On 3/20/19 7:18 AM, Joel M. Halpern wrote:
The question of whom the various devices on the Internet serve, while an interesting one, is not as far as I can tell either a technical question nor a question on which the IETF is in a position to provide useful influence. It also is not, again as far as I can tell, the subject of either the draft in quesiton or the general topic the IAB seems to want to discuss.
If the things that we're building don't serve the needs of the users who are ultimately paying for them (whether with money or via some other means, say disclosure of personal information), they will eventually fail, and the correction will be painful. It's our job to build an Internet that serves the needs of users and will continue to do so in the future, not one that causes significant harm to people. And the danger is real. Perhaps IETF only influences that in peripheral ways, but it is still a powerful influence.
We can either stick our heads in the sand, or try to have some foresight. Our foresight will certainly be imperfect, but it's probably better than willful blindness.
It seems to be a complex political and economic question. And likely a space full of unintended consequences.
undoubtedly. Keith
