For small Internet service providers trying to make it in a world increasingly dominated by media and telecom giants, the last couple of weeks were particularly rough. First, UUNET Technologies announced it would stop "peering" with ISPs that piggyback on its facilities without returning the favor. And then nine of the biggest ISPs in the United States banded together to form IOPS.org, which they're pegging as the Internet's self-regulating militia of "reliability" cops - bravely policing customer service and network health.
So far, the large ISPs have taken great pains to spin their recent activities as simply good business, and not an attempt to squeeze out the hundreds of smaller players that are among the current roster of about 2,000 ISPs nationwide. IOPS.org will indeed accept smaller ISPs, its organizers point out. But that's only if the little guys can cough up US$25,000 in membership fees and meet other as-yet undefined criteria for membership.
Ira Richer, director of network research at the Corporation for National Research Initiatives and IOPS.org's point man, said such criteria may include possession of a fiber backbone network, or perhaps a requirement that candidates offer around-the-clock customer service. That - in addition to the $25,000 membership fee - may indeed make it hard for many smaller ISPs to join, but Richer puts it rather honestly and bluntly: "In order to be effective, we have to have the right ISPs involved. The ones we want to be involved are the ones that will be serious." Translation: Small fries may want to stay out of the treehouse for now.
The list of companies that have started IOPS.org reads like a who's who of telecom and Internet leviathans: ANS, AT&T, BBN, EarthLink Network, GTE, MCI, Netcom, PSINet, and UUNET. There are enough heavy hitters in this group to set de facto standards for business practices and reliability thresholds that could force everyone else to either play ball or die. But MCI spokeswoman Caroline Rice said this doesn't necessarily bode ill for the little guys. "This group is open to anyone," she insisted. "If we can work together, this is for the overall good of the Internet. It's not about a power play for ISPs."
Of course, smaller ISPs without facilities likely wouldn't benefit from affiliation with IOPS.org, and their voices likely would be drowned out anyway by the big players. In fact, IOPS.org has been put together so diplomatically that it's unclear whether any real opposition will solidify. Even Don Heath of the Internet Society remains hopeful. "It does appear to be a focused group that should help the stability and security of the Internet," he said.
