I just realized I missed a pretty sweet illustration right up in here.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by RareBear
Pretend it's 1986 and the world hasn't yet heard of the net.
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OK. I had heard of the net in 1986, so maybe I remember some stuff that others don't in this regard, but well into the early 90s, the telcos actually had policies prohibiting attaching a modem on home telephone lines.
People did it anyway, but you had to be careful not to mention it, or they'd--I dunno--do something. While I can't remember the remedies they'd take if they found out you were in violation, I can assure you that the phone companies were pretty clear about the prohibition.
This went on until, IIRC, the mid-90s or thereabouts, depending on the phone company, and it wasn't until the internet was very widely adopted that the prohibitions were dropped.
That's a perfect example. The principle that you can attach any device to your lines, as long as it doesn't harm the network, is fundamental to NN. And the phone companies did exactly that for as long as they were able to get away with it.