ietf
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [IAOC] Request for community guidance on issue concerning a future meeting of the IETF

2009-09-19 18:17:53
Speaking just for myself, I agree with Steve. I think it that is better to engage than to retreat. Nothing is certain, but I also think that it is highly likely that we would have a good meeting.

Regards
Marshall


On Sep 19, 2009, at 3:55 PM, Steve Crocker wrote:

The choice is between engaging and not engaging. Engaging is better. Not engaging isn't constructive. The Internet and the IETF are all about engaging, expanding, communicating and being open. Much of this dialog has been worried about possible extreme situations. Let's focus on the center. More than a billion people live in China and their use of the Internet is expanding rapidly. They are building much of the technology and contributing technically. It's to everyone's advantage to have comfortable, constructive interaction. Our first slogan was "Networks Bring People Together."

If you prefer to focus on the negatives, here's my analysis:

If we don't go to China, we have charted a downhill course and the rest of the world will come together without us. The IETF will lose relevance.

If we do go to China and something bad happens, the consequences will be much worse for China than for the IETF. The work of the IETF will suffer a bit, but we'll recover quickly enough. However, China's quest for engagement with the rest of the world will be hurt more seriously.

Bottom line: We should go to China with a positive attitude. We're robust enough to deal with any consequences. If we don't go to China, however, we have weakened ourselves.

Steve

_______________________________________________
IAOC mailing list
IAOC(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/iaoc


_______________________________________________
Ietf mailing list
Ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>