Greenwich Net Time Set To Debut

Welcome Guest. | Log In| Register | Membership Benefits

December 29, 1999 (12:00 AM EST)

By Amy Rogers,

You've heard of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), now get ready for Greenwich Net Time (GNT).

On Jan. 1 in Greenwich, U.K., home of the Prime Meridian and site of what's expected to be a lavish New Year's Eve celebration, several GNT clocks will go live to offer ISPs and Internet users a new way to time-stamp electronic documents.

The effort's organizers said they hope GNT will be embraced as the recognized time standard for the Net, just as GMT is viewed as a baseline for time-keeping throughout 24 worldwide time zones.

Involved companies include The London Internet Exchange [LINX], a nonprofit group of ISPs that share data centers to more efficiently deliver Internet traffic within the U.K.; Datum, which is supplying three atomic clocks that will deliver GNT from Greenwich's zero meridian line; and Enron Communications, an energy and communications concern.

Enron will provide an applet displaying GNT to sites run by 89 LINX member ISPs, which include AboveNet, AT&T, BT Internet Services, Exodus Communications, France Telecom, and Level 3.

Officials for the companies said GNT and its application of so-called 'trusted time stamps' to documents will help make electronic signatures as a means of digitally authenticating documents become more accepted.

Wondering where Greenwich stands on whether 2000 or 2001 is the actual start of the new millennium?

"The millennium officially starts on 1 January 2001 (there was no year 0)," a note on the official Greenwich 2000 website reads. "The computers crash and millennium year celebrations begin 1 January 2000, which is the start of "Millennium Year."