Should drop RAND, or re-open public discussion

I am opposed to RAND in principle. Obviously, I'm not alone.

In fact, reading the public discussion, one gets a sense that there is a
widespread belief that this is a corrupt, stealth proposal -- hidden from
public comment with the intention of adopting it before opposition could form.

I suggest that -- whatever the cause of the belief, and regardless of the
accuracy of the belief -- the proposal should not be adopted immediately.
Either drop it because it is a bad idea, or re-open the discussion so that
you can demonstrate to 80% of us that the proposal is an honest (not
corrupt) attempt to solve a significant problem.

Individuals involved in the decision process should remember that you will
meet us as peers in the future, and we are likely to hold a grudge. You
should be sure to give the appearance of propriety, even if it pushes some
timetables back. 

For corporations, you should remember that we are your customers. In
particular, we are people who make decisions involving large amounts of
money. It's true that we expect corporations to be short-sighted and greedy,
but we still insist on certain standards of behavior. Also, it is usually
possible to choose products from a corporation that seems slightly more
committed to openness. We can certainly punish the corporations who most
recently violated our standards.

John Robert Boynton

Received on Sunday, 30 September 2001 17:12:27 UTC