On 15/08/2012 07:24, Eliot Lear wrote: > John, > > On 8/15/12 12:03 AM, John E Drake wrote: >> Hi, >> >> Does this document actually have a purpose, and if so, what is it? >> > > To me (and I speak only for me here), the purpose of this document is to > articulate principles that have made the Internet a success. It is a > means to invite others to subscribe to those same principles, and there > are many standards organizations that do not. Customers and society can > demand better, and this is an avenue for that. I take it that John's question is really *why* do these principles need to be articulated in public. Perhaps the IAB should answer that, but my answer is: because there is a real danger of some SDOs, including but not limited to the ITU-T, breaking them for a variety of commercial or political reasons. Brian