[address-policy-wg] ICANN vs RIPE NCC, was Re: Summary of the PI ......

Randy,

the RIPE NCC, imperfect as it may be, pre-dates ICANN by many years and
has always been a bottom-up organisation driven by the ISPs.  It is a
response to the need of the ISPs to organise some technical aspects of
the Internet infrastructure as a group, while going about their
otherwise competitive business(es).  The RIPE NCC is a neutral
organisation providing professional services.  The formal structure
reflects this fully: a membership association directed by its members,
the ISPs.  Of curse the members have a task in this: to control and
steer the association.  RIPE itself has always been an open forum where
even those wo are not members of the RIPE *NCC* can have great
influence on what the RIPE *NCC* does. 

As such the RIPE NCC has *much* more legitimacy than ICANN, an
organisation instigated by a policy need of one particular government. 
You know the history at least as well as I do.  Other governments mostly
jumped on the bandwaggon for varied reasons.  ICANN still largely has to
earn its legitimacy.  This is a difficult task and I do not envy those
undertaking it.  But, through hard work of -among others- the RIPE NCC, 
ICANN's possibilities to interfere with ISP related matters 
without legitimacy, are extremely limited. 

I take offense if people put ICANN and the RIPE NCC in the same corner,
especially people who know better.  They are two totally different things. 

Randy,

I would hope that you can stop sneering and help work towards improving
the RIPE NCC, like you once did.

Sincerely

Daniel
(first and longest serving of the RIPE NCC staff)



On 11.08 07:18, Randy Bush wrote:
> > As far as I understand, the threat from APNIC and RIPE to just ditch
> > ICANN and get on without it seems to have had quite some effect.
> > 
> > If all non-US-ccTLD registries (of which there are lots more than 
> > US-based) start beating ICANN with joint forces, I'm pretty sure that 
> > this will have an effect.
> 
> and why should they trust ripe and apnic more than icann?  all act
> from positions of power while claiming service.
> 
> randy