1997 ISPCON Sessions

Richard Hart - CNET

A look at the humorous side of the Web. Sites real and imagined. The Top 10 T-Shirts spied at this year's event. TV outtakes. Hey, folks, it's not brain surgery.

Bob Gaughan - Bay Networks
Don Listwin - Cisco Systems Inc
George Favaloro - Compaq Computer Corporation
Rose Ann Giordano - Digital Equipment Corporation
Raouf Halim - Rockwell Semiconductor Systems
Ross Manire - 3Com
Robert Pepper - FCC
Jack Rickard - Boardwatch Magazine

This keynote opening session will feature the companies that have sponsored this year's ISPCON '97 including: Bay Networks, Cisco Systems, Digital Equipment Corporation, Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, and 3Com.

Jim Barrick - Keynote Systems

Customers are concerned about two things: price and performance. This session will address the performance factor. Quality of service and delivery of a high-performance network is a competitive advantage for providing hosting and collocation services. An ISP can now compete on performance with the ability to prove, through sophisticated third-party metrics, that it delivers the level of performance that keeps users coming to its customers' web sites. An ISP can compare its quality of service with that of its competition. It can verify and take steps to improve its actual performance, if necessary. It can offer (resell) performance measurement as a value-added benefit to its customers. The customers can continue to monitor the quality of service that they provide to end-users accessing their site -- and feel assured that it continues to support them with a high level of performance. With ISP services and competition escalating, the ability to provide performance metrics gives an ISP a major point of differentiation.

Steve Thomas - Ascend Communications Inc

Internet service providers are still using the old fashioned points of presence (POPs). A POP is rack after rack of analog modems and terminal adapters connected to individual ports on remote access servers, which are then interfaced to separate routers. Managing this mess -- or even finding it under all those cables -- becomes more of a challenge with each passing day as the Internet grows...and grows...and grows. Technology advances now permit a fully integrated and consolidated product that is literally a "POP in a box." These modern WAN access switches or access concentrators are more capable, dependable and affordable for service providers and end-users. This session will provides an overview of the capabilities available in the marketplace today, along with a glimpse of what is coming in the next few years.

Gene Crick - Texas ISP Association
Paul Hoffman - Internet Mail Consortium
Barbara Dooley - Commercial Internet eXchange Assoc
Sara Fitzgerald - Direct Marketing Association
Ian D Oxman - EHI
Ron Guilmette - E-Scrub Technology

We are seeing mounting tensions between frustrated consumers and would-be marketers regarding the use of the network in commercial space. ISPs are often caught in the middle--unable to protect their networks from spam attacks and unable to respond to their own customers reporting "network abuse" because of unsolicited e-mail. What kind of legislative, judicial and self-regulatory mechanisms are being developed to deal with spam? What kind of ISP industry cooperation is necessary to protect networks? What works in a borderless medium?

Russ Jones - Digital Equipment Corp

Content providers are beginning to sell and deliver information and software on a per-click basis over the World Wide Web. This session will provide an overview of microcommerce technology and takes a close look at the various deployment models; per-access charges, subscriptions, promotional incentives, tiered-service levels, advertising rebates and loyalty programs. Although the transactions are small, the issues are large.

Carl Rigney - Livingston Enterprises

This session will explore the current advances in the IETF RADIUS workgroup, including topics such as roaming and proxying.

Nicholas Bologna - Dynaflo Systems Inc

According to recent surveys, there are approximately 10 million businesses in the United States that are Internet ready. Currently 1.5 million subscribe to an Internet service. Why haven't the other 8.5 million businesses signed on? What will it take to lure them to the Internet? What are they looking for from the Internet? Are there services that meet their needs? The ISP that has these answers will be in a good position to mine gold in this large, untapped market. Despite its rapid growth, the Internet is confronted with the challenge that most industries face in the early stages. This presentation will explore ways in which the ISP can meet this challenge and move beyond the early adopters to the mass market.

Mordy Rothberg - IDT

Internet telephony is beginning to threaten the big telcos, both domestically and internationally. According to a report distributed by Frost and Sullivan, Internet telephony is slated to become a $1.89 billion industry by the year 2000. This session will discuss the effects of Internet telephony on the international telecommunications market and how worldwide deregulation plays a lead role in this effort.

David Silver - Santa Fe Capital Group

Cash is king, and the creative non-use of your cash is one of the most important activities in business. This session by David Silver will have you re-examine your approach to financing and marketing so that you begin to use the shelf spaces in your community such as your utility's statement as a monthly marketing stuffer. Silver will help you think like a gatekeeper, and will show you how you can control access to your valuable assets and raise cash by leveraging the companies with which you do business so that they provide up-front cash to you. You will also learn how to convert subscribers into members of a club, and collect multiple fees from them which in the aggregate will triple their subscription fee. Silver's promise is that within 15 months of coming to his seminar, you will be running a company with so many cash flow channels, that your interest income on idle cash will exceed your present net operating income.

Dean Skidmore - IBM

This session will explain the integration which is occuring between computing and networking in the commercial business world. The second part of this session will discuss how the ISP infrastructure will change from offering a single IP service to a multiple discipline of differentiated services allowing for different classes and types of services needed to support network computing applications. As the ISPs change to offer more managed services, computer vendors will team with ISPs and telcos to offer more network-enabled applications and network computing.

Rob Kolstad - Berkeley Software Design Inc

The future of the Internet is nearly impossible to predict. This session will examine the financial and economic factors, security issues, political factors, technical issues, cultural issues, and wildcards that might push the Internet toward fabulous success or cataclysmic failure. If you're betting your networking future on the Internet, this session is an essential step toward charting its possible directions.

Frank Wiener - Paradyne Corp

Paricipants will learn exciting new opportunities for high-speed delivery (7 Mbps+) of multimedia applications using digital subscriber line technology. Voice, data and video applications can be delivered to users over a single twisted copper pair. Participants will learn about new revenue opportunities available to ISPs based on the Telecom Reform Act of 1996 and how the Internet can be leveraged to deliver content to commercial and residential markets. Internet access, corporate intranet video conferencing, video streaming, distance learning remote access and more will be discussed.

David Jemmett - GoodNet

New NSPs are entering the marketplace on a regular basis. But not all networks are crated equal, you have to look under the hood. The performance of your connection, and subsequently your customer's connection, is directly related to the quality of your provider's network. In this presentation, the nuts an bolts of backbones will be discussed; what to expect in the near future, routing vs. switching, peering and what it means to your business, ATM vs. clear channel and the role OC-3.

Richard Palmer - Cisco Systems

As value-added networking evolves, carriers and ISPs are facing significant pressures with regards to price, scalability, network management, and remote access. A variety of services are rapidly becoming available to offset and capitalize on these market dynamics. Palmer will discuss how network service providers can leverage TCP/IP services, multimedia services, and how they can drive revenue and challenge conventional wisdom of telecommunications services.

Gene Crick - Texas ISP Association
Joe Marion - Florida ISP Association
Ralph Sims - WA Assn ISPs
Barbara Dooley - Commercial Internet eXchange Assoc
Mark Rhoads - US Internet Council
Mike Eggley - Iowa ISPA
Roger Cochetti - IBM

This session will discuss the implications of the Global Framework for Electronic Commerce. What is going on at the state level in the U.S.? What are ISP associations doing at the local and state level to educate lawmakers? What is the status of the Cox-Wyden federal legislation? Should ISPs be responsible for collecting taxes on behalf of their customers?

Paul Stapleton - ISP Report
Cliff Bryant - MindSpring Enterprises
Craig Moseley - Daniels & Associates
Donald A Janke - Internet Ventures
Ted Taylor - Rampart Associates

Merger and acquisition activity in the ISP market is at a frenzy. It is a strategy you want to explore or at least understand. But how do you begin? What is your ISP "really" worth? What is the benefit of using an investment bank or broker? This panel enacts an ISP transaction using a fictional, or maybe not so fictional ISP. Stop by to see if this panel can do the deal in one hour.

Alan Cohen - IBM

The ISP industry is at a crossroads. Amid the struggle to determine which business blueprint works, and how to make money, IBM's Alan Cohen will temporarily take you out of the frenzy of web time and offer a reality check of where the ISP industry stands. Cohen will discuss why ISPs need to get off the fence and help propel e-commerce, why uncertainty in the industry isn't so scary, why listening to customers works, and why the real killer ap can help ISPs overcome all of the above.

Glen Zorn - Microsoft Corp

This session will provide an introduction to the technology behind roaming, which allows users to access POPs from many service providers, while having a business relationship with only one. The session will cover the basics of roaming technology, as well as summarizing the current state-of-the-art in roaming software.

Carl Rigney - Livingston Enterprises
Kevin Fink - N2H2 Inc

This session will discuss how to offer filtered Internet access to your subscribers without requiring additional equipment or support. By using Livingston's ChoiceNet in conjunction with N2H2's Internet filtering services, you can offer filtered Internet access to your customers on the same modem pool and access servers as your unfiltered customers. N2H2 takes care of all maintenance of the server and provides daily updates of the filter list. They will first discuss N2H2's filtering proxy services, then describe how Livingston's ChoiceNet can be used to force selected users through the filtering proxy server.

David Peterschmidt - Inktomi Corp

Internet and intranet growth is creating more demand for bandwidth than can be physically supported. Are there new approaches to solve this dilemma? Are there alternatives to ATM and gigabit Ethernet that can provide better traffic management without adding more physical network bandwidth? Inktomi president and CEO David Peterschmidt will highlight network infrastructure products and configurations that eliminate network congestion without increasing capacity. In this session, an ISP will learn how new data flow management technologies can solve big networking problems. This session will address the present and future overload issues such as eliminating redundant traffic, creating "smarter" networks and, in turn, offering decreased marginal costs.

