the dominant routers, in order to define invoicable priorities. Other technologies exist as well. Here is an extract from a press release from Xacct, a company focused on this emerging market, addressing the ISPs more than the phone companies but still indicative of things to come: QUOTE XACCTusage is a flexible, scalable solution that lets service providers precisely define the IP session information they wish to capture. XACCT's multi-source, multi-layered approach to data collection enables the software to collect network usage data from multiple network elements, including routers, switches, firewalls and a variety of application servers, spanning all layers of the network - from the physical layer to the application layer. Real-time, policy-based filtering, aggregation and enhancement of the transaction data produces accurate, detailed records for customer bills. Additionally, this information enables service providers to accurately assess the costs associated with the services they offer, based on actual network resource consumption. UNQUOTE The packets aimed first are of course those related to emerging value-added services such as IP telephony, IP fax, and streaming audio/video. The original post in this thread was a hoax, that is true, but the Internet access market IS evolving towards sophisticated invoicing schemes. BTW, here in Belgium, and in most European countries, local calls are very expensive. There are special tariffs for Internet connections, charged by the ex-monopoly phone company (which still "owns" local calls). How the packets are 'recognised' ? Easy: the ISPs have access numbers that are known to the phone company. Any call to those access numbers is invoiced to the caller at the 'special Internet price'. A very basic but efficient way of making us pay the last little drop of our phone line usage, which comes on top of our ISP subcription fees, of course. Alan On vendredi 19 mars 1999 0:28, Jim Brick [SMTP:jimbrick@photoaccess.com] wrote: > Robert is correct. This is a HOAX. This same message has been floating > around the Internet for a couple of years. We are already being charged for > the Internet. It's the AlGore tax. You know... named after the guy who > invented the Internet. If you live in the US, check your phone bill. You'll > see it. > > As far as phone companies charging for actual Internet access, this is > virtually impossible. Anyone with any computer networking understanding > knows that TCP/IP packets flow through the system like interstitial Silver > ions in an undeveloped emulsion. To attempt to do accounting on these > packets, is futile at best. Any attempt would bring the Internet to its knees. > > Jim > > At 03:03 PM 3/18/99 -0800, you wrote: > >Sorry, this is a hoax. > >Look at http://www.snopes.com/ > > > >Bob Rose > > > >========================================== > >From: allan jay silver <silver@proaxis.com> > > > >In a message dated 3/17/99 11:40:14 AM, npapalex@ucla.edu writes: > > > ><<CNN reported that in the next two weeks, Congress is going to vote > >on allowing telephone companies to charge for Internet access. That > > >means, every time we make a long distance e-mail we will receive a > > >long distance charge. This will get costly. Please visit the > > >following web site AND Complain to your Congressman. Don't allow > > >this http://www.house.gov/writerep > >Pass this on to your friends. It is urgent! I hope all of you will > >pass this on to all your friends and family. All of us have an > >interest in this one. > >PLEASE FORWARD TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW TODAY BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!! > >Please Help and don't let this happen. > >WEBMASTER DARKSINS > >darksins@cyberdude.com > >ICQ# 22445383 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >