Yet another sign that the world is changing comes from the recent decision by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) to publish their standards openly and freely on the Internet. This standards body, through standards like X.25, X.400, X.500, etc., has had a great impact on the Internet and computing in general. However, they have always charged tremendous amounts of money to those who actually wished to read their standards. The result has been, I think, a lesser rate of adoption than would have otherwise been possible. It is also quite possible that we might have fewer standards groups today if the ITU had been willing to make their content availlable earlier. (The high price of their standards has often been cited as a reason to avoid them as a forum for standardization.) For those looking to find out how X.25 was really defined or who wish to delve into the intricacies of ASN.1 (X.680), you can now find everything online, free at: http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X/
bob wyman
