lir-wg

Download

lir-wg@ripe.net

April 2000

39 participants
21 discussions

Re: RIPE hostmasters visiting LIRs
by Joao Luis Silva Damas 12 Apr '00

12 Apr '00

Dear all, I believe this thread never really came to an end. We have been thinking long about how to address the distance that is perceived as separating the RIPE NCC registration services from everyday operations of ISPs. We have considered the proposed idea of having RIPE NCC hostmasters visiting ISPs to get in touch with their daily operations and needs. The preceding mails have raised the issues of how to select the LIRs to be visited, the finance implications of having the hostmasters travel to these ISP locations, the potential danger of lobbying and whether those visits should be used as a mechanism for helping ISPs in auditing processes. To these, I would like to add the potential disruptions to operations that these visits may have for the Registration Services department. Now, financial issues could definitely be resolved in agreement with the membership. The potential for lobbying is a worrisome prospect, not because I fear that anyone would actually even think about it, but because should any allegations be raised it would be difficult to prove them wrong and in any case a certain damage would have been done. Mainly because of this, I would rather not have RIPE NCC hostmasters visit individual members. However, we do acknowledge the need for hostmasters to be more up to date with developments in the industry and the fact that it would be very benefitial to increase awareness of daily ISP operations within Registration Services. To address this, and some other internal issues, we will be hiring for a new position within the RIPE NCC with the specific function of providing internal technical advise and training that will enable us to better track developments and be more familiar with everyday operations. This person, will not be routinely involved in the handling of member address requests and might be a good candidate to visit a few LIRs selected randomly from different "pools" (big, small, different economic and regulatory environments,...) in the future. I believe this solution can effectively address the concerns raised by this discussion while minimizing the drawbacks of the solutions proposed so far and also has other benefits for the RIPE NCC. Hope to hear from you, Joao Damas Head of external services RIPE NCC

2 3