Episode 009 - History of Internet Protocols, ISPs, SPAM, Internet Exchanges and Peering

I Love Data Centers

There are only a few dozen people on the planet, still working today, who both understand how the internet was originally developed and were actually present and involved during its early evolution. Tim Pozar is among this respected and elite tribe. Our interview attempts to add color to these early days as we follow his vast career and the decisions he made pre and post running the first ISP in San Francisco and his work with Alexa and The Internet Archive. Tim is a genuine and humble technologist, problem solver and entrepreneur through and through. Today, he works to solve complex network problems for enterprises large and small while also running the San Francisco Metropolitan Internet Exchange. Unfortunately we did not have time to cover even a fraction of the projects he's been involved with over the years, or discuss the countless hours he has spent pro-bono working to bring the freedom of the internet to every nook and cranny of Northern California. Episode 009 Show Notes Interview Starts 2:23 What is “TwoP”? 2:59 Where are you right now? 4:21 Tim’s background 5:47 How do you first get into technology? 6:41 Starting the first ISP in San Francisco 13:15 Limiting South Africa during Apartheid 16:00 Usenet 18:05 How does Usenet tie to ISP? Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) 21:14 What inspired you to create your own Internet service providing company? 21:44 Tim’s first time walking into a data center 31:50 What was the next chapter in your career after Little Garden? 38:33 What is Alexa? 39:42 WAIS 44:31 Canter Seagull Incident 47:23 Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) 50:08 Bright Mail 52:43 Reasons to go to a data center 55:18 The MAE 58:29 365 1:05:26 Telx 1:06:40 3 Layers to Internet exchange 1:11:51 Lobbying in DC 1:14:38 What’s the backdrop on your laptop? 1:17:55 What is some advice you would give a newcomer in the industry? 1:19:17 How to contact Tim 1:23:59