Bruce Hahne - Access Internet Solutions Inc

Due to a combination of factors ranging from the linguistic to the political, the rest of the world does not widely understand the growth and status of the commercial use of the Internet in Japan. This session will present an insider's view, from a network engineer who has been building commercial Internet connections in Japan since 1994. In addition to providing a capsule summary of Japan's Internet growth history, this session will discuss how ISPs everywhere can learn from the lessons of Japan. Particular emphasis will be given to the issues involved in setting up service between multiple continents, case studies of how Japan's regulatory and pricing structures have impacted usage patterns, cultural issues to consider when attempting to reach the Japanese Internet user with a web site, and how non-Japanese ISPs can improve their connectivity.

Robert Laughlin - DataXchange Network Inc

This session will cover the basics of Internet connectivity starting with an Ethernet local area network, and then showing how bridges and routers can extend connectivity to other locations. Included are explanations of bandwidth issues (56 Kbps, fractional T-1, full T-1), connection types (dial-up, ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM, dedicated line), protocols (SLIP. PPP, HDLC, Frame Relay, ATM), and the IP addressing scheme including Class A, B, and C addresses as well as the new CDIR blocks. Subnetting and subnet masks are also included.

Maury Kauffman - The Kauffman Group

This session will offer a non-technical overview of the fax industry, market and history; its relationship with the ISP industry, and the opportunities fax over IP affords both ISPs and corporations. Fax software companies and their relationships with traditional enhanced fax service bureaus and ISPs will be examined. Also discussed will be potential ISP sales hazards and a look at exactly what the end-user or frequent faxer wants.

Roy Collins - Orion Network Systems
Brian Morgan - PanAmSat
Richard Mandelbaum - AppliedTheory Communcations Inc

Satellite Internet is a new and exciting technology that is beginning to enjoy some widespread acceptance. This panel discussion will show an ISP how to use satellites to its advantage by integrating them with terrestrial connections.

John Robinson - BellSouth
Valeri Marks - Ameritech Interactive Media Services
Robert Mainor - Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions
John Charters - US West
Ed Callan - PacBell Internet
Jill Young - US WEST Communications Inc

The panelists at this double session are executives from some of the regional bell operating companies (RBOCs) who direct Internet services. First, they are going to talk a little about their current role with the Internet. Then they are going to describe their vision of the future of the Internet as a whole, specifically how Internet access will be delivered in the future. This discussion will cover their strategic vision of the role they see for large local telephone companies in delivering Internet access to end-users and businesses. Additionally, they will answer questions from the audience.

Jeevan Kumaran - Digital Equipment Corporation

Over 2 billion people live in Asia, and these countries are moving rapidly to deploy the Internet, creating a vast market for Internet products. What are the implications as this new wave of users come onto the Net? How are countries as diverse as Vietnam, Singapore and China using the Internet to spur economic development? What are the role of the governments, PTTs and independent ISPs in this region? This session will answer these questions and discuss how these efforts are helping to make the Internet less U.S. centric and more accessible around the globe.

Duane Kuroda - Arescom Inc

This session will include a discussion of the latest developments driving high-speed connectivity, i.e., video conferencing and ISDN voice. In addition, it will discuss ISDN's usability in diverse data applications such as Internet access, telecommuting, office networking, network backup and multimedia connectivity. It will also explain how ISPs can quickly, easily and effectively provide high-speed connectivity to improve a customer's productivity and satisfaction with their Internet and individual-to-individual communications.

Lee Ziegenhals - Fibrcom Inc
Gene Crick - Texas ISP Association
Barbara Dooley - Commercial Internet eXchange Assoc
Joe Marion - Florida ISP Association
Ralph Sims - WA Assn ISPs
Dave McClure - Association of Online Professionals
Deb Howard - 2 COW HERD

Representatives of TISPA, FISPA, the CIX, and others will present a panel discussion on trade associations. The panel will share their views on what a trade association is, the benefits of belonging to one, and the differences between them. ISPs will learn the business development role of a trade association and how to organize one. The discussion will include an open question and answer period.

Sky Dayton - EarthLink Network Inc

ISPs need to realize the value of the controlling the "click stream," which could become their most important asset. ISPs own the beginning of the entire Internet economy, but what are they doing about it? They need to push the envelope to seek new ways to create and market value-added services. When ISPs create value, they drive the need to access the Internet. If ISPs don't continue to target the 83 percent of the population that isn't on the Internet, we all lose. ISPs are the beginning of the "click stream." If they don't get the masses onto the Internet, then Netscape, PointCast and other Internet-focused companies become irrelevant. ISPs are the beginning of the entire Internet economy. This session will explain why if end-users don't get connected, the Internet will remain a fringe application. Its destiny as a true mass-communications medium is tied to how well the ISPs get people on the Internet.

Bob Allison - Daniels & Associates
Jeff Huhn - Silicon Valley Bank
Paul Stapleton - ISP Report

The average ISP doubled in size last year and is projected to do the same again this year. Hypergrowth is hard to manage and difficult to finance. Personnel, equipment and marketing all need to be paid for. Selling equity is often an expensive way to raise money and sometimes not available at any price. Recently, some ISPs have used debt in the form of capital leases and bank borrowings to finance growth. This panel explores the financing options for an ISP: equity issues, debt issues and cash from operations.This session will discuss not just what these options are, but when it makes sense to use one over the other.

Glen Zorn - Microsoft Corp
Fred Held - HomeGate Inc
Chris Moore - iPass Inc
Christopher Culine - AimQuest Corp
Willem Maas - True Development

Internet roaming is an increasingly important remote access service for ISPs of all sizes. The ROAMOPS Working Group, and roaming services Aimquest, HomeGate, Microsoft, I-Pass, and Roam1 will be represented on this panel. Brief overviews of each product or service will be followed by extensive question and answer session.

Tom Richardson - Digital Equipment Corp

Electronic commerce (EC) is often cited as the next great Internet trend and a key revenue opportunity for ISPs. This presentation will assess the current "EC state of affairs," review successful EC business models, discuss the roles ISPs might play, and detail strategies for entering the Internet commerce business. Specifics around security issues and services, new applications, virtual private networks (VPNs), firewalls, etc. will be discussed.

John Zahurancik - The Strategis Group

The who, what, and why of Internet users. This session will provide an overview of who is using the Internet, how they are using it, and their interests in new services. Topics will include: frequency of use, location of use, churn patterns, demographic characteristics, and interest in high-speed data. This session will also outline interest in Internet services among people who do not currently use the Internet. Why don't they use the Internet? What is the likelihood that they will subscribe to Internet services? Have they used it before? Why did they discontinue? This presentation will be based on The Strategis Group's proprietary research conducted with 1,000 households and will outline the market information that ISPs need to serve their current customer base and to attract new users.

Larry Loebig - Global InfoNet Inc
Robert Bruce - Volcano Internet Providers
Naveen Jain - InfoSpace
Rich Siegel - Teknema

If ISPs could get more subscribers without increasing support cost, they'd be more profitable. Internet TV appliances may be the answer. These low-support, low cost devices give ISPs access to a market they have never tapped before -- the 60 to 75 percent of U.S. households that do not have computers. Now, any ISP can differentiate itself from WebTV and NetChannel (as well as competitors who don't offer TV-set content delivery) with open Internet TV appliances. This new generation of low-cost, easy-to-use set-top boxes offers a very real market opportunity for mid-sized ISPs to gain and retain consumer accounts. In this session, Teknema, Inc. and three ISPs currently testing or implementing the company's marketing program will present a practical way to expand market share and increase profits with Internet TV appliances. What should an ISP look for when selecting a vendor for its non-computer access devices? What are the steps involved in a successful roll-out? What's the profit potential? What are other ISPs doing?

Robert Laughlin - DataXchange Network Inc

Most public features on the Internet are implemented using the client/server model. This session will cover: Telnet, FTP, IRC, NNTP (Usenet), SMTP (e-mail) and the World Wide Web. Domain name service (DNS) will be covered in detail showing its relationship with IP addressing and e-mail.

Ashley Stephenson - Xedia Corp

Broadband access to the Internet, defined as the data transmission technologies that operate at T-1 rates or higher, has become the Internet connection of choice for medium- and large-sized corporations. As these companies continue to embrace the Internet and upgrade their internal networks to support Intranet applications, ISPs must implement services that assist users in meeting the performance goals associated with these applications. Internet voice and video applications are also driving the need for traffic management in broadband access. This presentation will discuss the issues surrounding today's Internet access problem, the market drivers toward broadband Internet access, and suggestions for managing corporate IP traffic management over high speed uplinks.

Doug Hickey - GlobalCenter

Get beyond the basics of world-class bandwidth and connectivity to the next wave. Digital distribution provides the highest value and performance of digital distribution services for companies that view the Internet as a strategic channel. Through digital distribution, an ISP can provide ultra reliable, high-performance, high-availability services regionally and globally. Today, companies are looking for more than an Internet data warehouse. By focusing on the right combination of technology, content management, and intelligent distribution, an ISP can provide its clients with the best integration of Internet connectivity without the content bottlenecks in the wrong places. Empower your clients by placing their content everywhere.

John Robinson - BellSouth
Valeri Marks - Ameritech Interactive Media Services
Robert Mainor - Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions
John Charters - US West
Ed Callan - PacBell Internet
Jill Young - US WEST Communications Inc

(This is a continuation of the above RBOC Panel.)

