The Internet multicast from ITS: how it was done and implications for the future

Many sessions at the International Telecommunications Symposium (ITS) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 1994, were multicast through the Internet as live audio and pictures to viewers in the US and elsewhere. The Multicast Backbone (MBONE) frequently carries meetings of the Internet community and special events such as Space Shuttle launchings. It is beginning to be used for workshops and other professional gatherings. Making one of its major conferences available through MBONE was a first for the Communications Society and a cooperative effort by many people that relied on the generous loan of equipment and staff members by a number of companies. A special satellite data connection extended MBONE from the United States to Brazil. The authors report on how it was done and what it means for the Communications Society