NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Let's build an internet! See this thread (http://z9.invisionfree.com/NS_Modern_World/index.php?showtopic=343) for more.

Off New York, USQ

"Easy! Easy! Sync up the winches!" First Officer Andrea Harkness stood planted on the deck of the RMS Baltic Princess, a Royal Fleet Auxiliary fishing trawler modified to lay submarine fibre-optic cable. Built to withstand North Sea storms by riding them out, the small, sturdy ship pitched a bit in the Atlantic chop. The Baltic's task, shared with perhaps four other RFA trawlers, was to lay connector cables into various east coast cities of the United States. Huge drums of black cable replaced similar drums of net, which spooled out across the stern of the Baltic's stern.

"Move it, people! We've got a rendezvous with the Hooke in three days, and I still see cable on the deck!" Harkness' ship was behind schedule, and the captain had been itching to sail off for their meeting with the ship that was even now preparing to lay the main cable. The four 'subcables' would have to be spliced into the main one to create an uninterrupted trans-Atlantic cable stretching not from the USQ to Britain, for that cable was already in place, but rather to a new router off of Scotland. That router would connect to a planned set of cables connecting-- for the first time-- the League's nets with those of NATO.

Connectivity was a major issue, but it wasn't Harkness'. Her job was to lay a cable from New York to a point off the coast, and she was behind schedule.

"Move, damn your eyes!"

NATOnet Internet Commission for Assigned Names and Numbers (NICANN) Headquarters, London

Stephen Trueblood sat and stared as the temporary satellite connection between RISL (Réseau Informatique du Sainte Ligue) and NATOnet vomited IP addresses into the NATO system, which compared them to an identical list of NATO IP addresses and sorted those which conflicted with one another into a separate list. That list, numbering thus far a few hundred, denoted computers that would, if RISL and NATOnet were to unify into one network then these would have to be renumbered.

Trueblood leaned back and yawned, watching the status bar creep from left to right. The actual renumbering would be a tiresome process, but thankfully that was to be left to another poor bastard in the Internet Protocol Compatibility division.

Ministry of the Interior, Paris

Le Comte d'Artois looked like a dark, saturnine version of his younger brother Louis. His clothes, elegantly tailored in the 18th century style favoured by the court of France were black and royal purple, rather than the more common white and gold. He was bareheaded, disdaining the powdered wig that so many Frenchmen of Quality wore, and his curly black hair was gathered in a messy ponytail. Taken together, his dress and appearance gave the impression of a hard man, one you wouldn't want to cross. All of the frivolity of Louis-Auguste's appearance was gone, despite similar features, and replaced by a ruthlessness that was chilling.

His opposite was one Dr. Nelson Predevith, Britain's delegate to the NATO Council of Internet Affairs. His post, shared with three others from the USQ, Roycelandia and Japan, gave him co-control of what passed for NATOnet's governing body. Dr. Predevith was of Indian descent, his family longtime residents of Britain. He was a small, white haired man with a large and fluffy moustache and a bad suit. In many ways, he was the stereotypical intellectual.

"Monsigneur, good afternoon, and long live the King." His French, accented as it was by his Oxford-cultured English accent, was execrable. He switched gratefully to English, and continued. "I assume that you've been briefed on why we are here today?" Le Comte nodded and took his seat behind the expansive mahogany desk that dominated the eastern corner of his office. He gestured to continue, picking up a gilt letter opener and twiddling it idly between his manicured fingers.

"Ahem, yes. Well. Our two governments have been discussing linking the RISL and NATOnet into one network. Since the control of RISL rests in part in your Ministry, I'd like to discuss what we'll need to do with either you or an official involved in that." Artois nodded and looked at Predevith expectantly. The doctor, expecting some kind of response, waited until the pause became too uncomfortable to bear.

"The business applications, of course, are impossible to overstate. Since so much of the world's banking takes place electronically, it would make the movement of capital between NATO and the League much easier. In addition, we would probably see an upsurge in business overall. Communications are somewhat complex, since the Continent is, by and large, not plugged in to our nets. E-mail alone would increase productivity significantly. I'm sure, monsigneur, that the economic potential here is clear to you." Predevith paused again.

"Ahem. Your thoughts, monsigneur?"

tag

OOC: What, nobody?

@: The Former United Elias has an Internet-style network. This is still running, much as it did in Elian times.

@: The Agency responsible for this, equivalent to NICANN and RISL, still goes under it's Elian name of DNCB, or Domain Name Co-ordination Bureau, based in Baghdad.

@: The Agency is prepared, with full agreement from the office of General al-Rashid, to link EliasNet with NATOnet under certain conditions.

@: Primary amongst these conditions is that no censorship by other nations affect the right of those using EliasNet to access information and exercise their free speech.

