[Community-Discuss] Resolution 201604.274 about Set-Up fees

Sun Jul 17 18:50:49 UTC 2016

> On Jul 17, 2016, at 06:03 , Marcus K. G. Adomey <madomey at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Owen,
>  
> Two things are clear to me. 
> 
> History is the best teacher but we should not let it repeat itself when it is not positive
This may well be true, however, it can only teach well if the student studies all the details. It is very easy to learn a completely incorrect lesson if one ignores important pieces.
> It is evident that some visionaries took same AfriNIC from the days you misleadingly claimed it was vaporware to what it is today or we would not be having these discussions.  We MUST show respect for them and acknowledge their efforts.

I would not say it was misleading. It was an accurate description of the current state of AfriNIC services at the time. Nonetheless, it was an ill-chosen set of words and was inflammatory. 

> Many things may have changed since 2003 but people generally don't change their core beliefs and I doubt that your motivation then is much different from now.

You are correct that my motivation today remains the same as it was then, but I don’t think you necessarily have an accurate picture of that motivation.

You see, My motivation now, as it was then, was to seek the best outcome for the internet and the number resource community overall.

At the time, my perspective was skewed by the fact that we had a proposal to grant an exceptional change in policy for only one part of the ARIN region when I felt that all of the ARIN region needed this policy change. If you read through the thread in any detail, you will see that my consistent argument was that we should not be creating a separate policy regime for what was at the time one fraction of the ARIN region while leaving the rest of the ARIN region saddled with the policy as it existed at the time.

At the beginning of that discussion, Adiel and I each had our perception problems. Over time, we resolved them and came to be friends and both supported each other in getting the necessary policy change made for all of the ARIN region instead of just the African portion.

My perception was that a small contingent of people from Africa were focused on getting what they wanted without regard for the needs of the community as a whole. Adiel’s perception was that the policy change was not needed by ISPs in other parts of the region. Once Adiel understood that the policy change he was proposing would have greater benefit if it applied to the entire region and that there was, in fact, need for it in the rest of the region, he came to better understand my argument. Likewise, once I understood that the disregard for the need in the rest of the community was not malicious, but based on a perceptual error and a concern for unnecessary opposition, I came to better understand his argument.

At no point was I opposed to ARIN providing the needed resources to members of the African community. My concern was that if a policy providing relief only for Africa was passed, we might have much greater difficulty getting that same needed relief for the rest of the ARIN region. As it turned out, we were able to pass a policy which provided relief for the entire region.

>  Nevertheless, for the sake of the AfriNIC these folks worked hard for and you are now happy to belong to, let us focus on issues, for instance,  the fees, and the issue of the minutes that is taking one to two years to produce. 

The reason for delay in publishing the minutes has been explained repeatedly and progress is continuing.

I did not bring up the 2003 postings, Mirriam chose to do that. I responded strictly for the purpose of clarifying rather than let the implications from a carefully chosen set of messages taken out of context stand.

It was, indeed, lessons I learned from that proceeding that led me to choose AfriNIC as the first RIR meeting that I attended as a member of the AC once I was elected to the ARIN AC.

Since then, I have attended many AfriNIC meetings and have been an active participant in AfriNIC proceedings.

Say what you will about my choice of words or my communication style. Feel free to disagree with me or criticize my ideas.

However, have no doubt whatsoever that my motivation is and always has been the good of the internet and the community.

Owen

>  
> Thank you,
>  
> 
> 
> Marcus
> 
> 
> 
> From: owen at delong.com
> Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2016 22:42:58 -0700
> To: mirriamlauren at yahoo.com
> CC: community-discuss at afrinic.net
> Subject: Re: [Community-Discuss] Resolution 201604.274 about Set-Up fees
> 
> 
> On Jul 16, 2016, at 14:47 , Mirriam <mirriamlauren at yahoo.com <mailto:mirriamlauren at yahoo.com>> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 12:48 AM, Owen DeLong <owen at delong.com <mailto:owen at delong.com>> wrote:
> People will, of course, have their perspectives and their agendas. My agenda here is plain and I have stated it. I want to see the best outcome for the region and for the internet in general.
> Anyone who believes I have a different agenda or would defend the establishment if I felt that the establishment was wrong should review my track record for an education.
> 
> 
> I actually took time to go through AFRINIC past and present and guess what.
> 
> Your track record shows you claiming that AFRINIC doesn’t exist even though it had staff, a board, and meetings.  
> 
> We indeed got an education, refer to the links below!
> 
> http://lists.arin.net/ pipermail/arin-ppml/2003- September/002065.html <http://lists.arin.net/pipermail/arin-ppml/2003-September/002065.html>
> http://lists.arin.net/ pipermail/arin-ppml/2003- September/002087.html <http://lists.arin.net/pipermail/arin-ppml/2003-September/002087.html> 
> 
> Mirriam
> 
> Chix In Tech
> 
> 
> 
> I didn’t claim it didn’t exist, I referred to it as “vaporware” which is a term often applied to a product or service which may exist in a laboratory, but isn’t available for purchase at the time, which was exactly where AfriNIC services were at the time I wrote those posts.
> 
> I will admit that the word may have been inflammatory and possibly poorly chosen. I have learned in the last 13 years. Who among us has not?
> 
> Note that those are from 2003, over 13 years ago.
> 
> A lot has changed in that time, and, in fact, if you follow the thread through to the conclusion of the policy development process, you will see that Adiel and I ended up supporting each other’s proposals and resolving a number of issues for both communities.
> 
> Owen
> 
> 
> 
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