sascha
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 11:42:48 -0500
From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
To: Scott Bradner <sob@harvard.edu>
Cc: ietf@ns.ietf.org
Subject: Re: from Ira Magaziner Re: IETF relationship to new IANA
Scott Bradner writes:
> I asked Ira Magaziner about the wording in the Green Paper in the
> area of the relationship between the IETF and the new IANA. This
> is his reply which he said I could forward.
> > Thanks for your note. The wording of the green paper is a
> > mistake. We certainly do not intend for the IETF to in any way
> > become subserviant to this new organization. We will correct it in
> > the next draft.
I hate to say this, Scott, but a lifetime of seeing politicians in
action leads me to have no faith in either the statement that there
was no desire to bring the IETF to heel or that this will not be in
the cards in the future.
I am not, you understand, saying that this *was* the intention or will
be the intention -- only that I have discovered that one can trust the
words of policicians on their intentions no more frequently than
random chance would predict. His stating so neither makes me believe
he does or does not have bad intentions towards us.
In other words, I have as much faith in Ira Magaziner as I do in a
pair of dice -- except that the dice are unlikely to explode and kill
you when you roll them.
The man has created an enormous amount of chaos for our community,
sowing uncertainty and fear into a self governance process that was
largely working just fine. If this was by design, he's a deadly threat
both to the functioning of the internet and to our autonomy. If this
was by accident, he's dangerous simply because he doesn't understand
what he is doing and has great power to cause destruction without even
realizing it. Either way, I do not see any reason for faith or trust
in the man.
Perry