@: This condition has, thus far, been respected across EliasNet, despite the instatement of various interim regimes in parts of the Former United Elias.

@: A working party led by Hassan Bashar is available to begin considering the feasibility of linking EliasNet to NATOnet.

OOC: Short on time, but I didn't want you to give up on this.

Looks like no interest, but yeah to all your points.

Sithin

Reaction in the Strainist world to news of efforts to connect League and NATO computer networks is rather mixed… Sithin has pushed for some time to see greater integration amongst the world’s data networks, in hopes of seeing information flow from Mumbai to Vancouver. High-tech concerns, particularly those focused on fibre-optics, computers and cellular telephone production, are particularly eager to take advantage of a wider network for customers in the West… more available data requires more lines to carry it and updated hardware to store and display it, driving consumers to shorten the interval between new equipment purchases.

The Revolutionary Army is less pleased with the development. Integration between networks in Lyong and Canada has already occurred on a limited level, and it has been in the interest of both academics (on both sides of the Pacific) and Strainist enterprises (seeking to employ more cost-effective ‘online’ tech support) to avoid incompatibilities, even if no official agreement was ever reached. But the Canadian network is part of NATOnet, and so that network’s integration with the computers of the Holy League could pose some danger… a potential new front in the event of hostilities.

The Party’s advisory committee on Public Safety was responsible for data security, and would have to ensure that electronic defenses were up to the challenge of this new environment. They would also be responsible for exploring new intelligence avenues that the integration might bring.

Meanwhile, pressure from Sithin would increase on its Asian allies to further integrate their own networks, and feelers would be sent out to Washington and London about official integration before the status-quo was disrupted in a wave of League IPs… more than the altruistic quest to share knowledge, the tech-dependent Party was of the view that the wider a network became, the less likely any entity would be to try and destroy it.

OOC: Sorry, I thought people were pretty much ignoring this.

London

The Empire had, in some ways, taken its cues from Spyr. Like Spyr, Britain was far and away a secondary level nation in NATO, unable to compete directly with the United States economically or militarily. Much like Spyr, which had blossomed in the shadow of the Soviet Commonwealth, Britain turned its eye to technology to make up the gap. While the Quinntonians busied themselves re-commissioning aircraft carriers, the British drew up ambitious new designs for arsenal ships and submarines. They threw themselves into the expansion of the 'net with an eye for business opportunities, and the great British banks (still the largest in the world) took to the idea of online banking with a vengeance.

So when Spyr sent out cautious inquiries about the unification of their network with that of NATO, the British were indeed receptive. Sithin would be pleased to hear that the British, longtime trade partners with the Lyongese, were happy to discuss 'increased interoperability' and 'network stability' in the long term. After all, the British officials said, the world's free nations must do their utmost to promote free exchange of information and ideas. The intranets were exciting tools, they said, but wouldn't it be grand if all peoples could share in one internet?

Off of St. Paul
OOC: Read: Sao Paulo

Here, too, the cableships of the RFA were busy. Africa's links to the world were tenuous indeed, and as part of Britain's efforts to improve the quality of life there, a new cable was planned that would run from St. Paul, economic capital of the American Territories, to Freetown in Sierra Leone. Freetown, as any student of world affairs should know, is a close ally of London's and a host to Camp Margai, Britain's main African base. Sierra Leone's populace, already significantly better off than their nearest neighbours, will likely be rather pleased at the connection. Businesses, the main customers for high-capacity data transfer, were no doubt eager to start sending.

From the Freetown router, there was much work still to be done. Eventually, it is hoped that ECOWAS as a whole will have access to the cable, perhaps by a system of subcables similar to those present of the Quinntonian coasts. Africa had spent far too long being the plaything of other nations, and by this and other efforts Britain seems intent upon bootstrapping the entire continent into the twenty-first century.

OOC: I am not sure what to make of this RP. We RPed lots of trade between France and Germany so their networks would probably already be connected. I'll have to think more about it before I even think about responding. I think we need the Leagues input (and involvement) before proceeding.

Indonet already serves hundreds of millions of users, and the involved capabilities and technologies are inarguably cutting edge as the Indian IT sector soars and massive demand is created by the Commonwealth's increasingly net-dependant direct democracy.

Few observers will have been surprised to see Indonet muscling in to the People's Republic of Bangladesh, co-operating with Hindustan, being pushed at the Nepali People's Republic, nor even to see Vietnam and Laos compelled to co-operate with the ambitions of their most important trade partner and military backer. The massive Soviet base on Zanzibar island brought Indonet to the United African Republics, and the on-going work to bring Namibia on-line is seen as part of a wider effort to integrate the rest of the UAR and then the African Commonwealth and its Angolan ward. Deep ties to Libya make that nation the next target for a unilateral Soviet drive to have it all our way. Convincing the Neo-Anarchans to commit to such uniformity seems a rather larger challenge yet to be tackled, but Raipur's envoys are not shy about promoting the Indonet standard in Beijing and Sithin. And if we can get the Armandians on-side, then any competing network will hardly seem worth logging on to.

