[arin-ppml] Petition Underway - Policy Proposal 95:CustomerConfidentiality - Time Sensitive

[michael.dillon at bt.com]

> Respectfully, the primary reason for SWIP is and has always 
> been public accountability.

I dispute that the primary reason for SWIP has always been
public accountability. I will agree that this was the original
reason for SWIP back when the ARPANET was spending public monies
which had to be accounted for. But since that time, the ARPANET
has become the Internet, and the Internet has become
commercialised to the extent that "accounting for public monies"
is not a concern for us any more. That would still be a 
concern for the various organizations on the Internet who spend
public monies, of course, but the core infrastructure is 
thoroughly privatised at this point.

We really need to make a clean break with the past and ask ourselves
what achievable public benefits can be served by a whois directory
and stop moaning and wishing about how it could have been if only
we had not evolved to the point where we find ourselves today.

--Michael Dillon