Well, actually the ISOC is the only *official* organization related to the Internet. I mean the only organization with official, legal status. That's why it is the umbrella for all the other internet-related organizations, including the IETF, the IAB, etc.
Well first ..thank you for your reply I totally agree with your positions.
You are right when you notice that nobody from the ISOC was there. This is sad. I think that the ISOC should be the first to be present. Why leave the technical experts only (i.e. the IETF) deal with this?
Remember what the IETF is, we are what we are ...a standards body. We naturally shun from political matters. We're bad at it .. we are practical people trying to solve practical problems vs political people trying to solve intractable problems.
I personally think that the ISOC should be the first in charge of this subject and of all related actions and procedures. The ISOC should call the others (like the IETF) when needed, by example to testify, give a technical advice, or take in charge some part of the procedure. Anyway, the ISOC should be more present that it seems to be today. Now, we must admit that the fact that you don't see the ISOC does not mean that the ISOC doesn't do anything!
Of course.. ISOC is providing leadership in many areas but given its diverse membership it also has some reluctance to directly become politically involved. But this is clearly a special case. ISOC should take a stand.
Back to your question : "Is the ISOC involved with this kind of stuff?" I personally think that the answer is (should be?) clearly YES. At least because it should be considered in charge of everything related to the Internet, neither less nor more than any other organization for which it is the umbrella. And, by the way, SPAM is more a societal problem than a technical one... ;)
Lynn?
Eric Tomson, Administrator and Secretary of the belgian Wallonia Chapter of the ISOC, Member of the PIR .ORG Advisory Council.
BTW.... this issue is obviously not confined to the US ..... the European Commission is clearly looking into these matters and any steps taken in North American should be coordinated with Brussels and the Member Countries.
Everything I have said about American bureaucrats I could easily say about European ones. Honest, decent, underpaid, overworked etc.
From the US perspective it does not take a doctorate in political science to figure out that "something" is going to happen in the US Congress this session. That means by the end of fall.
We, here in the US, and like minded folks in Europe, need to make sure its the "right thing" and not some kludge driven by lobbyists etc..and the lobbyists in Brussels are at least as good as those in DC ..so I'm told :-)
It was not hard to pick up at the FTC hearings from multiple Congressmen and Senators at the FTC hearings that " My daughter got 4 advertisements for Viagra this week ..." " My grandson got a picture in his e-mail box of just ...filth" In the US the anti-spam issue is up there with Mother, Apple Pie, and the American Flag in bi-partisan political support.
Charles Schumer in particular was adamant that " You need funding for enforcement ..you got it.!!!!"
http://www.senate.gov/~schumer/
Its not unlike the support the FTC (Federal Trade Commission)
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/donotcall/index.html
BTW link to the FTC SPAM workshop
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/spam/index.html
got for the TCPA ..Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Do not Call extensions. When you get enough Congressmen, their wives, sons, daughters, husbands, cousins, uncles, aunts not to mention their constitutients pissed off at having unsolicited phone calls in the middle of dinner you will get action.
We are, in the US, now at that point with SPAM.
I certainly hope ISOC can add a voice to this on behalf of us in the IETF.
Best wishes..
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