Friday, April 15, 2005

Son of Internet

I’ll bet you heard of Terminator 2 and Godzilla 2...but have you heard of Internet2? Internet2 was established in 1996. It is a high–speed network that connects 200 universities and 60 corporations for the purpose of research and testing. It is not connected to the main Internet and therefore not open to the public. When I say high-speed…I am not kidding. Recently, Internet2 has hit the news in a big way. This lightning fast communication network can download a movie 1,000 times faster than today’s Internet. One computer expert stated that every song ever recorded by Aerosmith could be downloaded in 5 seconds. It is kind of like today’s Internet on steroids. At issue is the music industry’s decision to pursue users of Internet2 who are downloading pirated music. At this time only students of participating universities can connect to Internet2. Students access Internet2 using i2hub and share files at an incredible rate of speed. thei2hub.organization states that it is a “platform for students from colleges, universities and institutions globally, providing instant access to an academic community built on collaboration”. Sounds great…the only thing is RIAA (The Recording Industry Association of America) thinks i2hub is being used illegally to share music and movies. The Question…How long will it be before the consumer industry (the rest of us) demand the same access? All of us want to download files (legally of course) 1,000 times faster with this souped up "Son of Internet”? Just when I thought I had “dial up” figured out they throw this at me.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Tony - if we ever do get Internet2-type speeds, make sure you send me some of those classic "Arrow Smith" songs. :)