[dns-operations] ICANN and, was Re: Some DNSSEC trivia

[Edward Lewis]

At 19:42 +0000 1/9/08, Paul Vixie wrote:

(In response to:)
>>  were to come up with a set of well-defined objective criteria and submitted
>>  those criteria to IANA, it could provide a basis for an IANA-driven public
>>  consultation in the vast mysterious universe that is ICANN which would get
>>  the ball rolling...
>
>be still, my beating heart.

The way I view this (what appears skepticism and/or cynicism over 
ICANN) is that the work we do on the Internet is done to serve the 
greater interest, not to satisfy our own whims and desires.  Maybe we 
think that it would be good to have a nice and tidy DNS but to the 
folks that pay us for what we do, it might not be as important.

Yeah, it's our job to look out for the best technology and do and to 
make sure future growth is done right.  But we don't determine the 
goals of the worldwide telecommunications service.

Public review bodies like ICANN provide input from all sides.  When 
you view this as a constituent of one faction it can be very 
frustrating not to see everything go your way.  You might even divide 
up the factions that have the same goals (allies) and the factions 
that have competing intentions (enemies).

If ICANN is not doing it's job, it isn't (only) up to the engineers 
to solve it,  other folks are impacted as well.  Sure, I wish ICANN 
was more engineering oriented.  Maybe we'd have IRIS in place.  But 
I've also worked in large bureaucracies before I started in on DNS 
and became to appreciate why they are they way they are.  A smooth 
and efficient government is *not* what you want!

If a problem exists that requires a solution, it will get done. 
Problems that hang around for years either are not really in need of 
a solution or are really just very hard.  Solutions that hang around 
in the wings (whether looking for a problem or thinking they've found 
one) for years might be good ideas but not necessary.

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Edward Lewis                                                +1-571-434-5468
NeuStar

Think glocally.  Act confused.