Alex Barrotti - INEX Corp

A new breed of e-commerce services have emerged that enable organizations to integrate data from the transaction process with legacy accounting systems and billing packages. This efficiently streamlines the entire transaction process. These services are free to ISPs and enable individual organizations to remotely manage a storefront through dial-up or direct Internet access. They eliminate the costly expenditures of hardware requirements and dedicated line access. Electronic commerce has become an affordable option for organizations that seek out applications from ISPs, rather than hosting their own e-commerce site.

Hans Hawrysz - Planet Direct

As mainstream consumers thunder onto the Internet, ISPs must rethink the role they play in the total customer experience. Consistent, reliable connections? 'Round-the-clock customer service? Compelling content? Are ISPs expected to wear all of these hats to succeed? Yes, if they want to survive the crushing pressure from the likes of AOL and Microsoft Network. Planet Direct president and CEO Hans G. Hawrysz will discuss the riptide dynamics that have swept into the ISP market, and demonstrate that there is a new business model in town. One that permits ISPs to focus on their core business, provide a content experience rivaling the online giants, and generate new revenue streams.

Halsey Minor - CNET

In the extremely competitive landscape of Internet access, savvy Internet service providers are addressing the number one issue in the business today: "How can we differentiate ourselves from our competitors?" The answer is content. The ability of ISPs to package content that differentiates their services and offers real value to consumers will be a critical measure of success for the many players competing for market share in this rapidly evolving industry. This presentation will begin by defining the exploding marketplace for Internet access that is creating intense competition among ISPs and demanding innovative products and services. Halsey Minor, president of CNET, will explore the keys to differentiation, including: evaluating the needs of current and potential customers; identifying the content and services consumers are looking for; how to package content and services to create unique offerings; how to use content, software and services to add value; and how to use content and services for marketplace position.

Harry Newton - Computer Telephony Magazine

In this session, telephone industry veteran Harry Newton, publisher of Computer Telephony and Teleconnect magazines, and author of Newton's Telecom Dictionary, provides an entertaining and informative session on marketing your products in the telecommunications industry. Newton is one of the most effective "guerrilla" marketers and self-promoters in the traditional voice telephone world, and offers some valuable insights for Internet Service Providers on how to get the most bang for the buck out of each marketing move.

Brian Reid - Digital Equipment Corporation

Digital's research laboratories look at many scenarios in which the Internet industry could change itself, and more radically change the world. In this session one such model, the interplay between the IP and telephony networks, that is as exciting as it is speculative, will be discussed. It will highlight the economic and technical forces that makes the speaker believe that bypassing the telephone industry is inevitable.

Paul Stapleton - ISP Report
Craig Webb - Philips Business Information
Jake Taylor - Rampart Associates
Harold Robinson - CIBC Wood Gundy

The stock prices of publicly traded ISPs have been up, then down, and now, after two recently announced takeovers, hot again. Some say Internet access has become a commodity. Meanwhile @HOME and Concentric Network have filed to go public. And private equity is financing industry consolidation strategies. This panel includes investors and analysts backing and tracking the industry. It will offer comments about the opportunities they like and why it likes them. Maybe the panel can quickly critique your business plan.

Robert Taylor - Focal Communications Corp

Internet service providers are encountering an ever-changing, highly competitive marketplace. The RBOCs and other local exchange carriers have failed to provide competitive dial-up services. In today's fast moving and competitive marketplace, ISPs are looking for unique and economical services for the dial-up user community.

Andrew MacBrien - BBN Corp

This session will address what can be done to adequately protect your company from unwanted "break-ins" and how to develop and implement security policies and procedures. It will discuss how to develop and implement security policies and procedures, as well as examine the technology and options available to protect your network.

Ken Crocker - Microsoft Corp

This session will provide an overview of Microsoft's "Steelhead" routing technology, which providers router and RADIUS client functionality on top of NT 4.0.

Kathryn Kleiman - Fletcher, Heald and Hildreth, PLC
Justin Newton - Priori Networks Inc

In the year since ISPCON '96, an endless amount of activity in Internet governance has taken place: the September Harvard conference, meetings of the U.S. State Department's Working Group on Domain Names, organization of IAHC with its draft report, comments and final report, and protests over involvement in Internet governance by the International Telecommunications Union and arbitration by the World Intellectual Property Organization. At each step of the way, the Domain Name Rights Coalition has been a participant and its president will discuss the players and their positions on Internet governance and domain name issues. In the year since ONE ISPCON, an endless amount of activity in Internet Governance has taken place: the September Harvard conference, meetings of the U.S. State Department's Working Group on Domain Names, organization of IAHC with its draft report, comments and final report, and protests over involvement in Internet governance by the International Telecommunications Union and arbitration by the World Intellectual Property Organization. At each step of the way, the Domain Name Rights Coalition has been a participant and its President will discuss the players and their positions on Internet governance and domain name issues and domestic Internet governance issues. The Department of Commerce has accepted comments and is trying to sort out the domain name problem. ISP/C and the DNRC will discuss how ISPs can participate in this process, and why they should care about the results. Just prior to ISPCON, DNRC and ISP/C will issue a white paper with alternatives to the IAHC proposals and proposals for new structures of Internet governance. ISPCON will be the premier event at which this paper will be discussed and debated. After initial presentations, Kleiman and Newton will open the floor to questions, discussion and debates. We do not expect this to be a quiet session!

Doug Humphrey - DIGEX. Inc.

Jim Zimnoch - Westcon Inc

This session will discuss how ISPs are leveraging their service business and increasing their profits by offering networking services. It will also explore growing trends in the commercial, educational, SOHO marketplaces and discuss how ISPs can position their businesses to be resellers of choice for these products and services.

Phil Becker - eSoft Inc

Understanding and managing DNS well is key to an effective Internet business. As essential as this distributed service is, however, most who manage it really don't have a clear picture of how it all works. Phil Becker, who has taught more ISPs how to understand the Internet than anyone else, will explain the fundamentals of DNS including how workstations, caching name servers, and top level servers interact to distribute DNS information (correctly and incorrectly) across the Internet. Nothing else gives you a sense of control over your Internet destiny like understanding how to manage and troubleshoot DNS.

Avi Freedman - Net Access

Routing is a complex science. It is perhaps the most complicated issues on the Net. As more ISPs join the industry, the chances of major network outages will increase. Already this year, there have been several outages, black-holing large segments of the Internet. This session will discuss the basics of routing and explain why understanding it is essential to all ISPs.

Gene Kusekoski - Digital Equipment Corporation

ISPs are looking for ways to break out of the flat-rate access model by offering new premium services to their customers. This session will look at some of the ways ISPs can use Internet multimedia applications to implement new services, such as interactive presentations, distance learning, conferencing, and entertainment.

Throop M Wilder - American Internet Corp

American Internet Corporation has been involved in several projects to provide automated provisioning of user accounts to large-scale IP networks. AIC's software configures network properties and device attributes based on user profiles. Each of the projects must balance simplicity of initial account creation against allowing unknown users on the network, while striving always to minimize administrative handling of each account. Automated provisioning of accounts on the US West MediaOne broadband network "Highway1" is examined as an actual deployment case.

Robert Cannon -

In February 1996, the United States Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the most comprehensive revision of telecommunications law in 60 years. Except for a controversial provision seeking to censor pornography on the Internet, the Act made no mention of the Internet. Nevertheless, the reforms implemented by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission pursuant to the Telecommunications Act will have a tremendous impact on the future of the Internet. This session will review the FCC's access charge reform proceeding which addresses the way in which the Internet interfaces with the public switched telephone network.

Mike Heller - Cisco Systems

The Internet is one of the most widely used words of the 1990s. Some think of it as still a toy or hobby, and yet many businesses are already taking advantage of it. Perhaps the World Wide Web, and various corporate "home pages" on it, are the most visible aspect of this, and stories of electronic commerce are starting to appear regularly in the news. Less publicized are the uses of Internet technolologies within companies, for such applications as customer service. Using the actual experiences of Cisco Systems and its international customer support functions, Heller will present a case study of a practical implementation. Some of the lessons learned, as well as pitfalls to avoid in using the Internet and Web for customer services, will be discussed.

Tom Newell - Network Solutions Inc

This session will discuss how the InterNIC's Information & Education Services section has developed a range of tools to assist the Internet community, specifically organizations such as ISPs who act as intermediaries between Internet end-users and the network. There will be a review of the current status of projects, a look at future developments and features planned for each of these resources, and a discussion of ways ISPs can use these resources to reach their customers.

Jack Quinnell - Digital Link Corp

This session will explore how ISPs can increase their revenues and reduce their cost by taking advantage of bulk pricing for connection to broadband networks. Using equipment close to the subscriber edge, ISPs can consolidate low-speed access via Frame Relay to broadband ATM and can thus initiate service for lower entry costs than if they used larger core switches.

Tarek Makansi - IBM

Using data storage products and storage management software, leased line costs and web hosting costs can be lowered while improving customer satisfaction and growing your business. A primer on storage management software and solutions will be covered, then a discussion about how to build proxy caches and web sites with 100's of GB of storage inexpensively. These topics will be covered in the context of what you can do today and what products to expect in the future.

Pete Davis - Shiva Corp

Anyone responsible for setting up a new POP needs to consider both equipment and resource requirements. How many users would you like to support? What technologies will you implement to keep costs down? This session will review what it takes to successfully roll out network access -- from evaluation, planning, and design, through service roll-out.

Paul Strudwick - Larscom Inc

In the face of tremendous growth, the ISP world is faced with challenging questions. Will ISP backbones be running at OC-12 and OC-48 rates in 1998? Will ATM make its presence felt in ISP networks, and if so where and when? How can access to ATM backbones be provided in a transition network environment? How great a need will there be for scalability or granularity? What will happen to IP traffic? How will ISPs extend network access to meet their needs? And the issues that concern very high-speed backbones raise further questions about just how Internet traffic can be collected and connected into the backbone networks. The answers to these questions are as varied as the ISP community. This session will explore some of the alternatives for broadband access and backbone networks, and the architectural models that have been, are being and will be used for broadband networking.

