The end to end principle
The edge-dominant end-to-end architecture of the Internet is essential to its utility as a platform for innovation, creativity, and economic opportunity. .
The end-to-end principle is one of the central design principles of the Internet and is implemented in the design of the underlying methods and protocols in the Internet Protocol Suite. It is also used in other distributed systems. The principle states that, whenever possible, communications protocol operations should be defined to occur at the end-points of a communications system, or as close as possible to the resource being controlled.
According to the end-to-end principle, protocol features are only justified in the lower layers of a system if they are a performance optimization, hence, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) retransmission for reliability is still justified, but efforts to improve TCP reliability should stop after peak performance has been reached.
Open Standards
The remarkable growth of the Internet and the limitless variety of Internet applications follow directly from the open model of Internet connectivity and standards development. .
The remarkable growth of the Internet and the limitless variety of Internet applications follow directly from the open model of Internet connectivity and standards development. Any individual, organization, or company can develop and distribute a new Internet application that can be used by anyone. The many-to-many architecture of the Internet makes it a powerful tool for sharing, education, and collaboration. It has enabled the global open source community to develop and enhance many of the key components of the Internet, such as the Domain Name System and the World-Wide Web, and has made the vision of digital libraries a reality.
The Internet standards development process is by far the best in the business. More than just a standards process, it is a distributed collaboration and innovation engine that has produced a thriving new field of electronic communication and a ten-billion dollar global marketplace growing faster than any communications technology yet devised. Its very uniqueness, however, suggests that it may not be easily applied to existing standards making organizations and their proceedings.
It’s worth examining the attributes of the Internet standards and the associated processes.
Universal Access
The Internet is for everyone and can help improve the quality of life of people everywhere. The Internet is accessible to all the people of the world, regardless of nationality, religion, language and political beliefs, free of barriers and controls.
The Internet is for everyone and can help improve the quality of life of people everywhere. The Internet is accessible to all the people of the world, regardless of nationality, religion, language and political beliefs, free of barriers and controls.
The Internet provides universal access, giving the same powerful capabilities to everyone who has access to the network no matter where they are.
The Internet is based on a common standard, the TCP/IP network protocol, which provides all computers with access to the network with the same technical interface and capabilities. This common foundation makes all of the internet technologies equally available to anyone connected to the Internet.
This architecture gives everyone the ability to make information like text, audio, and video accessible to a world wide audience at an extremely low cost, since website storage space and lots of bandwidth can be rented from web hosting providers for low fees. Because the Internet has a “many-to-many” architecture, with everyone having the same capabilities as anyone else, it allows anyone to become a global publisher.
Freedom of Expression (FoE)
The Internet is a powerful mass medium for self-expression which depends on the ability of its users to speak freely. The Internet supports free flow of communication—and, where appropriate, anonymous—means of communication.
The Internet is a powerful mass medium for self-expression which depends on the ability of its users to speak freely. The Internet supports free flow of communication—and, where appropriate, anonymous—means of communication and collaboration among individuals and groups, and will oppose efforts to restrict the type or content of information exchanged on the Internet.
Information wants to be free, and the Internet fosters freedom of speech on a global scale.
The Internet is a common area, a public space like any village square, except that it is the largest common area that has ever existed. Anything that anybody wishes to say can be heard by anyone else with access to the Internet, and this world-wide community is as large and diverse as humanity itself. Therefore, from a practical point of view, no one community’s standards can govern the type of speech permissible on the Internet. In the words of John Barlow, a founding member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) — “In Cyberspace, the First Amendment is a local ordinance”.
The principle of freedom of speech is also embedded in the Internet’s robust architecture. In the words of John Gilmore, another founding member of the EFF — “The Net interprets censorship as damage, and routes around it.” Because of the Internet’s robust design, it is impossible to completely block access to information except in very limited and controlled circumstances, such as when blocking access to a specific site from a home computer, or when using a firewall to block certain sites from employees on a workplace network. If you believe that progress of human civilization depends on individual expression of new ideas, especially unpopular ideas, then the principle of freedom of speech is the most important value society can uphold. The more experience someone has with the Internet the more strongly they generally believe in the importance of freedom of speech, usually because their personal experience has convinced them of the benefits of open expression. The Internet not only provides universal access to free speech, it also promotes the basic concept of freedom of speech. If you believe that there is an inherent value in truth, that human beings on average and over time recognize and value truth, and that truth is best decided in a free marketplace of ideas, then the ability of the Internet to promote freedom of speech is very important indeed.
Link: https://goo.gl/clE2vJ
