On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 4:25 PM, Keith Moore <moore@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
That's true, but people do sometimes cite IETF specifications as requirements for equipment procurement. And in many cases it is possible to test equipment for conformance to specifications.
On Jul 30, 2013, at 3:23 PM, Noel Chiappa wrote:
> The IETF doesn't have a police force, or any enforcement mechanism.
{{citation-needed}} - I've only ever seen specification conformance in procurement documents for military systems, never for anything else.
And moreover, I suspect that this doesn't matter; the kinds of people who're procuring, as such - rather than either buying or just living with what someone else bought - are a tiny minority. Real people, who drive most of the internet's use, wouldn't know or care if their new router supported RFC 6592.
Maybe this could be addressed by having a Marketing Label™ to attach to internet access, in the same way that WiFi™ has helped 802.11a/b/g/n do so well. I'm pretty sure than if (for example) Skype stamped on its box that you were recommended to have Halfway Decent™ bandwidth, that an ISP could start to market their Halfway Decent™ offering, and would be procuring Halfway Decent™ equipment. And for what it's worth, I'd happily pay - indeed, do happily pay - a premium to have Halfway Decent™ internet access. But I'm not sure this is an IETF activity - perhaps an ISOC one though.
Dave.