The Internets Coming of Age
by By National Research Council (U. S.) (EDT)
Category: Political Science , Public Policy , General

Based on two years of study, this latest report from a committee assembled by the federal Computer Science and Telecommunications Board takes a look at the thriving commercial Internet, identifying short- and long-term technical challenges as well as suggesting approaches for Net-related public policy. It focuses on five themes: the Internet's basic design features; its scalability, reliability, and robustness; interconnection and openness issues; collisions between the Net and other communications-based industries, particularly those that long predate the Internet; and broader social policy issues, such as privacy and taxation of e-commerce. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)