Headline

The term "Open Network" can have different meanings in different environments. In this eBook an Open Network is a network that can include any user and that any user can join as they wish; in this context, "open" means the opposite of "private". Open does not necessarily mean free and users may charge a fee for making their resources available to others. One key social component of Open Networks is solidarity, as each user makes his or her unused resources available to the rest of the community.

Communities are enabled by open network design and innovation emerges. That is the foundation of P2P production and distribution models, IP telephony and multimedia streaming technologies.

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