[rpd] Subject is [Last Call] Draft Policy Proposal - Hierarchical Names for New AS-SETs (AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT02)

[Nonjabulo Sphilile]

Dear PDWG Chairs,

I object to AFPUB-2026-ASN-001-DRAFT02: Hierarchical Names for New AS-SETs.

This proposal reflects a recurring failure within the policy process: the
assumption that every perceived inconvenience should be answered with
another layer of policy rather than evidence of an actual operational
problem.

The burden of proof belongs to those proposing new rules, not to everyone
else to justify keeping the Internet simpler. Where is the demonstrated
operational failure that requires this change? Where is the evidence that
existing AS-SET naming conventions have become inadequate at Internet
scale? None has been presented.

Instead, we are asked to accept additional complexity because it appears
administratively tidy. Administrative tidiness is not the same as
operational necessity.

Internet coordination should remain as thin as possible. Every additional
rule, naming convention, or procedural expectation expands the policy
surface without necessarily improving interoperability or routing security.
Complexity accumulates far more easily than it disappears.

The policy process should resist the temptation to legislate for
hypothetical problems. If there is no demonstrated operational deficiency,
then introducing additional hierarchy is simply governance expanding into
spaces where it has not yet justified its existence.

For these reasons, I object to the proposal in its current form.

Kind regards,
Nonjabulo
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