[ncc-services-wg] 2012-07's direct engagement option

First of all I'd like to congratulate the proposal authors and the WG
for having finally brought the legacy space out of the "legal vacuum" it
was residing in. Well done!

The agenda for May's General Meeting was recently published[1] and as
expected one of the points is about 2012-07's implementation plan[2].
Keeping in line with section 2.4 of the proposal[3], the plan proposes to
implement a new [non-]membership class where I assume the [non-]member
in question will only receive services relating to their legacy
resources, but not the rest of the services normally offered to RIPE NCC
members / LIRs.

I do get a strong sense of déjà vu here - isn't this pretty much exactly
the same membership class as the Direct Assignment User ("DAU") that was
first introduced by proposal 2007-01 and subsequently scrapped by the
General Meeting in September 2012[4]?

Is there any conceivable scenario were a legacy holder would prefer to
become a DAU over becoming a full member? I cannot think of one - as I
understand it, a full member would be provided with all the services a
DAU would (and more), at a lower cost[5]. Why would anyone want to pay
more for less?

I believe we made the right choice in scrapping the original DAU
membership class. We now have a extremely simple and easy to understand
membership structure, and a predictable charging scheme. Therefore I
currently have a problem with voting for the Board's proposed
implementation plan as I see it as a regression.

That said, I am open to be persuaded why we do need another "DAU"
membership class for legacy holders. So if anyone know of a compelling
rationale for section 2.4, please help me out here...

Tore

[1] https://www.ripe.net/lir-services/ncc/gm/may-2014/agenda
[2] https://www.ripe.net/lir-services/ncc/gm/may-2014/supporting-documents/ProposedImplementationPlanforLegacyServices.pdf
[3] http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-605#2-4-option-to-engage-directly-with-the-ripe-ncc
[4] http://www.ripe.net/internet-coordination/news/announcements/ripe-ncc-charging-scheme-2013
[5] https://www.ripe.net/lir-services/ncc/gm/may-2014/supporting-documents/ChargingScheme2015.pdf