I'm an individual with a modest income who generally pays his own way
to attend IETF meetings. I agree that the costs are too high. However,
I'd be opposed to a scheme that charged corporations more, because then
they'd expect their word to carry more weight. IMHO the only way to
make sure that individuals continue to be able to contribute usefully
to IETF is to treat all participants of IETF the same - regardless of
who pays for the attendance.
And as much as the meeting costs annoy me, I haven't thought of a better
way to fund IETF. But I'd be curious to know whether holding meetings
in other venues (say university campuses during break periods) might
allow us to lower meeting fees.
Keith
p.s. I also think that periodic, timely disclosure of IETF finances via
the web site would be entirely appropriate.