AOP Notification

[Michael Dillon]

On Sun, 2 Feb 1997, Kim Hubbard wrote:

> > But an even more important conflict, IMHO, exists with Donald Telage's
> > position on the BoT. Since one of the reasons for creating ARIN is to
> > separate the two NIC functions of domain name registration and IP address
> > allocation, I feel that it is not wise to appoint the CEO of the world's
> > largest commercial domain name registry to the BoT of ARIN.

> Michael - could you please explain this conflict? 

So many people get domain name registry services confused with IP
allocation services that I think making a clean break between the two is
a very good idea. However, having the CEO of the world's largest domain
name registry provider on the Board of Trustees effectively means that
there is no clean break and will be interpreted so by the media and by the
public and by the potential members of ARIN.

> NSI will be financing
> ARIN until it is capable of fully funding itself.  It is certainly
> understandable that they would want a seat on the BoT until they
> are no longer financially involved.  

This makes perfect sense. If this is the case it would be best if it was
clearly explained up front. Would this mean that Donald Telage would hold
one of the Board seats that expires after the first year? Similarily with
your own position. If you will be an ex-officio Board of Trustees member
then it is best to state this up front so that everybody has a clear
picture of how things will be structured.

> Again, I don't understand why you feel the fact that NSI is a
> domain registry would cause a conflict.

I've just seen so many commentators confuse the two issues, time and time
again....

However, I'm curious as to why it is necessary to get seed funding from
Network Solutions in the first place. If ARIN is solidly supported by its
potential membership, then it seems to me that there would be adequate
funding available from them to get things going. And if it is not solidly
supported by its potential membership then there is a major problem that
needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. Seed funding from some
other organization, whether Network Solutions or the NSF's Intellectual
Infrastructure Fund, is not going to help much. 

Michael Dillon                   -               Internet & ISP Consulting
Memra Software Inc.              -                  Fax: +1-250-546-3049
http://www.memra.com             -               E-mail: michael at memra.com