Just saw the news on CNet , GigaOm and GigaGamez. The International Association of Virtual Reality Technologies has announced that it will form a new public network that's "capable of meeting the data transmission requirements of emerging cinematic and immersive virtual reality technologies." Neuronet, as it will be called, will be "separate and distinct from the Internet, and used for everything from gaming to entertainment to virtual business."
What will Neuronet's infrastructure look like? Well, "the massive overcapacity of fiber optic cable left over from the dot-com era makes the new network feasible with minimal investment." Also, "much of the infrastructure and programming utilized to facilitate the Neuronet will be outsourced to telecommunications and virtual reality innovators." Neuronet is already talking about a domain naming system, forming committees on standards, regulatory affairs, etc, and selling memberships.
I'm a little skeptical, because never once does the IAVRT identify any company or individual who's already involved with the non-profit association. If its members include "market leaders in telecommunications, entertainment, gaming, business, several Fortune 500 companies and leading research institutions around the globe", why aren't they lending credibility by being officially represented on the site - or publicly announcing their participation?
Speaking of the site, the IAVRT.org domain (under private registration at GoDaddy) traceroutes to VerveHosting of Pontiac, Michigan. It seems Verve resells for or colos at Net@ccess, whose data center is in New Jersey. The IAVRT itself appears to be located in Vancouver, Canada. If it were a big enough operation to bring together a whole new separate public network, I'd expected its website to be hosted with a more prominent provider, or one that's closer to its home base?
Anyway, if my skepticism is unfounded, the game server teams at Peer 1, LayeredTech and The Planet ought to look into this. If there's going to be a separate network for gaming traffic, you won't be able to stay in the game hosting business without getting involved.
P.S. On a not entirely related note, speaking of virtual business, of which there is already plenty in Second Life, maybe VeriSign and Comodo should start offering virtual SSL certs? Shouldn't virtual shoppers have the ability to verify the legitimacy of their virtual vendors? You wouldn't want to lose Lindens to an unscrupulous avatar - or get your virtual identity stolen by a virtual phisher?
