Rebuttal to Mr. Weisberg's insinuations

[Michael Dillon]

At 10:50 AM -0500 7/18/97, Peter Veeck wrote:

>1.  "An annual membership fee of $1,000 (US) will be charged to all
>entities joining ARIN.  Membership is open to any entity/individual
>wishing to join, regardless of whether the entity/individual receives
>address space directly from ARIN."
>
>This strikes me as a poll tax.  Pay $1000.00 and you can vote.

This is utter nonsense. A poll tax is a tax that must be paid because you
are alive. It bears no relationship to the ARIN membership fee or to the
fee which you pay to your movie theater and you can see the movie. Or the
money you pay to the bartender and you can drink the beer.

Every corporate entity in the democratic world charges a fee to become a
member or a shareholder and only members and shareholders can vote. This
does not translate into a poll tax and your comments betray your total lack
of understanding of both capitalist and democratic systems.

>	"... two expiring after the first year, two expiring after the second
>year, and two expiring after the third year."
>
>Strikes me as a bit more than enough time to do the paperwork.  I don't
>really understand why a board can't be elected at the first
>organizational meeting by the membership.

Because it wreaks havoc on an organization to have the entire board of
trustees replaced at one point in time. ARIN is designed for stability. And
if you had taken the trouble to do your research before spouting off in
public then you would know this because it is well documented in the
discussions on this very mailing list that can be read by anybody who takes
the time to look them up at http://www.arin.net

>ARIN is not a democratic or even a representative form of organization.
>To me it looks like "noblise oblige".

Your ignorance is showing. ARIN's structure is quite normal for a
non-profit corporation. And you spelled the French word "noblesse" wrong.

>Yes, but the operating officers of ARIN are being taken from NSI.

This is not what I see on http://www.arin.net. There is only one operating
officer, Kim Hubbard, who comes from NSI and so far no one has come up with
any good reason why she should not hold the position.

>> If you want a say in IP allocations, join ARIN. Form a registry.
>> If you want a say in DNS, sign the MoU, and participate. Form a registry.
>
>These things are equivalent to governance, I don't want to govern--only
>to be represented.

Tough nookies. The essence of democracy is that all citizens *MUST* share
in governing. Abdicating that responsibility is tantamount to supporting
fascism and dictatorship. If you want to abdicate your responsibilities
then kindly unsubscribe from this list and let the rest of us get some
serious work done.


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Michael Dillon                    voice: +1-415-482-2840
Senior Systems Architect            fax: +1-415-482-2844
PRIORI NETWORKS, INC.              http://www.priori.net

"The People You Know.  The People You Trust."
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