Will Foster - CIX
Glee Harrah Cady - NETCOM On-Line Communication Services
Roger Cochetti - IBM

Work on the ratification of the WIPO treaties and implementing legislation has begun. What are the problems for the ISP industry suggested by the rights guaranteed in the WIPO treaties? What is necessary to protect ISPs from copyright liability because of acts of their users? How would "notice and take-down" protect ISPs? This session will address these questions.

Bob Bevill - World Wide OnLine Communications

Many computer engineers are familiar with some aspect of the Internet and ISP setup; UNIX commands and usage, DNS, INN, Apache web server, dial-up through a Linux server, RADIUS, etc. However, very few engineers are familiar with all of the pieces necessary to put together a small ISP from scratch. This session will provide a whirlwind, hang on to your seats, presentation explaining how to setup your own ISP -- with little or no money down.

Mike Gaddis - SAVVIS Communications

This session will discuss the emerging next generation network designs and high-end Internet services that can increase speed and efficiency of Internet communications and reduce packet loss for data transmissions. Topic points to be addressed during the forum include: the current heirarchy and "topological hell" of Internet routing; the NAP and MAE dilemma; the spatial collapse of the Internet and its effects; bringing client/server to the Internet services market; the benefits of private network access points for Internet routing; and utilizing "cold potato" and "hot potato" routing.

David Kramer - Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich, and Rosati

There are few issues which provoke as visceral a reaction among ISPs as junk e-mail. This session will discuss the possible legal strategies for dealing with the cost and the nuisance junk e-mail. Kramer will first discuss the contractual provisions an ISP can implement in its terms of service agreement to prevent or deter "spamming" by its own subscribers. He will then address the legal theories an ISP can use to protect itself and its subscribers from spammers using other providers to originate mass mailings. Finally, there will be a discussion on the pending legislative proposals regarding unsolicited commercial e-mail and a Q&A from the audience.

Sean O'Sullivan - NetCentric Corp

The major challenges for Internet Service Providers now is to leverage their customer base by offering value-added servicesand building more flexibility into their online pricing structure. To increase their profitability, ISPs must move away from their current flat-rate billing policies and toward a per-unit-of-use structure. Tactically, this means ISPs must addpremium services. In this presentation, the speaker will discuss ways that ISPs can and are meeting these challenges and moving toward a more profitable future. Attendees will learn: Why premium services enhance the customer relationship How to fatten the bill How to expand the menu of billable services in 1997 System architecture for metered services Premium service examples

Jim Dondero - Nortel

The ongoing remote access equipment management issues are a significant drain on ISP resources. This presentation will deal with new carrier-based data services that allow ISPs to outsource their remote access function to a carrier. The carrier assumes responsibility for equipment acquisition and upgrades, network management and technical support, allowing the ISPs to focus on the business of adding specialized content, creating new support offerings and adding valuable new services into their portfolios.

Richard Sekar - Ascend Communications Inc

Thus discussion will include various xDSL technologies, why they are needed and their current status. It will focus on the market potential of xDSL technology; vendors that offer DSL services; how ISPs can generate additional revenue by using xDSL; and various drawbacks and financial risks of xDSL modems as opposed to xDSL routers.

Greg Gilliom - Network General Corp

As networks grow more complex, it becomes more challenging to identify the root causes of performance problems and to tell whether they are due to a lack of capacity or caused by network device problems. Additionally, for those problems that require additional capacity to be secured, long lead times require that the trend is detected early enough that it can be secured before network saturation is reached. This session will examine systemic diagnosis and trending of network performance/capacity based on historical data.

Paul Mockapetris - Software.Com Inc

This session will include discussion on the fundamentals of the Domain Naming System (DNS) including its architecture and the keys to configuration for optimum performance. Topics for discussion will also include the future of DNS, and Internet directories in general. It will lend specific insight into new technologies and market dynamics that will drive the need for highly scalable, secure and configurable naming systems.

Larry Lang - Ipsilon Networks

This session will look at rate-based billing with IP switching in two pracitcal examples: web hosting and fiber Internet access. It will explore the migration requirements necessary for implementing this system, explain the control and measurement alternatives available in each case, and discusses the revenue cycle that results.

Robert Dalias - Bay Networks

With the variety of technology involved, the evolving nature of industry standards, and the lack of agreement on what exactly constitutes a virtual private network, it's no wonder that service providers and enterprise customers alike are confused about the best path to take. This session will look at the market for dial VPN services, the technological building blocks needed to deploy a viable VPN service, and how to deliver a true value proposition to customers that are considering outsourced remote access and dial VPN services as a way to simplify how users access various Internet, intranet, and extranet resources. In addition, it will analyze the myriad of products available and help to identify which ones make the most sense for which VPN service model.

Chris VandenBerg - Microsoft

Many ISPs are examining how best to incorporate personalization into their web plans from customer-driven home page content to collaborative filtering as part of the service offering. This session will examine the current technologies, architectures and requirements to implement personalization and discuss the key issues -- from creation and scaling of a user properties database to the ability to incorporate data from usage patterns and user profiles. It will explain the planning and implementation issues of personalization, targeted e-mail and customer segment management.

Phillip Lawlor - AGIS

This session will address the problem of Internet congestion by discussing: collocation services, nearest entry routing, IP address replication, and geographically dispersed content. It will also discuss customer network management and switched virtual circuits.

Avi Freedman - Net Access

Multihoming offers redundancy for ISPs. Redundancy is important in case of line failure, but it can also be used to balance the load of incoming and outgoing IP traffic. Load balancing enhances network performance, but only if it's done correctly. This session will be an introduction to multihoming with emphasis on the configurations necessary to make it work.

Phil Reagan - Compaq Computer Corporation

This session will describe why Windows NT Server 4.0 provides an ideal platform to support file-and-print, application server, and Internet/intranet computing environments.

Mario Perry - Internet Support Systems.Com Inc

Surviving and thriving in the highly competitive and open ISP industry demands aggressive, efficient and cost-effective management and control of all operations in sales and marketing, customer services, network services and administrative services. This is impossible without highly mechanized and easy-to-use operations and management systems. This session describes the needs, the objectives that should be met, and the criteria for the proper system choice.

Daniel Pitt - Bay Networks

Fact, Fiction and Fantasy: The Next 24 Months This ISP industry is at a critical point in terms of maturity. Dominant players will emerge in various segments across the industry in the coming months. Doctor Daniel Pitt, Vice President , Bay Architecture Labs will share his views on the technologies, market opportunities and companies will drive the competitive landscape in the U.S.

Andrew MacBrien - BBN Corp

Many people don't realize how vulnerable their corporate network is until it is too late. How secure is your network? This session will address the vulnerability of corporate networks and discuss how to explore possible security products and services.

Phil Becker - eSoft Inc

Selling Internet to small businesses is hot. In this session, Phil Becker, president of eSoft, will outline the steps required to connect a small office LAN (5 to 100 users) to the Internet using dial-up modem, ISDN, or Frame Relay access. This session will discuss the issues of firewalling, IP address expansion, DHCP configuration, and proxying in detail. Everything it takes to provide the required simple to use "plug-and-play" Internet service to this type of site is examined. How ISPs and consultants use eSoft's new "office connection" IPAD technology to quickly and easily deliver what is important to these customers will be demonstrated.

David Wu - Mirror Image Internet Inc

New caching technologies can increase network bandwidth efficiencies by boasting hit rates up to 75%. That's more than double the efficiency gains created by existing commercial techniques. This increase in caching efficiency will lead to the creation of virtual bandwidth thus saving ISPs thousands of dollars in telecommunications charges. And, as the number of ISP subscibers doubles each year, virtal bandwidth will alleviate pressure for expensive infrastructure upgrades. Caching will also lead to faster Internet response times thus increasing subscriber retention through better customer satisfaction. This session will discuss these new advances in caching technology which are commercially available today.

Mark Fisher - Concentric Network Corp

There has been a lot of talk about delivering voice and video over IP networks. However, few providers are successfully offering these services today. This session will outline some of the technical and business issues that must be addressed to support high-quality voice and video over an IP infrastructure. It will provide detailed descriptions of the voice and video services that are in development, trial, and/or deployment over Concentric Networks' ATM-based network, as well as outline services by other players in the marketplace. The second topic in this session will explore the evolution and future direction of tailored private network services that run over cost efficient IP networks to connect enterprises with employees, partners and customers. A discussion of customization and performance requirements, security and reliability issues, and cost structures.

Paul Flaherty - Digital Equipment Corporation

As one of the premier search services on the Internet, AltaVista has grown to handle traffic in excess of 30 million hits per day. This talk will cover some of the search and server technologies used in setting up AltaVista and will present lessons applicable for any ISP running a highly visible, high-traffic web site.

Richard J Lancaster - CobWeb Inc

This session will be an introduction to the current state of e-commerce; the trends, technologies, players and perceptions, with reference to CyberCash, SET, Microsoft, VISA, DigiCash and the other contributors to the current industry. After laying the foundation for the current state of e-commerce, this session will expand on the benefits to an ISP to providing this service to their installed base of business customers. There will be information on how to set up a system and how it works. A demonstration of an electronic transaction will include a purchase via credit card of a software product that Richard Lancaster will then download and unpack from a licensed and encrypted package, and then install! After the demonstration there will be an overview of the return on investment (ROI) that an ISP should expect from offering e-commerce. This session will describe how the annualized revenue stream works, how to calculate a realistic ROI and how long pay back should take. It will also discuss how an ISP can profitably market e-commerce to existing and new customers. There will be information on how to train sales executives, who to target and what to look for, and how to market the service on the Web.

