Subject: Why we are looking at a fait accompli with the new IANA

From: Gordon Cook <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 00:08:01 -0400

Garrin sez:
>It's time to junk the incestuous list of insiders and start a serious
>head-hunt elsewhere...there is plenty of qualified, disinterested and
>competent talent out there--don't just go in  for the convenience of
>proximity--go for quality and the long term!

What Paul doesn't understand is that he can stage all the theater he wants.
Eric Weisberg can jump up on a many tables and holler as loud as he cares
to and its won't matter a damn.

Why?  Because Postel as he sits on Mount olympus has a new tenant on his
mountain top.   Gabe Batista of NSI is esconsced on HIS throne and people
you will likely see one slate of nominees handed down from Olympus.  The
criteria for nominees have been publicly hinted at. Chief among them lack
of direct involvement in this whole mess - demonstrable neutrality.  But
lets make one thing clear. Unless you can convince postel to put your
candidate in nomination or batista to do the same you are wasting your
breath.  the two sides are collecting names.  Allegedly there are not lot
of names.  Who in their right mind would want to have a position shaping
something that they had no direct financial interest in.  A position where
they had to serve without pay, in a controversial fishbowl with a
significant risk of getting sued.  The two sides have agreed not to put a
name in nomination unless it meets the criteria.  Presumably  each side
will show the other its stack of names and as long as the other feels the
criteria haven't been violated the two stacks will be combined and handed
into magaziner on Monday.  The names of people who will accept the
nominations have been announced on the IFWP list.  I believe it was Don
Telage on the NSI side and Joe Sims on the Jones and day IANA side.

So if you have any nominations that you have not managed to deliver to
either side forget it.  Unless you can get Telage or Simms to personally
accept your nomination this weekend you are too late.  The slate will be
delivered to ira on Monday.

In view of the above, it looks like EFF's self-flattering statement that
"another [Board member] has agreed to join the Initial [IANA] Board' was a
sleazy effort to stack the deck and manuever the process.  I have spoken to
three people with direct knowledge of how the nominations process is being
handled and they have all assured me that any invitation to an EFF board
member to accept a seat would be a flagrant violation the process to which
NSI and IANA have agreed.  The most likely hypothesis as to what happened
is that yesterday's press release was a move on the part of John Gilmore to
once again influence Jon Postel and that the blame goes to Gilmore and not
to Postel.

There will be a new draft posted on Monday. One that is the product of
fresh input to both sides. Don't look for huge changes in the powers of the
board.  Corporate law won't permit it.  (This is one reason why the IETF
has never incorporated.)

Meanwhile, There is much input that has funneled into "mount olympus from
many quarters. One of the factors producing a hold up in the anouncement of
the drafts has been that the two parties (IANA and NSI) are being pepered
with governmental demands from outside the US that are palatable to
neither.  These demands however are not lightly dismissed.  It seems likely
they will be handed to Magaziner on Monday morning for a decision by IRA.
*HE* will finally have to make or break some peoples day's.

There are other elements that are still unaccounted for.  Postel will get a
tide him over contract from the US government.  Rumor is that he has
already gotten it and signed it.  No one out side his camp however has seen
it.  We anticipate an announcement on Tuesday morning of the resolution of
the NSI relationship with the US government.  We surmise that NSI will be
presented with a cooperative agreement extension.  ( same as Postel) NSI
will be asked to sign it.  Since signing it would effectively dismantle NSI
and render the signatory liable to stockholder lawsuits, NSI will refuse to
sign.  Because guess what if NSI refuses to sign the cooperative agreement
is over on Thursday morning and there is nothing the US gov't can do about
it.  The US has no means of legally destroying NSI's business and it will
finally have to admitt it.  The US will turn to the Europeans and say;
gosh.  Terribly sorry.  We tried to bring those NSI bastards into line and
they were just too wiley for us.  Terribly sorry old chaps.

So folk from the point where CIX and ISOC and IANA managed to cancel the
Berkman center meeting and left direct IANA NSI negotiations as the only
alternative, it was no longer anything *you* could effect.  face the
reality.  Clean the house or the yard this weekend.  The two 800 pound
gorilla's have prepared their nest and will turn to Ira monday morning for
the occupancy certifcate. Then the next interesting crisis will come as the
new corporation sorts through applications for the names council and
decides how to deal with the ITU's latest effort to get its nose in the
internet tent via the already discredited POC at http://www.dnso.org

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From: Gordon Cook <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 00:08:01 -0400