Re: Ancient history [Re: ipv4 and ipv6 Coexistence.]

[George Michaelson <[e-mail]>]

There is control, and there is soft control. Soft control we live with
all the time. the funder can decline to continue funding. The
facilities can stop being free. Visa assistance, motivations can move.

I think early Internet had people there from government armed forces
computing/networking contexts. Why do I think this? Because the UK end
of the ARPA/SATNET link split, with a feed to the MOD. And, because
Jon Crowcroft regailed me with tales of a spookish man with medal
ribbons out to the left of his chest, pontificating at the various
meetings held at SRI. A large tranche of the UK IPv4 address space
vested with the MOD.

I think we had soft control. Not hard. The money tap was known and
understood. Some things were done with nudges to people who otherwise
might not have opened doors, or taps. Nobody I know had wired down
contract issues enforcing military/government goals, but directing
traffic to the UK defence department as well as the academic
community, and to government telecommunications research laboratories
(Estriel, was pre-privatization BT work as I recall and there was
still a regulated mandate on communications trunks and bearers which
demands the GPO and BT agreed to do things to you, that were not
scheduled communications)

SATNET was far from ordinary. You don't just rock up and get a feed
into a satellite network.

Soft control is ubiquitous. Computer Aided Instruction took funds from
NATO, and ran workshops all through Europe in the 70s and 80s. Nobody
doing HCI in those times was unaware of interest from these people.
The 5th Generation Alvey project had specific drives to use GEC in
projects, even when the machine was a classic 'halt and catch fire'
design.