Jack Rickard - Boardwatch Magazine
Jim Barrick - Keynote Systems
Jim Goetz - VitalSigns Software Inc

This session will discuss in general terms the concept of measuring performance of the Internet as a whole, as weel as measurement of specific Internet Service Providers for comparative purposes. Representatives from VitalSigns, Keynote Systems, and Inverse Technologies will each discuss their approaches to empowering the buying public with information to compare Internet Service Providers, and developing useful metrics and meters for tuning Internet performance.

Robert Sanders - MindSpring Enterprises Inc

In its previous incarnation as a Southeastern regional Internet service provider, MindSpring found that many opportunities were closed because of its lack of nationwide coverage. Many potential partners who sold software or services on a nationwide scale preferred to work with an ISP that had similar reach. This session will describe the approach MindSpring took in the fourth quarter of 1996 to rapidly expand its service area from coast to coast, erase the regional stigma, and become a national ISP. It will discuss, in detail, the engineering and operational ramifications -- as well as the benefits and unpleasant surprises -- of employing third-party wholesale access providers.

Wai Lee - Digital Equipment Corporation
Joan Blair - Digital Equipment Corporation

The growth of NT in the commercial world has implications for ISPs doing web hosting and looking to deploy many new, innovative applications that are increasingly available for NT. As a Microsoft Alliance Partner, Digital has some of the broadest experience in setting up NT and MCIS services for ISPs. This talk will highlight some of the recent ISP market trends around NT, scalability, new clustering features, etc.. Several case studies will be covered that highlight how ISPs are using NT-based services for competitive differentiation.

Ulrich Altvater - Airdata WIMAN Systems, Inc

This session will cover the wireless Internet for the ISP. It will include sections on providing the alternative to telco-dependent Internet service. This session will include mobile applications as well.

Bob Gaughan - Bay Networks

Rolling out and marketing differentiated and profitable services is formidable but necessary for ISPs to be competitive in this marketplace. This session will discuss service differentiation with respect to 56K, QoS and SLGs, and VPNs and determine which services the customer is ready to pay for. Learn how to quickly identify who the customer will be, which segments are most ripe, and how to market to each segment.

Elan Amram - DTC InterNet

This session will discuss the FCC process concerning NOIs and PRMs. It will explain why all ISPs should read, and respond to, the FCC requests and orders. It will discuss the RBOCs short-term and long-term goals for Internet services and what ISPs can do to keep the public informed of FCC rulings. ISPs have the ability to gain public support in reforming FCC rulings concerning open and fair competition.

Donald Telage - Network Solutions Inc

This session will discuss the question of who has authority and what role various organizations play in the future of Internet administration. The IAHC proposal has stirred widespread debate and calls for continuing discussions on the future of Internet governance. In addition, the U.S. government, the international community and commercial concerns have each played a role in shaping the debate on DNS and other important administration issues.

Bob Packer - Packeteer Inc

This session will focus on TCP/IP protocol internals that are taken for granted, overlooked, ignored, obscured by both physical and application layer Internet technologies. Topics of discussion will include TCP rate control, and specific applications of TCP rate control that are particulary relevant to ISPs. It will also focus on specific applications of TCP rate controls that are particularly relevant to ISPs. It will present topologies in that will allow ISPs to introduce new services and service level agreements.

Jeffrey Wabik - Ascend Communications Inc

This session will discuss how switching technology can be applied to routers to achieve an order of magnitude increase in price/performance. Next generation switching routers are able to maintain interoperability while taking advantage of the speed offered by switching. The result is an immediate remedy to the urgent crisis of Internet congestion.

Alex Henthorn - Livingston Enterprises

This session will focus on defining virtual private networking as it pertains to the Internet. VPN will be compared it to traditional remote access security. The session will explore VPN business opportunities, and delve into the security issues that must be understood to choose the right technologies.

Paul Poutanen - Wi-Lan Inc

This session will discuss the backgound of spread spectrum, statistics of potential educational wireless, and two case studies of educational wireless systems.

Steve MacKay - SunSoft Inc

As more organizations conduct business on the Internet, the required level of web dependability must increase. Much like today's telephone network, the Internet must deliver a dial tone. This Internet dialtone -- the webtone -- requires certain attributes: it must be reliable, safe, fast, accessible, expandable and easy-to-use. This session will cover how Internet service providers can enable a new a utility by which servers are continuously available.

Andrew Siegel - Warp Drive Networks, LLC

This session will discuss wireless communications as the leading option to deliver broadband communications. ASDL, two-way cable, ISDN and satellite are the other choices to deliver broadband, but all have challenges in one or more of three key areas: cost, provisioning and scalability. Wireless communications, however, is the champion of the category today.

Charles Brewer - MindSpring Enterprises Inc

This session will discuss the history of MindSpring, one of the largest ISPs in the United States. MindSpring started in early 1994, around the same time as many ISPs. It has thrived and become one of the highest ranked for customer satisfaction. Much of the reason behind MindSpring's success is tied to the philosophy on which the company is based. This session will discuss MindSpring's core values and beliefs-approach to building a company. It will include anecdotes about the great benefits of treating employees and customers with respect, making commitments carefully and then living up to them, and telling the truth.

Joe Marion - Florida ISP Association
Barbara Dooley - Commercial Internet eXchange Assoc
Vince Bono - MAI
Jay Adelson - Digital Equipment Corporation
Bob Bownes - FISPA

What's going on at the public interconnection points? Why are the large backbone providers moving to private interconnects? What kinds of local interconnections are developing? What role do national interconnects (CIX, the "traditional NAPs," new entrants) play today? tomorrow? Why is peering strategic business rather than pure engineering decisions?

Martin Leufray - Netconstruct, Inc

ISPs are being called on to deliver commercial-grade "dial-tone" level services while growing at unprecedented rates. This panel will cover different technologies and strategies for setting up ISP operations to deal with phenomenal growth. Clustering, redundant designs, segmenting applications, etc. will be covered. Examples of ISPs around the world will be highlighted.

Peter Wimbourne - OPUS NETWORX

This session will look at the issues involved in connectivity in the Third World, particularly the Caribbean. Since most countries in the Third World have monopoly telco markets, ISPs are constantly playing against unfair competition, poor technology, and high prices. The ability to provide services in this environment is truly amazing. The difference in the environment between the North American market and the Caribbean is astonishing.

Robert Daunt - Davis & Schroeder
Eric Bakri Boustani - Davis & Schroeder

Commercially developed web sites are relatively new. The technology of the Web and the commercial need for web sites has developed much faster than the law. The legal framework for web site development projects has not had time to evolve into conventional formats and workable standard form agreements. On the other hand, the basic issues that should be considered and addressed in any web site development agreement are fairly easy to identify, and should be considered by developers and their customers before they embark on any site development project.

Curt Benton - WESTELL WorldWide Services Inc
Mike Pippin - WESTELL Worldwide Services Inc

This presentation will be a live demonstration of the installation activity associated with an ADSL. An ISP will be assisting in and doing the installation as he would in his operating territory. At the end of the presentation, estimated to be between 20 and 30 minutes, a fully operational ADSL line will be working and data flowing. This session will spotlight the plug & play nature of the ADSL.

Eric Eden - Network Solutions Inc

Helping customers register domain names and establish an Internet presence is an integral part of an ISPs business. Network Solution's Eric Eden will discuss ways in which the InterNIC can help ISPs handle this task for their customers -- painlessly. This session will provide complete review of the registration process, with tips on how to avoid problems and move registration requests and updates through quickly -- whether you process five registrations a month or 500. Eden will also review resources and services offered by the InterNIC, such as NSI's Premier Domain Registration Services program, which target the needs of both the ISP and its customers.

David Simpson - Young, Vogl, Harlick, Wilson & Simpson
Avi Freedman - Net Access
David Holub - Vixie Enterprises
Bill McCauley - GeoNet Communications
Chris Cook - Net Asset

This panel discussion will focus on how peering (interconnection)is being accomplished today, and will provide background on some of the controversies that have arisen. Panelists will discuss how the Telecommunications Act of 1996 affects the legal obligations of ISPs, whether stand-alone ISPs are required to provide non-discriminatory access to their networks. What role, if any, should the state regulatory commissions play in ensuring fair peering relationships? What rules apply if the ISP is also a telecommunications carrier? Should the rules that the FCC has laid out for telecommunications carriers be applied directly to ISPs without modification?

Paul Hoffman - Internet Mail Consortium

ISPs have to differentiate themselves based on service, and no service they offer is as close to the hearts of their customers as e-mail. While anyone can provide barebones SMTP and POP, innovative ISPs looking to break away from their competitors will want to offer more sophisticated e-mail services. This session will cover two such services that are starting to become must-haves for ISPs. IMAP is the next generation of POP. Now that popular mail clients like Netscape support IMAP, ISPs are starting to offer IMAP in addition to POP for their business users who are on the road often or who want to get multimedia mail. Disconnected SMTP allows remote offices who have dial-in accounts with an ISP to get all the mail for the disconnected domain using SMTP instead of multiple POP or IMAP accounts. ISPs using disconnected SMTP can offer small companies a way to manage their own mail without having to pay for a full-time connection.

Christopher Ryan - Sybase Inc

ISPs have realized the importance of hosting services. Many have begun to add a combination of software applications and services, but few have realized the great potential that a powerful, industrial strength database lends to the transaction capability of their hosting businesses. This session will address how plugging in a database server engine can impact ISP-hosted services. The incremental revenue opportunities generated by these services can spell relief to many ISPs.

