RIPE Hostmasters visiting LIRs

Hi Chaps,

Now come along...it is *great* idea for RIPE to get to know what we do and
how we do it. However, I am far from convinced that this is the way to do
it!

Of course there will be lobbying, of course there will be LIRs that will
make an impression, and of course there is a real risk of compromising RIPE
neutrality.

Also, how would this be funded? Ok for the big(ger) guys, but how about us
less big guys? Personally, I would like to have you guys get to know us
better and so on - but I am not sure we can afford it!

More thought required me thinks...

Abbey Shasore
A4U Net - Alpha Internet

-----Original Message-----
From: Sam Critchley [mailto:samc at UU.NET]
Sent: 16 September 1999 16:01
To: lir-wg at ripe.net
Subject: RIPE Hostmasters visiting LIRs




Hello,

Recently a few colleagues and I have been talking about the way we
interact with the people in the RIPE NCC when dealing with customer
assignments (and some other matters). One of the things we thought could
be beneficial is if Hostmasters had more experience of the kind of issues
we in the ISP community face on a day-to-day basis.

We thought it might be a good idea if some of the Hostmasters were able to
visit an ISP and see how they work, meet the people they deal with and
perhaps work alongside them for a period of time. With this in mind we
first thought of inviting individual people to come and visit us, or
perhaps addressing the NCC asking if this were possible. However, we soon
realised that this would have neutrality implications, and that it could
be damaging both to the RIPE NCC reputation and to ours, and that for
this reason it was unlikely to be accepted by them.

In the last week or so I've been in touch with people in several other
LIRs here in the Netherlands on an informal basis, and we all seem to
agree that, were visits made to multiple registries by multiple members of
the staff of the NCC, then this would have fewer neutrality implications.
It seems like there are several registries who would be happy to offer
help with this if it has a potential benefit for all LIRs. I realise that
this has been discussed in various forums before, but feel personally that
we are now able to remove many of the barriers which might prevent it
happening.

Do other LIRs feel that this could be beneficial to everyone in the RIPE
community? What do RIPE NCC staff themselves think about it? What kind of
restraints do people feel should be placed upon any such scheme? How
should it be organised? Should it be discussed at a meeting?


Looking forward to any comments on the lir-wg mailing-list,


Best wishes,



Sam