Experts Flummoxed By Impending Regulations

The second day of the Preventing the Internet Meltdown conference focused on a number of wedge issues that could alter the existing architecture of the Internet. Impending regulations about Voice-over IP (VOIP) and the new momentum behind surveillance initiatives related to Homeland security have a number of Internet experts seriously concerned about the net's future. "I have significant nightmares about where this VOIP issue is going to take us," said Lauren Weinstein, co-founder of People For Internet Responsibility. The afternoon's other panelists -- Scott Bradner, Ed Felten, John Morris, and Peter Neumann -- no longer question that regulations will alter and complicate the existing packet-routing procedures of web traffic. The main focus of discussion focused on how serious those complications will be and to what extent they will thwart innovation.