David Rand - AboveNet Communications Inc

ISPs are offering services based on a business model that encompasses the Network and Transport layers - layers 3 and 4. But this is like Federal Express, or UPS building their own freeways to deliver their customers' parcels. The economics of upgrading the facilities -- connectivity and service to deliver fault-tolerant, 24 x 7 service -- are not supported by dial-up accounts. The end-user is paying for the last mile, and yet the company is providing the entire freeway. The answer is to separate layers 3 and 4 into the economic opportunity of horizontal segmentation. To be profitable, the next generation ISP will out-source the high cost of providing non-stop, non-congested connectivity to the Internet.

Dhruv Khanna - Covad Communications Company

This session will discuss the current status of legal and policy issues concerning telecommunications laws, and policies being fought at the federal and state levels between the established telephone industry and ISPs. This presentation will focus on access charges, the entry of heavyweight RBOCs into the ISP business and the cross-subsidization of their ISP losses through profits from their monopoly businesses. It will also discuss the regulatory status of Internet telephony, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the prospects for local telecommunications competition, and why ISPs should care about issues such as RBOC mergers and RBOC entry into long-distance.

Brett Glass - InfoWorld

One of the most frustrating aspects of being an ISP is dealing with your local phone company -- Ma Bell. While some of the RBOCs are quite cooperative, others seem bent on hitting ISPs with delayed orders, outrageous construction charges, heavy installation fees, and -- most recently -- access charges. Are local phone companies intentionally creating headaches for ISPs so that they can gain a better foothold in the business themselves? How can you make the most of options your local phone company may not want you to know about -- such as "dry" pairs, Centrex, or residential rates for home-based businesses? Can you bypass your local carrier with wireless communications? With direct hookups to long-distance providers? And what of the fallout of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996? Will competing local exchange carriers vie for ISPs as customers, or attempt to appropriate their customers and force them out of the market? Vent your frustrations and learn from our panel of seasoned experts -- representing ISPs from mega-corporations to back-bedroom startups -- as they share their advice and experience and discuss prospects for the future.

Charles Brewer - MindSpring Enterprises Inc
Doug Humphrey - DIGEX. Inc.
Phillip Lawlor - AGIS
David Jemmett - GoodNet
Rodney Joffe - Genuity
Robert Laughlin - DataXchange Network Inc

One of two national backbone panel discussions, this session will feature top technical and management people from some of the Internet's largest national backbones in a free ranging discussion on the future of the Internet, expected future development of national backbones, and ways and means to maximize performance and interconnectivity between Internet backbone operations. The session will also address questions from ISPs. This panel is moderated by Charles Brewer, head of MindSpring, a national dial-up Internet service provider who purchases services from several national backbones.

Les Fraim - ANS Communications

This session will cover the risks of opening up your corporate network to the outside world. How do you protect the integrity of your information from cyber-thieves who may attempt to obtain or change critical data? What security technologies are available to make your system hacker repellent? Are there ways to identify suspicious activity? This session will examine the areas of vulnerability for a network as well as the methods to protect the integrity of the system, including: firewalls; encryption technologies; tunneling authentication; secure protocols (IPSec, SSL SHTTP); port scan detection; address re-mapping; audit log thresholds; and integrity watcher daemons.

Rudolph Geist - Wilkes, Artis, Hedrick, & Lane
Robert Cannon -
Patricia Rucker - California Teachers Association

The FCC has allocated $2.25 billion per year from the Universal Service Fund (USF) for making discounts available to schools and libraries to assist them in the purchase of the internal wiring, equipment, and related connections necessary for the provision of advanced telecommunications capabilities. The new USF subsidy program provides a substantial business opportunity for ISPs to connect schools and libraries to the Internet. ISPs cannot afford to miss the boat on this one. With $2.25 billion per year in federal subsidies, and the states working on their own funding programs modeled after the federal plan, there appears to be some piece of the action for every ISP, no matter how large or small.

Jeff Wolf - Bay Networks

56K modems are a double edged sword. Is the PSTN really ready? It's not just for modems anymore. Learn about voice and fax over the Internet and how will it affect the role of the ISP.

Tim O'Reilly - O'Reilly & Associates

For many years, computer science has been straining at the bounds of the computer, seeking to transcend the rigid bounds of the purely procedural. Now, finally, we seem to have crossed from one computing era into another. We can envision a future in which the most significant computer-based products will not be developed by conventional computer programmers, but by people whose primary expertise is in some other field of knowledge. In this session, Tim O'Reilly will discuss how this dramatic shift has happened, and what its implications are for the Web and the workplace.

Jim Zeitlin - Ascend Communications

This session is closely related to both Ascend's recent acquisitions and Jim Zeitlin's current responsibilities at Ascend. He will deal with the convergence of the Internet and telco markets and technologies, and discuss the opportunities open to ISPs and CLECs in the new telecom environment.

Tim O'Reilly - O'Reilly & Associates
William Schrader - PSINet Inc
Chris Icide - Nap.Net LLC
Mike Gaddis - SAVVIS Communications
John Curran - BBN Corp
Jonathan Heiliger - GlobalCenter

One of two national backbone panel discussions, this session will feature top technical and management people from some of the Internet's largest national backbones in a free ranging discussion on the future of the Internet, expected future development of national backbones, and ways and means to maximize performance and interconnectivity between Internet backbone operations. The session will also address questions from ISPs. This panel will be moderated by Tim O'Reilly, head of O'Reilly and Associates.

April Chou - Cisco Systems

What is VPDN? What are the benefits for ISPs? What are the benefits for end users and business customers? This presentation will thoroughly explain VPDN. It will cover VPDN technology-L2F and L2TP, basic architecture, security in VPDNs, VPDN scalability, management and standards.

J. Patrick Herold - FTT Inc

In this session, you will learn how to satisfy customer demand, reduce churn and create competitive barriers through integrated billing for Internet services. Hear examples of how integrated billing lowers customer acquisition costs and increases per bill sales. Explore ways of operating more efficiently by leveraging infrastructure investment, focusing on distribution channels and taking full advantage of management systems.

Russ Wilson - The Law Offices of Russell P. Wilson

This session will examine a few actual contracts made with backbone providers. It will walk through different clauses, explaining (from the ISP's perspective) what each clause means as contrasted with what a lay person's definition of the clause. Also included in this session will be certain clauses in "stock" contracts that ought to be eliminated or at least modified (and why) and other clauses that may not be in the contract that an ISP should insist on and why.

Peter Nickerson - N2H2 Inc

Filtering and caching service allows ISPs to offer the choice of filtered or non-filtered Internet access to business, schools, and dial-up customers. By providing filtered access, ISPs can appeal to the large segment of potential customers who are reluctant to have access because of a fear of what their children, students, or employees might be viewing. This session will explain how an ISP can market Internet filters to its current and potential customers and differentiate itself from other ISPs.

Tracy Crowe - Eudora Division, QUALCOMM Inc

E-mail, the most widely used application on the Internet, is rapidly becoming a key means of business communications. But are companies making the most efficient and effective use of this incredible productivity enhancer? Open standards e-mail allows both internal and external communications, is interoperable, highly scaleable, and requires no gateway. Next generation applications will make this vital communications tool even more versatile, allowing for instant translation into foreign languages, multimedia attachments, security, encryption...and more.

David Boyes - Dimension Enterprises Inc

As Internet service providers expand their networks, maintaining service integrity is key. However, many ISP operators run into difficulties in expanding their network and server operations in a cost-efficient manner while keeping service problems to a minimum. This presentation will cover issues such as: network topologies that encourage easy and efficient growth; technologies that are most appropriate at different stages of network development; how ISP operators can best establish peering relationships and appropriate peering points; hardware and software impacts network performance; and how an ISP can balance customer concerns with network performance.

John MacFarlane - Software.Com Inc

This session will discuss what it takes to design and deploy a messaging system with characteristics that rival the dial tone qualities of the telephone system -- non-stop operation, unbounded scalability and fault resilience. It will describe the most important attributes to look for in a scalable, reliable messaging system and discuss factors involved with selecting platforms and operating environments.

Brett Glass - InfoWorld

Nowadays, many Internet neophytes come to ISPs with the expectation that they'll be given all the training, support, and software they need to experience the Internet. Unfortunately, a single diskette -- consisting of setup programs, software, etc. -- is a difficult undertaking even under ideal conditions. And in the real world -- in which unruly environments such as Windows 95 reign -- it's nearly impossible to create a "one-disk-fits-all" diskette. How to cope? In this session, experts will relate their war stories and suggest answers.

Scott Williamson - Network Solutions Inc

Rwhois is a directory services protocol that extends and enhances the Whois protocol in an effort to provide a scaleable, decentralized, and efficient means of storing and retrieving information related to hosts, network information systems, and the individuals associated with those systems. Borrowing from earlier established protocols, other directory service efforts, and the architecture of the Domain Name System, Rwhois uses the hierarchical nature of the information related to network objects to provide the shortest and most efficient path between network data and the person who needs it. This session will cover the fundamentals of the protocol; the Rwhois client; the current status of development and deployment; and future directions for the protocol, which include interactive domain name registration. The session wil also mention how Rwhois is being used with NSI's Premier Domain Registration Service program for ISPs.

Paul DeCicco -
Richard Holstrom - RGL Gallagher

This session will present the small- to medium-sized, privately owned ISP with a theoretical financial model that can be used to value its business. It will present a simple approach that starts with traditional business valuation methods and applies them to the ISP. Topics include modeling the business, component valuation, market factors, impact of taxes, valuing intangibles, and the relationship between price and liquidity.

