Net Loss: Internet Prophets, Private Profits, and the Costs to Community

List of Acronyms

Acronyms A book dealing with both technology and government inevitably is infested by the acronyms that dominate both fields of endeavor, so the following is a partial list of acronyms used in this book. In general, it contains those that are most important and are repeated in the text. Acronyms without fuller names in their definition reflect the habit in the world of technology of creating such acronyms, even while the acronyms had never had full names or these names had been forgotten. ABAG: Association of Bay Area Governments, Northern California regional planning agency AEA: American Electronics Association, technology business association AFL-CIO: American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations , national labor federation AFSCME: American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, public employees union AMTEX: American Textile Partnership, government-business textile research consortium ANS: Advanced Network and Services, first commercial Internet backbone APC: Association of Progressive Communications, international nonprofit Internet service provider ARC: Augmentation Research Center, Stanford center pioneering Internet and computer innovations ARPA: Advanced Research Projects Agency, federal agency that developed Internet ARPANET: original designation of what would become the Internet xvii xviii Acronyms ATM: automatic teller machine BB: business to business, jargon for Internet commerce between businesses BAMTA: Bay Area (then Broad Area) Multimedia Technology Association, business consortium BARRNET: early Bay Area provider of Internet services for nonprofits and universities BBN: Bolt Beranek and Newman, consulting firm hired to design original ARPANET computer routers BSD: Berkeley Software Distribution, openly licensed version of UNIX operating system CAD: computer-aided design, software for graphics-based design CERN: European Organization for Nuclear Research, research center where World Wide Web originated CIX: Commercial Internet Exchange, first association of commercial Internet service providers CPU: central processing unit, electronic brain of a computer CPUC: California Public Utilities Commission, utility regulatory agency CRA: Community Reinvestment Act, law to evaluate bank service to community CSNET: Computer Science Research Network, online network of universities in s CTWO: Center for Third World Organizing, community-based organization DARPA: renamed ARPA with Defense added to its name DoD: Department of Defense DOS: disk operating system, first IBM personal computer operating system DVD: digital video disk, successor to compact disk with greater storage capacity eCo: XML-based electronic commerce standard developed by CommerceNet organization EDD: Employment Development Department, California state employment agency EIT: Enterprise Integration Technologies, key Internet commerce firm in CommerceNet consortium EPRI: Electric Power Research Institute, utility research consortium FCC: Federal Communications Commission, national regulatory agency for many Internet issues FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, national regulatory agency for energy industry Acronyms xix FTP: file transfer protocol, networking standard for exchanging files on Internet GAO: U.S. General Accounting Office, congressional research arm GIS: geographic information systems, software for linking information to geographic location GNU: GNU is Not Unix, set of free software with freely readable code HTML: HyperText Markup Language, language for Web pages for displaying information in browsers HTTP: HyperText Tranfer Protocol, standard for transmitting information over the Web IAB: Internet Activities Board/Internet Architecture Board, government network overseeing Internet development ICANN: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, named nonprofit regulator of Internet domain names in  ICCB: Internet Configuration Control Board, oversight network preceding IAB ICFTU: International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, international labor federation IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force, subcommittee of IAB that set Internet standards IGC: Institute for Global Communications, organization providing online services to nonprofits in the United States IMF: International Monetary Fund, global institutional loan provider IMP: Interface Message Processors, first computers used to route first ARPANET connections InterNIC: ARPANET organization at SRI that managed Internet addresses IP: Internet Protocol, standard for exchanging information between computer networks IPO: initial public offering, event where public shares are issued for a privately held company IPTO: Information Processing Techniques Office, ARPA division that developed the Internet ISP: Internet service provider, company or service providing access to the Internet JTSIN: Joint Transmission Services Information Network, utility group managing online energy transactions LAN: local area network, electronic networks between local computers LINUX: free version of UNIX operating system based on GNU tools xx Acronyms MAI: Multilateral Agreement on Investments, failed proposal to protect corporate investment power MCC: Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation, Austinbased electronics consortium MSN: Microsoft Network, originally proprietary online system that became Internet Service Provider MTA: Metropolitan Transit Authority, Los Angeles agency running public transit NAPs: network access points, connection points...