Islands in the Bit-Stream: Charting the NII Interoperability Debate

Islands in the Bit-Stream: Charting the NII Interoperability Debate

Francois Bar, Stanford University, Michael Borrus, University of California, Berkeley, and Richard Steinberg, University of California, Los Angeles

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 5/1/1995)

Inquiring into interconnection and interoperability is a bit like the search for justice. Everyone avows its virtue; but the agreement in principle conceals a host of divergent conceptions. And the actual practice degenerates into disputes over detail and degree. Similarly, interconnection and interoperability are singled out as essential goals by nearly everyone in the debate, from the Clinton Administration to the G7-Business Roundtable, from the National Academy's technical experts to the Public Interest Coalition's consumer advocates. There agreement ends. Thereafter confusion reigns.