Long Ago in the Era of the Modem

Exploring the Internet

I was writing a book and needed a plot, so found myself communing with the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, the top bureaucrat of the venerable multi-lateral treaty organization that published the Blue Book, the bible of telecommunications standards containing such hits as the V-series modems, ISDN, and (of course) SS7, X.400, and the emerging next-generation protocol suite they were espousing with rest of the standards bureaucracy. Every day of the year, 9 different standards committees were meeting they proudly informed me.

Exploring the Internet—a sequential series of blog entries complete with geolocation and a handy temporal navigation mechanism—tells the story of how the Blue Book was appropriated by a bunch of open source zealots and become a technology cause celebre. The book was originally published by Prentice Hall and distributed as the “INTEROP Book.” When the long tail diminished to levels too small to measure, the copyright reverted back to the author, who posted the book back on the net.

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PAPER TRAIL

06.17.92
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FACSIMILE
Dear Mr. Malamud
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12.10.91
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LASER PRINTED!
Dear Mr. Tarjanne
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11.13.91
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POSTED
Seminar: Project Bruno and the Global Internet
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11.12.91
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DELIVERED
Dear Dr. Eicher
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10.28.91
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PAMPHLET
Friends of Bruno Newsletter #2
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09.16.91
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PRESS RELEASE
INTEROP 91 Fall to Feature Major Announcement
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06.18.91
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FACSIMILE
Dear Mr. Malamud
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01.28.93
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REVIEW
Review: Exploring the Internet
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undated
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DESKTOP PUBLISHED
Hand-Folded Pamphlet
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TRACKBACK

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ITU opens up huge online resource — International Telecommunication Union September 10, 2007
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It's Time to Let ANSI Know What the Real World Thinks — Communications Week July 27, 1992
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Government Study Blasts ANSI's Practices — Communications Week May 18, 1992
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How Putting ISO Documents On-Line Can Pay — Communications Week January 6, 1992
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Are Secrets Standards? Even ANSI Secrets? — Communications Week October 7, 1991
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ITU Decision Turns Back the Clock — Communications Week December 23, 1991
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ITU Standards Program to End — Communications Week December 23, 1991
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Paying by the Inch for OSI Documentation — Data Communications June 1990