Re: That stability thing again

[Jim Reid <Jim.Reid@nominum.com>]

>>>>> "Brad" == Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be> writes:

    Brad> 	The US government doesn't own the root servers.  The
    Brad> root server operators own them, and provide this service to
    Brad> the community free of charge.  Indeed, in some ways, I think
    Brad> that they might be better managed if someone did pay for the
    Brad> service, so that we could hold them more accountable for
    Brad> failures to do their job properly.

This would be a Very Bad Thing IMO, even though I strongly support the
root server operators getting their costs remibursed (and then some).

As soon as the subject of money is raised, the issue of control pops
up. I'm not sure it would be a good idea for beancounters or
politicians to get involved in the root server system for the obvious
reasons. If funding for the root servers became transparent -- say
through an internet tax of some sort -- every nutcase with an axe to
grind is going to make trouble for the root server operators: "I pay
for the server, so I want some say in how the servers are operated or
what OS they use, where they are located, etc, etc.". And let's not
get into the issues of legal liability that will be an inevitable
consequence of a new funding model for the root servers.

As for your comments about better management and accountability for
"failing to do their job properly", are you aware of any problems with
the current root server operators? It's hard to see how the servers
could be managed any better.