On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 08:53:15AM +0100, Stephane Bortzmeyer wrote:
On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 05:08:31AM +0100,
Harald Tveit Alvestrand <harald(_at_)alvestrand(_dot_)no> wrote
a message of 28 lines which said:
we had this exact problem with the many identities of "Jeff
Williams"; he had enough pseudo-personalities on the list that he
would sometimes claim to have a majority, jut from his own postings.
Since IETF does not vote, it is certainly not an issue here?
Well, it can be an issue in terms of determining rough consensus.
Suppose you have 100 sock puppets all with gmail or hotmail accounts,
all claiming that some approach which all of the key technologists and
experts in the field and RFC authors have rejected, is really the
right way to go. We can do straw polls in face to face meetings, but
in theory, all decisions are supposed to be confirmed on the mailing
list.
Suppose 100 (presumed) sock puppets who all just happen to have the
same fracturered logic and writing styles as JFC show up on LTRU and
claim that they are driving consensus. RFC 3683 evasion aside, it
could certainly cause cause problems for a working group chair who is
trying to determine consensus, such that said chair might want to
confirm whether or not 100 posters to the mailing list, all with
pseudonyms derived from the name of of French pioneers/heros, were in
fact distinct people.
After all, they could all argue that the nonsense they are spouting is
in fact deep received wisdom, and it's a minority of the working group
who don't understand their reasoning, and so therefore the positions
of their Great Leader JFC, is in fact rough consensus. :-)
- Ted
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