Martin Hall - Stardust Technologies

This session will cover the technology and business why's and wherefore's of ISP-based IP multicast deployment. It will also cover the Internet multicast Channel-a pioneering audio/video/push broadcast transmitting exclusive content via IP multicast over the Internet.

Ken Packert - Ascend Communications Inc

The tremendous growth and implementation of the Internet and intranets is significantly changing network management. Large networks once had perhaps a thousand ports to manage; now they have tens of thousands. The IP-based legacy router backbone was easily discovered and mapped. Most ISP network growth is in access, however, which is not even visible to the network management platform. This presentation will discuss how new developments in comprehensive network management can help ISPs manage POPs as a complete entity, rather than one device at a time. Other topics include how to monitor POPs for performance and capacity information without saturating the network with SNMP polling traffic, and how to push technologies used in RADIUS authentication to overcome many of SNMP's limitations in large ISP networks.

Bernard Aboba - Microsoft Corp

This session will provide an overview of multicast routing technology, including RTP/RTCP, IGMP, and multicast-routing protocols such as DVMRP, M-BGP and Sparse and Dense-Mode PIM. Through a series of examples, this session will show how you can multicast-enable your network and provide an array of new services to your customers.

John Seamons - Aspen Internet Exchange

This session will recount the cold, hard reality of an ISP's ambitious roll-out of xDSL and the many lessons learned along the way. Discussion topics include: why bandwidth management and the loading coils, not technology and cost, are the biggest problems facing xDSL deployment; how "friendly" RBOCs deny access to the raw copper (and how to beat them); why all those VC-funded xDSL startups burning a million-dollars-a-month are probably doomed; and why the scrappy, small- and medium-sized ISPs are the only hope for effectively deploying xDSL to small business and consumers -- those who need it the most.

Jack Rickard - Boardwatch Magazine

In their July issues Boardwatch Magazine published a series of unusual measurements of backbone performance that have already proven not only endlessly controversial, but also very welcome among the backbone customer community. In this session, Boardwatch editor Jack Rickard shows what was measured, why it was measured that way, what they think it means, and where the Boardwatch/Keynote team plans to go from here in their mission to quantify performance on the Internet. If you're not angry about these measurement metrics yet, you will be by the close of this session.

Michael Reed - Microcom Inc

Corporations, telcos, and ISPs are looking for ways to provide more services to the end-user while, at the same time, trimming costs from capital budget expenditures for network equipment. Since these two goals are often in direct conflict with each other, managers look for creative ways to get the equipment they need without overspending budgets for the next several years. Today's market requirements for central site equipment focus heavily on cutting costs, providing services, increasing revenues, and remaining competitive. This session will explore the market requirements and available products using actual customer examples.

Juan Bergelund - Americas Exchange Inc

This session will include discussions on the opportunities and developments of the Internet in other countries with focus on Latin America.

Ken McCarthy - E-Media

For most companies, marketing, advertising, and promotion are, at best, inexact sciences. Not so for businesses that follow classic direct marketing principles. Since Aaron Ward and Richard Sears first invited prospects to send cash with their orders, catalog merchants and publishers have accumulated profound experience in the art of how to attract, convert, retain, and profit from customer relationships via "remote control" methods like direct mail. These real world lessons, the fruit of over 100 years of continous trial, error, and study, are directly applicable to running an ISP business. Again and again, direct marketing principles have given entrepreneurs of all sizes a major competitive edge over their better financed rivals. Michael Dell vs. IBM and Ted Turner vs. the TV Networks are just two of the literally hundreds of examples of how powerful these techniques can be when applied rigorously. This session will reveal the core secrets that direct marketing pros use to build solid businesses.

Chandy Nilakantan - 3Com Corp

This session will include discussions on NSP-managed virtual private networks and how they are gaining distinction as a deployment alternative to traditional enterprise IS-managed remote access. Discussion will include the functionality and requirements of a VPN -- including security, scalability, manageability and cost-effectiveness -- to transfer data over a service provider-managed, global public network infrastructures if it were a private, leased-line network.

Robert Shearing - Priori Networks Inc

Every ISP knows that it can't do business without IP addresses and domain names, and pretty quickly learns the basics of the current rules for getting them. But who created the present rules? How rapidly are they likely to change, and why? Who "owns" IP addresses and domain names? Who will ISPs go to six months or six years from now? What will they cost? This session will focus on the basic legal concepts that govern the inherently abstract entities that we call IP addresses and domain name. This session will provide a solid understanding of these concepts, which makes it much easier to anticipate trends in these two areas that are crucial to every ISP.

John Curran - BBN Corp

With the increasing number of companies using the Internet for business operations, how can a network keep up with the high traffic volume? This session will examine issues of network reliability and what ISPs are doing to enhance the network infrastructure. It will focusing on backbone technology, and explore issues of capacity per user, bandwidth and security.

Alan Mutter - Former CEO of Best Internet Comm.

This session will cover proven lines of businesses including commercial services and web hosting. It will also discuss new technologies like xDSL, fax, telephone/audio/video and LAN management. New revenue streams including advertising and long-distance resale and industry consolidation will also be addressed.

H Maurice France - RadioConnect Corporation

This session will discuss the economics of wireless links for ISPs with a brief overview of current state-of-the-art in wireless links. It will define the current wired environment, provide an understanding of the component cost of Internet access, and demonstrate cost and cash flow models which determine financial viability. This session will also discuss how to pick the right wireless system without getting burned.

Mark Chahanovich - StorageTek Corp

This session will focus on the problems and challenges of backing up and restoring data on the Internet. Why will these problems will continue to grow? What products and services are available today, and what are some alternatives? The discussion will profile some of the Internet storage products and services that ISPs can incorporate into a profitable business.

Brian Walck - Bay Networks

This session will describe how new technologies will drive the competitive landscape for mid-tier ISPs.

Bill Gassman - Digital Equipment Corporation

Proper management of the customer life cycle -- sign-up,provisioning, technical support, billing, capacity planning, etc. -- are critical to ISPs challenged with rapid growth and customer retention issues. This talk will focus on state-of-the art approaches to customer management, highlights innovative applications, provides ideas and strategies useful for ISPs, and look into the future of ISP operations.

Robert Denny - O'Reilly & Associates

This session will cover cryptography on the Web including basic cryptographic theory, certificates, SSL, and other related applications. At the completion of the session, you will understand how certification works, why certificates are necessary, how SSL works, and other useful information regarding cryptography.

Tony Pantano - Cyberia Communications Inc
Adam Viener - Cyberia Communications Inc
Sara Viener - Cyberia Communications Inc

The partners of Cyberia Communications present specific guerrilla marketing tools and techniques which can be used for effective marketing. Each year, this team provides new and inventive ways to attract more customers and build businesses without spending too much capital on large marketing campaigns. This session will cover several elements of guerrilla marketing including: first steps, networking, the art of barter; e-marketing; playing the media game; and miscellaneous tricks.

Ray Labadie - Rockwell Semiconducter Systems

This session will discuss ISP trends, the evolution of ISP business models, alternative ISP marketing opportunities and paths to industry profitability.

Larry Gilbert - CyberCash Inc

This session will discuss the following topics: market demand for Internet payment services; existing Internet payment technologies; PayNow-a lower cost alternative to electronic funds transfers with broadbased accessibilty; The Digital NewsStand: easy low-cost entry to micropayment revenues; and new power, flexibility and security in batch and a spontaneous credit card transaction processing.

Bernard Aboba - Microsoft Corp

This session provides an introduction to the technology behind virtual private networks, including PPTP, L2TP, RADIUS, IPSEC, MPPE, and EAP.

William Schrader - PSINet Inc

Schrader will present his opinion on potential industry consolidation, corporate and consumer user growth, pricing models, applications and technologies with an emphasis on the interrelationships among small, mid-size and large ISPs as well as telephone companies.

Dan Hession - Shiva Corp

The ability for a network access server to maintain peak performance across all dial-up ports under maximum load has been well documented in the industry press. This session will show ISPs how to improve dial-access performance and reliability by focusing on network access requirements, telco provisioning, and web acceleration techniques.

Douglas Arellanes - Inicia s.r.o.

As the Internet begins to gain momentum in other parts of the world, many ISPs and design studios will eventually be called upon to collaborate on projects with an international scope, and for an international audience. What are the benefits and potential pitfalls of working on such projects? What can and can't be done solely over wires? Can you trust large projects to designers across the globe? What are some practical methods of making it easier for your international audience to get to your site?

Marc Zionts - WESTELL Technologies Inc

This xDSL primer will demonstrate how ISPs can offer xDSL with or without their ILEC's cooperation. It will cover the many reasons why ISPs need to offer xDSL and describe the products that are currently available. ISPs can use xDSL to increase their profits, and this session will explain how they can offer it now without the hurdles.

Bob Machlin - Cascade Communications Corp

This session will look at the new architectures carriers are deploying to off load the voice network and examine what this means to the traffic they carry for ISPs and network service providers.

Ross Rader - TUCOWS
Scott Swerdorski - TUCOWS

The rapid growth in consumer use of the Internet, coupled with the intense competition between Internet service providers poses a tough challenge for today's ISPs. The challenge is to meet the complex demands and high standards of increasingly sophisticated customers while maintaining profitability. To stand out in this market, ISPs need to provide their clients with innovative, entertaining and essential information and services. The rapid proliferation of Internet use within organizations has spawned a new set of Internet issues. Technical proficiency is no longer the Holy Grail of the Internet: "Content" is the key to success in the Information Age. But "content" is expensive and hard to manage ... or is it?

