As is usual on my travels, I spotted a few newspaper cuttings to share. Since I'm at my parents' house, I can't scan them in for your delight and amusement.
Both are BT adverts, from The Times and The Sunday Times respectively. The former is for their BT Privacy Online product that prevents fraudulent premium-rate diallers from PCs. The other is from BT's enterprise solutions division, offering security services: "Safeguard your reputation by securing your data with BT's networked IT services."
The pattern is that BT's value comes from preventing certain messages from getting through. A similar pattern showed up a while back in AT&T's (who are they? Ed.) R&D pronouncements. I suspect what we'll see is a repositioning of telcos to focus on how well their networks hinder the propagation of unwanted messages, rather than how they add value to wanted ones.
There are plenty of precedents for the "edge" to define solutions to abuse, from the numerous spam blacklists to the collaborative blacklists for weblog trackback spam. Nonetheless, the network core is well placed to spot dispersed trends and stem denial of service attacks; problems where individual nodes might struggle to co-ordinate in finding a solution. Consider it the Rise of the Smart Anti-Network. I'm unsure as to how this will play out. Is it possible to capture the option value of the stupid network without all the costs of complete openness? Is the Net really so unsafe?
For store-and-forward services it seems more likely that the edge will win out over centralised network provider solutions to abuse. You've got time to ponder and consult other nodes for advice. For real-time systems, we may simply see a diversion into private closed worlds like Skype or AOL IM. I can't say that as a refuge for aging telcos it looks very attractive. When wanted calls are free, but unwanted ones cause you ten dollars-worth of nuisance, there's clearly a business to be made. But the very fact that the applications and their modes of abuse evolve very quickly argues for an edge-based solution. "Core" solutions are only likely to work for a narrow set of stable and defined (anti-)social problems, mostly at lower layers of the network stack.
While I'm on BT's tail, for once I'd like to say something nice. Their online bill viewing system is good. Really good. I think they've taken it for an extensive work-out in the usability labs. It even looks pretty. Compared to the obfuscation of their old printed bills, it's quite a delight. Now if only they could work some more magic and actually deliver some meaningful connectivity to my home...
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