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About the InterNIC


In January of 1993 the InterNIC was established as a collaborative project between AT&T;, General Atomics and Network Solutions, Inc. and supported by three five-year cooperative agreements with the National Science Foundation. AT&T; was to manage the InterNIC Directory and Database Services project; NSI was to manage the Registration Services project, and General Atomics was to manage the Information Services project.

These agreements stipulated that a peer review during the second year of performance would determine the future level of funding. The review found that General Atomics was not providing the promised level of service to the community and recommended that funding be discontinued. NSF agreed with this recommendation and in February of 1995 terminated the cooperative agreement with General Atomics. Steps were taken to minimize the disruption to the research and education community and to continue the services which the panel identified as having significant value.

There were two major categories of services that the review panel identified as having significant value and which should be continued. They were i) services provided by the Info Scout and ii) second-level support to campus network information center (NIC) organizations. NSI requested and was granted the opportunity to continue offering the second-level support service and sponsoring the services of the Info Scout. These services are now known as InterNIC Information and Education Services and Net Scout Services.

The InterNIC continues to participate in Internet forums and with the Research and Education community to promote Internet services, explore new tools and technologies, and to contribute to the rapidly growing Internet community.


Documents about the InterNIC project


This file last modified 4/1/96.

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