The Other Side of the Sprint Vs. Cogent Depeering

Swoolley writes "A month back this community discussed the Sprint vs. Cogent depeering. Now a story I wrote for Forbes.com tells the inside story of the fight, based on the lawsuits the two companies filed against each other in Virginia state court. For once, thanks to those suits, the public gets to see the details of a confidential peering agreement between two of the Internet's largest autonomous systems, as well as the circumstances leading up to the depeering. (Which company is in the right? Read the facts and decide for yourself.) While some people have argued that the depeering is reason for more government regulation, the Forbes story makes the case that details of the recent Cogent vs. Sprint fight argue for exactly the opposite: keeping the Internet backbones free of government meddling."

Comments

Re:government regulation: the devil is in the deta

[janrinok]

So you managed to do just that for roads and telephones but you are suggesting that it would be impossible to do for broadband?

I disagree. It would be difficult and expensive but, given the will, it could be done. The problem is that it is not your Government but businesses that would have to carry out the work, and they want to see a profit. So it is not in their interests to do it. Of course, your Government could offer a financial package to help pay for the work. Oh, wait, they already have done.....

People once said that you couldn't travel at speeds greater than 25 MPH without suffering physical injury, that you couldn't go to the moon, that an African-American could be President, and so on. All these things have come, or are coming, to pass but America is still becoming an broadband backwater. It is not because of ability but simply a lack of will.