Hi, Before saying anything, let me be very clear that I do not represent the protocol community, or speak for it, or have any implicit or explicit authority to take a position on behalf of the IETF or the IAB or anyone else. Below is just my personal opinion. I also do not want to be understood as trying to "put pressure" on the CCWG: consensus-based systems work only if the communities involved can reach consensus. We must always be prepared that such a decision-making approach can result in failure. That's ok; the possibility of failure focusses the mind, and something that can't attract broad support might be a bad idea anyway. Now, On Wed, Dec 16, 2015 at 04:57:58PM +1300, Jordan Carter wrote:
- pressure from the numbering and protocols communities, who want this done and dusted and wish the transition had already been done.
I think that Jordan is exactly right here. In my view, this isn't the other communities wishing to apply pressure. Instead, I think, it's that we have other things we need to do. For the IETF, I have to say, the transition has been an enormous and costly distraction. My colleagues and I have only so much time to devote to IETF activities, because we all have day jobs. My employer, when agreeing to me taking the IAB chair, was assuming a 50% FTE estimate; instead, many weeks it has been rather more than 100%. I know others who are in the same boat. When you look at it from that perspective, if the names community can't come up with acceptable accountability measures in more than a year, there is little reason to believe it will ever happen. I believe that this CCWG has made enormous progress, and I think it has come up with a good and strong proposal. But if the names community cannot come together behind the proposal (or perhaps something adjusted in light of the board's suggestions -- I refuse to take a position in this message on the right course of action), I will not be surprised to hear people in the names and numbers community saying that no solution will ever come about and that we should give up. I think this would have serious implications for the IANA system and for ICANN's legitimacy; and I hope people are keeping that in mind. We don't get to go back to the way things were, regardless of what happens. Best regards, A -- Andrew Sullivan ajs@anvilwalrusden.com