Elon Ganor - VocalTec Communications, Inc.

This session will discuss what is new in IP telephony. It will explain the benefits of the new technology and disclose who will be using it. There will also be a discussion about the business model for profitability and how ISPs can offer high-quality IP telephony services. The discussion will also explore the future of telephony including new address technologies and adding multimedia to phone calls.

Shekhar Bhide - Shiva Corp

Acceleration schemes can improve web access by addressing HTTP inefficiencies and inherent latency associated with Internet connections. Integrating HTTP acceleration into your dial-up access server platform eliminates management and deployment overhead associated with proxy servers. This session will review the optimization techniques employed by PowerSurf, Shiva's integrated HTTP acceleration platform, and highlight the differentiated service offerings PowerSurf can deliver.

Kieran Taylor - TeleChoice Inc

This session will discuss filling the x in xDSL: An overview of competing technologies (IDSL, ADSL, VDSL, HDSL, S-HDSL, SDSL and RADSL) and where and when they make sense for Internet access. It will summarize ISP and RBOC trials to date as well as offer a competitive comparison of equipment available and tips on marketing and pricing xDSL for residential and business Internet access.

Kim Hubbard - Network Solutions Inc

For more than a year, there have been discussions involving IANA, NSF and FNC concerning a proposal to manage IP number assignments separate and apart from the registration of Internet domain names. The stability of the Internet depends on the careful management of the IP addresses. Consistent with the RIPE and APNIC models, representatives of the Internet community suggested a non-profit organization as an appropriate organization to manage the IP address space for assigned territories, similar to the RIPE and APNIC regional IP registries. An independent, non-profit corporation, The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), has been proposed. Funding for ARIN would come from membership dues and fees for registration and maintenance. Membership would be open to anyone with an interest in IP-related activities. Members would be responsible for determining the goals of the registry and how it would best meet those goals.

Bob Nusbaum - Digital Equipment Corporation

This presentation will discuss the new technology features of IPv6 not supported by the existing Internet Protocol, how to access and use Digital's implementations, how to use IPv6 to access and participate on the Internet 6bone, IPv6 deployment scenarios, and a discussion of how to port IPv4 applications to IPv6. The IETF IPv6 specifications are almost complete and it is now time to begin defining the mechanisms for deployment. Digital has been working with IPv6 since 1993. This presentation will share what Digital has learned technically, how to use IPv6, and the issues involved with deployment, porting, and getting the most out of IPv6 the Next Internet Generation Protocol. The presentation will also provide a discussion of the Internet 6bone evolution and its applications, and pointers to relevant information about IPv6 in the industry regarding multivendor testing and interoperability events.

James Butler III - Arnall Golden & Gregory

This session will be a detailed discussion of an ISP's risks and legal liabilities. Specific emphasis will be placed on the risks faced by ISPs who host sensitive corporate, financial and personal information. Potential problems will be identified and discussions on a legal strategy to minimize or prevent losses.

Rod Adkins - NetPartners

Internet filtering is a controversial, emotive subject from the political arena to the end-user. The poor ISP can apparently do nothing right, being harassed for free speech/total access and protection for children simultaneously. Client-based filtering is really only a stop-gap palliative - smart kids find workarounds, and there is always the update problem. And in the corporate world, who wants to update thousands of client PCs? Network-based filtering, however, with categories that are blocked determined by the user, provides an elegant, revenue-generating solution that should satisfy the lawyers, if not the totally obsessed. Less facetiously, recent federal legislation such as the "Family-Friendly Internet Access Act," provides that ISPs shall offer their customers screening-software that allows for the blocking of material that is unsuitable for children. It is in your best interests to be educated on the tools available.

George Favaloro - Compaq Computer Corporation

ISPs today are faced with increased competition, commodization of basic Internet access, a constant flow of new entrants, and a fast changing technology landscape. In order to survive, industry dynamics are forcing ISPs to enhance their value proposition and develop new revenue sources. This requires ISPs to move beyond offering basic access services to more robust value-added services such as e-commerce, encryption, compression, fax, VPN, data centers, telephony and video streaming/conferencing. Migration to more robust value-added services requires ISPs and independent software vendors to overcome several hurdles including: interoperating mindset, infrastructure costs, and working with ISV business model. Compaq is making a number of investments to address these hurdles and to enable the transition to the full service Internet.

Ken Krechmer - Communications Standards Review

This session will be a high-level tutorial of the use and implementation of PCM modems. Ken Krechmer will present a detailed timeline of the standards work in progress and acquisition risks. He will also explain the aspects of the PCM modem architecture that are most critical to users and ISPs. This discussion will include choosing a PCM modem, and the planning of PCM modem acquisitions.

Tom Sutliff - Shiva Corp

Security is one of the biggest concerns of ISPs and their customers, who may transfer information as critical as their credit card number of confidential business transactions over the Net. Network monitoring is of equal concern to ISPs. It allows administrators to track usage patterns and check for equipment problems. This session will review the latest management and security techniques for ISPs including RADIUS security and accounting and web browser based network access monitoring tools.

Chris Baldwin - Cascade Communications Corp

This session will include discussion on what comprises the brains of ATM -- from PNNI to quality of service (QoS). Also addressed will be the standards (or lack of) that will make or break the brains of ATM.

Steve Weisenburger - Stevens & James Marketing
Jim Ackerman - Stevens & James Marketing

Marketing is the engine that drives the success of any enterprises. In the competitive world of ISPs, those who market best survive and thrive, even if the service they offer is not better. This session will provide ISPs with the foundation principles they will need to grow their business the only three ways possible; Bring in new customers; Increase the unit of sale or the revenue from each customer's purchase; Increase the frequency with which customers purchase There are proven techniques and systems fro ISPs to improve sales all three ways. When attendees put these methods to work in their businesses, they should easily see increases of at least 10 percent in each of the three areas. When that happens, they will realize a minimum 33.3 percent increase in their businesses, because the effect is cumulative. The information in this session will also enable attendees to make far more efficient and effective use of their marketing dollars and measure the impact of everything they do.

Les Fraim - ANS Communications

Not all companies have the technical resources to maximize their Internet presence. Installing, managing and supporting an internal and external network infrastructure and web presence is often a challenging and expensive undertaking. Out-sourcing provides companies a reliable, cost-effective, and secure option for communication, access and web presence, while allowing these organizations to focus on their core businesses. This session will focus on the factors that must be considered in building and maintaining an effective infrastructure for doing business.

Stephen Catanzano - Aware

This session will cover the technical intricacies of ADSL and how ISPs can deploy and benefit from this technology. ADSL is an alternative to existing high-speed technologies such as ISDN or leased-lines. During the next 6 to 12 months, it will become widely available throughout the United States. Get prepared and learn how service providers are offering ADSL today and how you can build a business around ADSL.

Gary Schine - Merfeld and Schine Inc

This session will discuss the issues involved in buying and selling ISPs. It will emphasize today's realities more than it will predictions of the future. Topics to be discussed include: finding buyers and separating buyers from tire kickers; finding sellers; valuation issues (terms are as important as price); selling dial-up vs. dedicated access; selling hosted web sites; how buyers view a sale vs. how sellers view a purchase; and dangers and pitfalls to watch out for and common mistakes in buying and selling.

Bob Bevill - World Wide OnLine Communications

Many ISPs are being asked to provide services and resources beyond their wildest dreams -- and also beyond their present capabilities. Financial analysts are predicting the collapse of the small ISP and its entrepreneurs. Are they right? This session will answer these questions, along with outlining techniques to outsource business and marketing opportunities for the small ISP niche.

Patrick O'Haren - Silicon Graphics Inc

Electronic commerce is more than handling payments over the Web. Compelling product presentation, integration with legacy systems, customer and order management, and personalized marketing all contribute to success on the Internet. Electronic commerce is one of the most demanding applications on the Web and it reqires powerful applications. This session will discuss ISP services for Internet commerce and related topics.

Ted Nelson - Xanadu Project

Jay Adelson - Digital Equipment Corporation

With more and more companies using the Internet for critical business communications, reliability has become a central and serious issue. This session will look at the issues corporations and ISPs confront when conducting business over the Internet and the increasingly vital role Internet exchanges play in mitigating the risks.

Carl Silva - Bellcore

This session will discuss how an ISP can manage the transition to being an enhanced service provider (ESP). One of the biggest challenges facing an ISP today is the ability to offer additional, value-added services for its clients. This session will cover virtual private network services and tunneling, enhanced web-hosting services, and additional capabilities to meet customer demands and stay ahead of the competition. This discussion will center on the pitfalls and problems of what it takes to offer these services and overcome problems.

Eugene Kashpureff - Alter.NIC

Who should control the domain names and how should they be issued? Network Solutions Inc., the company granted dominance in the issuance of domain names by the National Science Foundation, has been under fire for its performance, its policy for resolving disputed domain names and the lack of competition. This session will explore alternatives to current system for distribution of Top Level Domain names (TLDs).

David Greenman - FreeBSD
Rian Emrick - Johnston and Associates
Colby Baron - Europa
Jeremy Lingmann - Europa
Alex Huppenthal - CSR Corporation

The xDSL marketplace is about to go into high gear. ISPs are at a crossroads in the industry. The choices for xDSL technologies are expanding, and selecting a vendor for the basic technology is critical to the success of ISPs. This session will discuss these choices in light of the experiences with various vendors this year. This session will discuss the various vendors implementations of the technology, xDSL's application at the ISP, and the pros and cons of the approaches in the industry. A vendor neutral comparison will be made of the current offering, and the application areas. The key concerns for ISPs in deploying this technology will be presented along with ways to deal with each area of concern.