At the height of the Indonet drive, so soon after the completion of the Soviet GPS grid, during the chaos of the African war, Indians adopt the slogan fight on all fronts!

Hindustanis, it should surprise nobody, do not pay much attention to developments surrounding the internet and international integration thereof. Computers are relatively new to Hindustan in the first place, and personal computers approaching even a relatively modern standard are quite rare, so it is an issue that bears little significance for the man in the street. For news and entertainment, most Unioners still rely on the newspapers and the radio, and not many people have the money or the inclination to go out and obtain a computer for themselves. The vast majority continue to scoff and sneer over the increasing cooperation between the Holy League and NATO.

That said, of course, Unioners are eager to connect the few computers in use, mostly on the community or council level, to a wider and more or less well-run network, so no small amount of enthusiasm is shown for Indonet by Hindustanis concerned with such things.

OOC: I expect that there was some digital connection, but knowing France's tendency to control information I would expect significant opposition to an open network solution. NG wanted to liberalize his nation, and I thought this would be an easy first step sort of thing. Also, it's a non-combat RP, which I think might do AMW some good! After all, constant fighting isn't good for the ol' heart...
[/random]

Um, I agree that we should have League input here. But I think some of these things can go on without it... especially between me and Mesopotamia.

Terrie, post! NOW!

The Roman Senate of course leaps at the business opportunities that a unified network with NATO would bring. Yet the Church is much less prepared to accept the idea with open arms since they are concerned about the information and ideas that might reach the public. They advise Caesar Romulus that before he accepts this initiative he should look at a solution to their problem. The military also warn Caesar that the joining of the two networks would only open yet another front for an attack on Rome, especially from their neighbors to the north. They would like to see a cutting-edge defense around their own networks before they can fully embrace a joint network with NATO and the League. Caesar Romulus will await the France's decision and any actions King Louis takes before he make any kind of decision.

Hail Caesar!

K I will just go with the flow then. Hopefully NG will come out of hiding one of these days and post

Soviet Indians will find that the Strainists active in the spheres of high technology and data flows are not cut from the same mould as those who preach Progressive comradeship and battle against the world's feudal capitalists... here can be found what might be called a more conservative breed, despite their love of technical advancement. Well aware that the Lyongese economy builds capital producing the cables and terminals which make up computer networks, they are decidedly wary of Indonet and the agressive stance behind its spread... the Strainists and their Burmese allies will likely drive a hard bargain if the Soviets hope to extend their network to Hanoi or Vientiane by anything other than satellite.

Of course, absent feelings of socialist brotherhood do not indicate any sort of transference... the idea of a global 'internet' including Spyr and NATO might excite those who revel in the free exchange of ideas, but for most Party officials involved the goal boils down to a matter of market share... the greater the network, the greater the interest in it, and the greater the need to invest in hardware and software to satisfy that interest. Strainist warmth to interconnection will rise in inverse proportion to tech sector protectionism in NATO countries, and proposals (such as the laying of a second Naisho-Vancouver line) will doubtless suggest shared costs and Lyongese fibre-optics.

Strainist efforts to create markets in the INU follow a similar mould to those undertaken in Africa, and cut short by League encroachment there... every household might not yet need a console, but certainly every village would benefit from the relatively minor investment, and wireless telecom means regions yet to build up infrastructure can simply skip the bother of hardwiring and go straight to the fun! Such markets provide an excellent opportunity to recoup some losses on older technologies as well, perhaps considered obsolete by the discerning consumer in London or Shanghai but certainly sufficient to impress buyers in Mumbai.

OOC: Many apologies Gurg, you posted just as I went travelling for the best part of 4 weeks.

IC: The Domain Name Co-ordination Bureau (DNCB), in a working party led by Hassan Bashar, had been considering the feasibility of linking EliasNet with NATOnet and beyond.
The British seemed to be the prime movers behind the idea, so it was there that they directed their communique, relating the preliminary conclusions of the DNCB, namely that it was entirely possible to link the networks, and that it would be of great benefit in the long run, though teething troubles were to be expected.
Their suggested solution to the problem of harmonising domain names was quite simple; as with international telephone calls, to add a prefix before the address of any site outside the home network of the user.
Certainly for EliasNet and NATOnet, the codes and conventions were the same, and if instated this would permit the two networks to begin co-operating almost immediately.
A meeting was proposed, perhaps in London, to arrange this.

OOC: Argh, laptop battery! More to follow.