Slashdot mentions GENI To Replace Internet, Gets $12M Funding
A lot of people dribble on about how the net is designed. This betrays profound ignorance.
Individual aspects of the net were designed. The protocols making up the TCP-IP suite were designed. The topological strategy of redundant interconnection was designed - it was the defining characteristic of ARPANET, the thing that made the net nuke-proof, and routing as we know it was invented to make such a topology practical. It's a real pity telcos violate this fundamental tenet in favour of unofficial taxation.
The net as a whole, however, was not designed. It doesn't even exist as a thing that can be owned or regulated, because it is an emergent system arising from the interconnection of LANs. So long as people use compatible protocols and choose to route each others' traffic, there is an internet.
If some academics cook up some more protocols that do new and useful things, and people use them, they will become part of the net. If they do the same things a lot better, and they can be made compatible with legacy systems they will be widely used and become entrenched. If they do new things, they will be used by those people who find them useful. If that is a large number of people they may become entrenched. But the rest of the net will continue to exist until nobody wants it to.