[ncc-services-wg] Classification of services as member-only, public, or something else

On 30 Jul 2012, at 12:18, Shane Kerr wrote:

> What do other participants in the NCC services working group think
> about the RIPE NCC providing member-only services? Should there be
> guidelines about this, or is this something that the RIPE NCC and  
> their
> members should decide on a case-by-case basis?

IMO, there is no easy answer to this Shane. Though I suppose if the  
NCC membership require (scrutiny of?) specific member-only services,  
the mechanism for that could be through the General Meetings and/or  
board elections.

The fundamental problem probably has no solution though. RIPE policy  
is made by an open community which by definition includes those who  
are not NCC members. Yet the membership pay for those policies to be  
implemented by the NCC. Those well-intentioned policies can sometimes  
have unforseen consequences, so regular reviews and impact assessments  
are needed. This is beginning to happen I think, though it could be  
made a bit clearer and perhaps be formalised somehow. The difficulty  
is knowing where the boundaries lie between implementation/operational  
aspects -- which are probably for the membership and/or NCC management  
to decide -- and policy considerations which would be for the RIPE  
community.

Personally, I would not make too much of a distinction between NCC  
services which are member only (apart from co-ordination of numbering  
resources obviously) and those which are for a wider audience. The  
trick will be figuring out how to oversee those services: watching out  
for mission creep, giving NCC staff flexibility (they can't be  
expected to consult with everyone about everything), NCC services  
competing with those offered by its members, distorting an emerging  
market, exit strategies, cost/benefit analysis, etc. This will be a  
difficult balancing act and I doubt a "one size fits all" approach is  
viable or even desirable.

So to answer your question, I'd say yes. There should be some general  
guidelines about this which allow things to be decided (handwave,  
handwave!) on a case-by-case basis. By whom?

Disclaimer: Since I don't represent an LIR, anything I have to say  
about member-only services can be ignored. :-)