Internet pioneer Dr. Lawrence Roberts is moving on.

The founder and chief technology officer of Caspian Networks Inc. has left the company's day-to-day operations, company officials say.

Caspian isn't shutting down, nor is Roberts divorcing himself from the company. "Larry is still involved," says Dallas Kachan, Caspian director of marketing. "He's an active member of the board of directors."

As for what he's doing, Roberts is keeping quiet. An email query from Light Reading received a polite reply in which Roberts neither confirmed nor denied his leaving Caspian, writing, "I cannot tell you anything at this time."

Kachan confirms Roberts is planning to start a "new initiative," and one source believes Roberts is taking his case to the enterprise. With Caspian's Flow-Based Networking no longer aimed at core networks, it seems reasonable for Roberts to aim at the higher-volume enterprise market. The need for IP quality of service (QOS) could become acute there, if demand for time-sensitive traffic such as videoconferencing starts to blossom.

Roberts's next venture is sure to be closely watched. Part of the team that developed Arpanet, the precursor to the Internet, he's recognized as one of the world's top authorities on networks and packet switching. He's hobnobbed with the likes of Vint Cerf, Tim Berners-Lee, and Woody Allen (see Larry Roberts).

Light Reading will follow the story as it develops. Or we'll just follow Larry around until he cracks.

— Craig Matsumoto, Senior Editor, Light Reading