[ppml] Individuals vs. organizations in the public policy process

[Scott Leibrand]

Stephen Sprunk wrote:
> Thus spake Steve Bertrand
>   
>> For the record then, and given what you said about the NAY/YAY
>> consideration at the meetings, myself, and the company that I work
>> for strongly oppose this policy.
>>     
>
> Not to pick on Steve in particular, but this is the second time this week 
> I've seen corporate endorsement of a policy position.  My understanding is 
> that ARIN, like the IETF, is a community of _people_ with opinions and that 
> corporate affiliations are for identification only.
>
> Can someone from the BoT or AC clarify whether I've got that right?

Speaking as an individual (I'm not on the AC yet anyway), I think that's 
correct, as far as the public policy process goes.  As a matter of free 
speech, I think everyone is free to speak for their company if they 
wish, but that has no more weight than speaking for themselves.

Where companies (ARIN members) matter is when it comes to voting: each 
ARIN member (ORG ID) get just one designated member representative, and 
hence one vote for AC and BoT seats.  However, it's important to 
distinguish between such elections (and other actions taken during the 
ARIN member meeting), and the public policy process (and public policy 
meeting), which operates by consensus of individual participants.

-Scott