Question: If TCP/IP become the primary infrastructure for communication in the 21st century, do you see national, financial, or personal security issues? Is it prudent to depend on one protocol? Are there options or must we show the same respect for TCP/IP as we do OXY/GEN?

Nominee Replies

Emerson Tiller, J.D., Ph.D. - posted on 2000-10-08 21:05:54 I am not a technologist so I do not know whether the long-term dependence on one protocol is good or not, from a technical standpoint. But I imagine that decision has economic, social and political implications and when those are clearly presented, I would lean towards committments that facilitated as much open and innovative communication as possible. Lawrence Lessig - posted on 2000-10-07 06:43:54 TCP/IP is not static. It will evolve slowly over time. But I do think its core value should be our constitution: build the network so intelligence is in the ends, and the network is kept simple. This is the end-to-end argument. It has minimized the power of network owners over the development of the network. And it has encouraged extraordinary innovation in the building and developing of the net.